The Roman Baths in...Bath!

Jessica makes a friend

Bath is a truly beautiful city - so beautiful that in parts it seems almost like a film set. Designated a World Heritage site, it is gorgeous to walk around, full of little streets and wonderful views. But it is also offers loads of shops, restaurants and tea houses, which makes it a great place for a day out.

Of course the city is known particularly for the Roman Baths, the remains of an ancient spa and Roman temple. No one should visit Bath without spending a few hours finding out about the bath-house where people took their dips nearly 2,000 years ago.

I had last been to the Roman Baths long before having children, so I was interested to see what the kids thought of it. Luckily the audioguides include one especially for children (not only in English, but also French and German) and this was a great touch. The English one is narrated by Michael Rosen, and it definitely kept the children engaged. However, I'm not convinced that it would have been as popular for younger children, as ours are at an age where they are able to concentrate, don't get easily bored and won't run off (and attempt to touch the water...)

The Baths are very well set out and genuinely interesting. There are models and displays to help you understand what daily life was like in Roman times and to understand the hot springs, the source of the city's spa water, and the only ones in Britain. Water comes out of here at 46 degrees.

Robert finds out about carving in ancient times

You can see the source of the water and walk through all the different areas, including the saunas, changing rooms and plunge pools, which I found fascinating (probably more so than the kids), as well as a re-creation of the Temple courtyard and the actual Roman temple pediment, which was remarkable. There are also (another great touch for the children), costumed characters who will talk to you and explain what they are doing. In the pump room, you can even try some of the warm water, although I must say that it's not the nicest thing I've ever drunk!

But the best bit (of course) was walking on the ancient pavement past the steaming baths themselves. That's not something you get to do very often.

We think you should allow at least two hours for your visit, and possibly more, especially as there is also a good and very well stocked gift shop at the end. If you decide to leave it until later in the year to visit, you could visit in the evening, when the Baths are lit by torchlight. However, this only occurs in the summer.

The Roman Baths are open all year round, except for Christmas Day and Boxing Day. A family ticket costs £38, which is not cheap, but I think it is worth it for something so unique (and educational!).

More by us on Bath:

Jessica writes about the Sally Lunn Bath House

Jessica writes about No 1 Royal Crescent.

The Roman Baths in...Bath!

Jessica makes a friend

Bath is a truly beautiful city - so beautiful that in parts it seems almost like a film set. Designated a World Heritage site, it is gorgeous to walk around, full of little streets and wonderful views. But it is also offers loads of shops, restaurants and tea houses, which makes it a great place for a day out.

Of course the city is known particularly for the Roman Baths, the remains of an ancient spa and Roman temple. No one should visit Bath without spending a few hours finding out about the bath-house where people took their dips nearly 2,000 years ago.

I had last been to the Roman Baths long before having children, so I was interested to see what the kids thought of it. Luckily the audioguides include one especially for children (not only in English, but also French and German) and this was a great touch. The English one is narrated by Michael Rosen, and it definitely kept the children engaged. However, I'm not convinced that it would have been as popular for younger children, as ours are at an age where they are able to concentrate, don't get easily bored and won't run off (and attempt to touch the water...)


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Our Experience Of The Sandals Foundation (By Jessica)

As part of our holiday to Beaches Negril in Jamaica, we were presented with an incredible opportunity - to take part in the Sandals Foundation's annual holiday toy drive!  Our destination was the Mount Airy School in Clarendon Parish, a school that was unbelievably different to mine back at home...

For the "Share The Luck" toy drive, the Sandals Foundation joins up with Hasbro the toy maker, which donates up to 8000 toys and games each year. As well as this, the Foundation matches every donation, and this means there are masses of wonderful presents to give out. Not wanting to be left out, we also brought some of our own from London.


The day started with a short, 20 minute drive to Mount Airy School, which was, quite literally, on top of a mountain! The views were beautiful, and I couldn't keep my eyes off them as we slipped out of the air-conditioned van and into the blisteringly-hot Jamaican heat. The mountain was thick with dust and covered with bugs, but I could only think about what a brilliant experience it was, and how I couldn't wait to get started. 

The school

 
The celebration began with loads of dancing and drum playing by the children, and I was astounded by how good they were! To stand up and dance for fun is one thing, but a choreographed routine consisting of only three people is definitely something else. The children were so enthusiastic - I think if it was at my school, we would have been more self-conscious.

One of the brilliant dancers, with the drummers in the background

Amidst all the noise, mum and I volunteered to cut the cake, not realising that it had to serve FIVE HUNDRED PEOPLE! This took forever, but it was great fun to dash back and forth, trying to pick up napkins in our frosting-covered hands. It seems kind of crazy when I think about it, that one of my greatest achievements is cutting a cake...

