spa thermae, bath

after weeks of doing stuff that kept the kids' interests in mind, joe and i finally got a much needed break.

we were spending the weekend away from the bristol (or b'tol, for those in the know) flat. sans kiddies. we were beyond excited. a whole night without some little person climbing into our bed and shoving us over the edge or kicking us in the head.

and we were going to spa thermae in bath then on to london for a little museuming as well as a little hanbag shopping for moi.

awesome sauce.

my parents had offered to watch the peanuts for the entire weekend, allowing us to get away.

thermae is located in bath, 12 miles from bristol and draws upon the city's well known mineral waters that made up the roman baths for some 400 years. thermae boasts a rooftop pool as well as steam rooms, various pools and treatment rooms, all utilizing the health vitalizing bath mineral waters.

unfortunately, i waited too long to make spa appointments for both joe and myself at thermae, so we were out of luck as far as getting spa treatments that we actually wanted.

joe waited too long to make hotel reservations and as luck would have it, every hotel room in bath was booked. even the ones at the dreaded holiday inn nearby. my persistant husband went online and was able to locate a place for us to stay. outside of bath and almost 10 miles away. but at least we would not have to return home to crazy children after a day of relaxation.

thermae was . . . underwhelming. i like my water really really hot, almost scalding and the thermal waters of bath, although naturally imported from the center of the earth, were a bit lacking in the heat department. it was plenty warm but a few degrees more would have been awesome. but then if the waters were heat assisted, we might have a lawsuit on our hands. the rooftop pool was awesome and we hoped for rain as we had heard it made the pool even more fantastic. seeing bath from the 4th floor was amazing.

the downstairs minerva bath reminded us of spring break at daytona beach plus the accoustics of the room mixed with the voices of all the other spa goers didn't help in making the environment more relaxing. the glass enclosed steam rooms were awesomely warm and the lavender scented room was my personal fav.

we each were able to snag a last minute treatment, although not the specific treatments we were hoping to get. beggars can't be choosers and i did wait too long to book, so the fact that we got anything was beyond a miracle. i got a vichy exfoliation which was way too short at 30 minutes. joe had the vichy shower which is relaxing but does not do much in the way of relieving stress in one's joints.

next installment, da plaine, da plaine.