Lunch in Bath on Wednesday, October 8, 2014 - doggone good food and great service at the Cafe Retro, and I survived the stairs!

Ah, my ice-cold Coca Cola and a glass with some ice cubes. Mighty fine--the only sort of pop I drank while in the UK, and then just twice. Those poppies enhance the paint color on the wall. I like the look of this still life photo, especially the curve in the wall beside the round table top.



Juliet's lunch, nachos. She reported that they were delicious.



My lunch, the Retro Breakfast. Doggone good, every single thing on the plate, doggone good. There was very little grease on the sausages or the mushrooms--they're just shiny in the photo.



The menu board out front which lists all the items in the All Day Retro Breakfast--that's why I wanted to eat at the Cafe Retro. Juliet went for the "Gluten Free Options Available!!!"




Great service from Jazz and Monika--so happy that they agreed that I could take their photo and put it on the blog. Thanks, ladies!



The view of the cafe from our table, a very pleasant place at the back of the room. Juliet came back to the table in a few moments and stated, "You're not going to like those stairs to the bathroom."



After walking down them, I decided they deserved a series of photos, starting from the bottom 'cause I'd be too afraid to take photos looking down. The first few steps back up to the ground level floor.



The next few--turning sharply and steeply. I couldn't get over how Monika rapidly walked up them, carrying plates of food in both hands!



You can get a better idea of the tightness of this turn and the steepness of these stairs in this photo.



Looking out onto the ground floor. Not quite there yet.



Looking back down the stairs. I took one photo, quickly. Whew. I walked down there and back up twice, once before we left after eating lunch and once before getting back on the coach--the ladies said it would be OK when I came back inside and asked them, since I'd already eaten there. Thanks, ladies!



One more photo. Thank goodness for the handrail which is solidly attached to the wall. And I held onto that narrow ledge of wood there on the right, until I could get my had up onto that pole attached to the wall.



Here I am in Bath after lunch--wearing my Blue Diamond PDX T-shirt (the Blue Diamond is my neighborhood bar where I thoroughly enjoy myself with their doggone good food, great service, and live music.) The red awnings in the background are on the windows of the Cafe Retro. And you can see the tower of the Bath Abbey in the background. I wish that we'd come straight to Bath from London instead of stopping at Windsor because we would have had more time to walk around and take in the sights of this lovely city.

Bath Abbey, October 8, 2014--I am so glad that I decided to visit here instead of the Roman Baths.

The Abbey Church of Saint Peter and Saint Paul, Bath, commonly known as Bath Abbey, is an Anglican parish church and a former Benedictine monastery in Bath, Somerset, England. Founded in the 7th century, Bath Abbey was reorganised in the 10th century and rebuilt in the 12th and 16th centuries; major restoration work was carried out by Sir George Gilbert Scott in the 1860s. It is one of the largest examples of Perpendicular Gothic architecture in the West Country.



The cruciform abbey is built of Bath stone, which gives the exterior its yellow colour. It is an atypical example of the Perpendicular form of Gothic architecture, with low aisles and nave arcades and a tall clerestory. The walls and roofs are supported by buttresses and surmounted by battlements, pinnacles and pierced parapets, many of which were added by George Manners during his 1830's restorations.



The exterior in the gray skies--it stopped raining for a few minutes. From the brochure I picked up at the entrance to Bath Abbey: Abbey or Cathedral? Bath Abbey is a parish church which was once the great church of a monastery. A cathedral is the principal church of a diocese, the area of a bishop's authority.



Look at the great window at the East End: you will see that it contains 56 scenes in the life of Jesus Christ.

The church is cruciform in plan, and is able to seat 1200. An active place of worship, with hundreds of congregation members and hundreds of thousands of visitors each year, it is used for religious services, secular civic ceremonies, concerts and lectures. The choir performs in the abbey and elsewhere. There is a heritage museum in the vaults.



Impressive, to say the least. Amazing to look at the delicacy evident in this design of the fan vault ceiling.



I couldn't find out anything about these light fixtures--isn't it lovely?



The Victorian font from 1874, according to the brochure. That cover is raised straight up for baptisms--see the chain from which it suspends.



The eagle lectern from which the Bible is read. You can see one side of the choir there beyond it.



The beautifully carved pulpit.



I also like this carved lion on the end of this pew. It's so beautiful.




Here's some info for you about the man you see next photo.



Montagu is buried in this alabaster tomb in Bath Abbey.



Info for the next photo.



Very interesting to be able to see these ancient pillars. I read on the brochure timeline that in the 1090s Norman Bishop John de Villula transfers his throne from Wells to Bath where he founds his new cathedral. By 1499 the Norman cathedral was in ruins; the present Abbey church founded to replace it.