Mum just after we'd finished cutting the cake

Next it was time for Santa and the Sesame Street characters to appear. Every time a new person came out, they were greeted with cheers. Santa handed out presents class by class and these were fantastic, ranging from board games such as Guess Who? to brilliant Nerf Guns, FurReal Friends to Cluedo. Something that particularly caught my eye was a girl looking about my age, holding a 300 piece jigsaw puzzle. I promptly walked up to her and we started talking about school, friends and weather. So far I had only seen differences, but I was amazed to find out how much I had in common with a 12 year old girl, thousands of miles away.

The kids and Elmo

 
While everyone else lined up for ice-cream, mum and I took the time to explore the school. It was small, and consisted of a ring of classrooms around a patch of wildlife and plants. There was a mural on the front, and everything seemed to be reddish-brown, from the bricks to the individual desks, the walls to the ceilings.

A classroom

The classrooms were dark, relying only on natural light coming in through the top of the building. The walls were wooden and covered with posters, and there was a blackboard right at the front of every classroom. They didn't seem to have the same kinds of resources we have at home (I didn't see any of the electronic equipment we use to learn) and the desks were individual, whereas ours are in tables, and there was a sheet marked "Top Achievers" that showed who was doing best in every subject. That would never happen at home!

Although there weren't the facilities that our school has, the topics seemed to be almost exactly the same. While walking around, I recognised subjects that I had previously covered in school. This was unbelievably cool. To think that people so far away from me were learning exactly what I had, was a pretty big thought, and one that I had never considered before.

However, there was no more time for revelations. Too soon we had to leave, and return to our resort. Of course it was wonderful to enjoy all that luxury again, but I knew I wouldn't forget the day which took me into a completely different world.

Guests staying at the resort can take part in delivering the gifts at the toy drive like we did, but have to book in advance through the PR department as it isn't a scheduled trip.
You can find out more about Beaches via their website as well as the Sandals Foundation site. It is the philanthropic arm of the Sandals Resorts and invests money in the Jamaican community, and in particular education and the environment. 

Disclosure note: this post was brought to you with assistance from Beaches, who offered us the holiday to Jamaica as part of a bloggers' trip. The opinions, photos, videos and everything else are all ours!

Read about our trip to Negril and watch our video in this post.

Our Experience Of The Sandals Foundation (By Jessica)

As part of our holiday to Beaches Negril in Jamaica, we were presented with an incredible opportunity - to take part in the Sandals Foundation's annual holiday toy drive!  Our destination was the Mount Airy School in Clarendon Parish, a school that was unbelievably different to mine back at home...

For the "Share The Luck" toy drive, the Sandals Foundation joins up with Hasbro the toy maker, which donates up to 8000 toys and games each year. As well as this, the Foundation matches every donation, and this means there are masses of wonderful presents to give out. Not wanting to be left out, we also brought some of our own from London.


The day started with a short, 20 minute drive to Mount Airy School, which was, quite literally, on top of a mountain! The views were beautiful, and I couldn't keep my eyes off them as we slipped out of the air-conditioned van and into the blisteringly-hot Jamaican heat. The mountain was thick with dust and covered with bugs, but I could only think about what a brilliant experience it was, and how I couldn't wait to get started. 

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Gorgeous Jamaica - loving Beaches Negril

I had never been to the Caribbean and not imagined that the chance would come my way. But Jamaica, beautiful, stunning Jamaica, took my breath away, and now I crave the chance to go back. Hopefully one day, I will.

[caption id="attachment_750" align="aligncenter" width="940"] Jess on the gorgeous beach[/caption]

If that sounds a bit over the top, well, it's justified. Jessica and I were only in Jamaica, in the Negril resort, for four days in mid December. However, despite the rainy British weather since our return, we can still feel the recuperative effects.

But let me take you back to the wonderful day (seriously!) when Jessica and I were invited to the Beaches Resort. The idea, of course, was that we lucky people would sample the delights of this special place and then report back. I have to admit that it wasn't the most onerous task I have ever been given.

The resort had just been voted top hotel for families in the Caribbean in Tripadvisor's Traveller's Choice Awards as well as being put in the top 25 all-inclusive resorts in the world. We had never stayed in an all-inclusive resort and were extremely curious about what to expect. Could it really be as good as all that?

We flew from Gatwick to Montego Bay which took 10 hours, the longest flight Jessica has ever taken. But even that didn't seem to matter. I genuinely think it was worth it, and of course, even more so if you are staying for longer.

You can watch Jessica's video for details of some of the many things we did there, but please read below for more detail.

