Making wishes in Bath

In an attempt to avoid the broken-record-ness that goes on with the amount of Londonite bloggers, I will refrain from divulging every detail of the Bath trip that happened between the initial disappointment in tableless coaches to the loopy rock paper scissors match on the bus ride home.

Instead, I will tell you an interesting tidbit I learned. (I know. I’m actually learning things here! Go figure.)

According to the Bath Museum, Romans had a tradition of etching curses onto pewter discs and throwing them into the pool, believing that the messages would drive the goddess to lend out rightful punishment to those who had wronged them.

Here are some of the pewter discs:

The messages are written in Latin. It is so interesting how they were all focused on someone who had stolen from them or somehow wronged them in the land of love&war. I was also shocked at how harsh they were with the punishments they demanded.

Here is a specific (tame) message, translated into English.

This ancient practice may seem silly to us now—but hey! We also throw metal into pools of water in the hopes that our requests will be met. But instead of pewter discs, we throw coins. And instead of etching curses, we make wishes.

Which brings me to one of my favorite parts! This is the frigidarium (or cold plunge bath):

Why you would want to call it “cold plunge bath” when you can call it the FRIGIDARIUM, I haven’t a clue. But when you see all those coins glittering through the water, you know it’s time to pull out a penny and think of something good. So I did.

And now, purely for your viewing pleasure, a video clip —

To preface this: We bought one of the famous buns from “Sally Lunn’s”—the oldest house in Bath. After carefully transporting it home, we baked it in the oven and then coated the slices with butter and jam. Here is Zach doing the honor of spreading of jam, while Andrew watches in anticipation. The excitement is contagious.

I love London.

I realize that it makes little sense to say that, because this post in about Bath. But "London" has come to encompass so much more to me. It includes the people I've met, the places we see together, and the experiences we're having. "London" isn't just a place. It's a time. It's an adventure. It's a state of euphoria.