Blog ≫ 2023 ≫ Holiday 2023 - Bath day two
We started our second day in Bath (our first full day in Bath) with the actual Roman Baths. We'd been before but without the kids. Look at us two proper cultural things on a holiday. It's like a school trip basically. It's Rome all over again! And some of it actually is Rome, Roman anyway, though what I really meant was "it's like our holiday to Rome, which was in parts more like a school trip than a relaxing holiday". Anyway, onwards.
The baths are great, it's quite a big exhibition though so you do start off giving everything lots of time, and then by the end - when the things are still interesting - you do rush through it a bit more. I liked that they had actors augmenting the experience for us (or were they ghosts?), and the optional Bill Bryson commentary.
I dropped my glasses into part of the exhibit when I took my audio guide off towards the end. Sunglasses actually, they were on my head and I whipped them down into the ruins. Luckily this sort of thing does happen and someone got me a litter picker to be able to reach them back.
We did drink the water, it does not taste good.
Next we found a cookie shop that we think is the cookie shop T2's teacher recommended. Was nothing special to me, cookies are so basic and cheap to make and these were expensive. The boys liked it though.
Next to the Boom Battle Bar, which was next to our hotel. This is the "stag do in a box" type bar that Andy and I had seen recently on Oxford Street. It's a bar, with mini golf, interactive darts, pool, and actual axe throwing. We did not do the axe throwing, I bet kids are not allowed, but we had a great round of golf. It's not as hi-tech as Puttshack but it's really well done. I'm not just saying that because I won. It was really quite hard, we maxed out our strokes on a couple of holes but we also got some hole-in-ones. Hmm can you pluralise hole-in-one? Donald Trump definitely does, him and Kim Jong-Il.
The actual bar part of that place is not to my tastes, it's expensive mediocre cocktails and fizzy beer, but we did like the swing seats.
After this Clare and the boys went to the cinema, they were both really keen to see the Barbie film. They've done some marketing on this one, everyone seems to be watching it. Not for me though! I left them too it and went to find, yes you guessed it, pubs.
We seem not to have had lunch this day. We did have a big Premier Inn breakfast though and had a Thai dinner lined up for later, so just minor snacking in the day time.
On my short pub adventure I went first back to the Coeur-de-Lion as there was a beer shop next door where I could get some Bellringer to take home for my friends. The shop was just shutting but the guy reopened for me, and he recommended a pub for me to go to. I mentioned a pub a friend had suggested before, and it turns out a) they're right near each other, and b) the pub the man in the beer shop recommended was also on the short list I had already.
So first to The Bell1, which doesn't look much from the outside but was a big lively open place with live music. The music was just packing up, rather than setting up as I first thought, so it started emptying out as I sat with my pint of Otter. Oh yes, no Bellringer here either.
Next a walk round the corner to to the other pub, The Star2. Although the two premises are probably touching each other you have to walk up the hill, round the corner, abd back again. This took me past a church that had Jane Austen's dad's tombstone outside. More culture.
The Star is an award winning place with a real heritage panelled interior and great beer, including the Bellringer. This was also very quite, but a lovely place to sit.
Just remembered I dictated some notes into my phone at the time, I wonder if I thought the same things then as I remembered later?
Left the family to go to the cinema. They want to see the Barbie movie and I definitely do not. Might be my loss but I probably won't find out for a while. I walked back to the Coeur-de-lion3 pub. Yeah no way that was going to be dictated correctly. French for Lionheart. Next door there was a Bath Ales4 shop and I could get some beers as gifts to my friends. I came here looking for Bellringer, and I found Bellringer, both in that pub and in that shop. Shut when I got there actually but the guy was inside and he said he would open up just for me so that was good. I asked him where to come for a drink next and he recommended a couple of pubs and I'm in one of them now. I'm at The Bell Inn. So they have a choice of ales and ciders on. I probably should have had a cider. I went for a pint of Otter because they didn't have the Bellringer, they didn't have any Bath Ales actually. So maybe I'm in the wrong pub, but there's another pub just on the other side of this block, that he also recommended, I'm going to try there in a minute. I think the buildings might actually be touching, but I have to walk quite a long way around the roads. We'll see. It's not the best area for walking in and the weather is a stinker, wet and drizzling, but it's quite a nice way to spend a Sunday afternoon. I'll be meeting up with the family again at some Thai restaurant called the giggling something or other, Giggling Squid and we're having dinner there later.
We got a good time this morning. We had our Premier Inn breakfast and then I walk around and we ended up at Boom Battle Bar and it was really good. It's quite expensive in there. We could have got a better deal but we just went in to play their mini golf and it was really good. Not the actual bar part of Boom Battle Bar, but it looks good. Fun place and had a nine hole really interesting mini golf course inside not electronic at all like Puttshack but really good, and good seats that were like swings. If we had more time we could have paid a fixed fee for half an hour on all of the different games in there. So half an hour of golf, half an hour called5 half an hour shuffleboard, half an hour of darts. Maybe something else? They did axe throwing in there as well, but that is definitely not included in that deal, and I don't think the kids would be allowed to do it. I'm going to give another one of those ago right? I'm only halfway through my beer as I dictate this and I've not read but much of my book. A Song From Dead Lips by William Shaw6 so I'm going to go back to that. Finish my half, and head to the other pub. Then maybe write some more. There has been live music in this pub earlier. It's all finished now and they're playing the Beatles.
Much the same as I remembered then, except how bad the weather was...
I met the others after the cinema. They enjoyed it, Clare said the messaging was a bit mixed. We sat and discussed in The Bath Brew House, a pub I remember visiting previously though I can find no mention of it. I know back in 2016 we went to The Boater7, The Pig And Fiddle8 and The Old Green Tree9 but we did not revisit any of these pubs this time. Don't even remember seeing them.
Dinner was Thai, at the Giggling Squid. Very nice! Last time in Bath we had a mediocre Thai but this was not that place, and very good. Quite fancy really, we had cocktails and Thai tapas and a very nice time. We were sat in a strange birdcage type table.
Just found the menu, think I had this:
CHILLI & BASIL GRA PAO
Iconic hawker stall fare with fiery chillies, garlic, bamboo shoots, green beans and peppers, our house stir fry sauce and spicy, peppery Thai holy basil.
There was also some super-sized sharing starter. Everyone else had a curry so as to fit in with their bingo cards.
To Tesco after for a chocolate bar pudding and back to the hotel. I snuck back into The Stables as we would be leaving Bath in the morning and I had not really had any local cider, but it wasn't the best.
- Walcot St, Bath BA1 5BW
- Vineyards, Bath BA1 5NA
- Originally came out as "Kurd Leon"
- "Bar fails"
- Can't remember what this one should have been? Maybe shuffleboard?
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- Argyle St, Bathwick, Bath BA2 4BQ, still open.
- Saracen St, Bath BA1 5BR, also seems to be still there.
- Green St, Bath BA1 2JZ, also still going.