Beaches Negril is around an hour and a half from Montego Bay (transfers are included). There is something strange about flying to a different country and hardly seeing any of it - most people who come to Beaches spend their time in the resort, which has more than enough to entertain the whole family - so I was pleased that we did get out a little, to visit a school. But more of that fascinating trip in another post.

Firstly I need to tell you about the resort. It is stunning, located on the widest stretch of Negril's seven mile white sand beach. The sea is glorious, clear, blue, and warm. We even saw fish darting around our feet when we took a swim.

[caption id="attachment_752" align="aligncenter" width="940"] We had never seen a bar like this one before![/caption]

Inside the huge resort (12 acres on the Long Bay Beach front, and eight on the garden side) there are two lovely swimming pools, a lazy river (such fun) and pirate water slides, plus an incredible array of restaurants, from buffet style and Tex Mex to Italian (you can slimb out of the pool, order your pizza and garlic bread and be buzzed when they are ready) and fine dining. We particularly enjoyed Kimonos, the Japanese restaurant, where your food is cooked in front of you, and the Parisian cafe, where I had rather too many rum truffles.

We were completely overwhelmed by the fact that all of this was included, as were the drinks. You don't have to carry any money with you - you just ask whatever you want and it's given to you. On one evening there was also an amazing chocolate buffet, with fondue, chocolate martinis and more. Honestly, it's a bit like magic.

Jessica threw herself into all of this with gusto, especially when it came to the (non-alcoholic) cocktails. I have never been to a place where you finish your drink, are immediately offered another, and it seems really stupid to refuse!

[caption id="attachment_753" align="aligncenter" width="940"] Jess and I both loved the food - and the many restaurants![/caption]

Beaches is set up for families, so there is a Kids club, which operates all day, and a nursery with qualified staff. There is even a programme for teens and I have to say that everyone I saw there looked happy - I don't think you could get bored here.

Kids of all ages (um, and adults) will love the (supervised) Xbox Lounge. It's probably the first one of these I've ever seen which has enough screens for everyone. Mind you, I enjoyed the basketball game outside even more (and you can see me playing it in our video, above), and I also loved playing crazy golf (probably because I won).

The resort has a tie-up with Sesame Street, and there are activities and even parades with Sesame Street characters. This will obviously suit young children more, but even we could see that it was great fun.

[caption id="attachment_755" align="aligncenter" width="940"] The spa offers treatments for mums, dads and kids![/caption]

We had "mommy and me" facials, and I felt obliged to try out a massage, which was absolutely brilliant. Due to my always painful shoulders and neck, I have a high standard when it comes to these. I wasn't disappointed.

We loved swimming, the sun (of course there are more than enough sun loungers, as well as balls to play with in the pools) and the excursions. We saw and held starfish and sea urchins when we went on a glass bottom boat, and Jess swam in a cave when she went on a fabulous catamaran cruise.

We were also blown away by the Silver Birds steel band which entertained us one evening. The music - which included a Michael Jackson tribute among a huge range of songs - and dancing were fabulous. Who knew a steel band could be so entertaining?

[caption id="attachment_757" align="aligncenter" width="940"] The wonderful Silver Birds were the most fantastic steel band[/caption]

I feel like I'm making you jealous, and I'm not trying to. In fact, each time we mention Jamaica in our house, Robert tells us to stop (he would have loved it, and I feel awful about that), and my husband laughs. You see, it was just sensational.

The only negatives of course are nothing at all to do with the resort, or what we did (the staff couldn't have been friendlier, the place more enjoyable). But I know you will want to know how much it cost, and it's not cheap. A friend of mine asked me if I thought it was worth it, but that's an impossible question to answer. If you have this kind of money and want to spend it on a holiday where you can relax and the whole family are guaranteed to enjoy themselves, then yes it is. And blimey, I am desperate to return!

Jessica and I stayed in a Negril Honeymoon Beachfront Grande Luxe Concierge Room

Disclosure note: this post was brought to you with assistance from Beaches, who offered us this holiday as part of a bloggers' trip. The opinions, photos, videos and everything else are all ours!

Seven nights staying at Beaches Negril Resort & Spa, on a Luxury Included® (all-inclusive) basis costs from £1,989 per adult and £1,075 per child. A family of four costs from £6,129. Return flights, resort transfers, tips, gourmet speciality dining, premium branded alcohol and soft drinks, and watersports are all included in the price. For further information or to make a booking, contact your local travel agent, call Beaches Resorts on 0800 597 0002 or email sales@beachesresorts.co.uk. Excursions on the island are bookable through Island Routes Caribbean Adventures (www.islandroutes.co.uk). Price is based on travel on selected dates in May/June 2014. 

FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT BEACHES RESORTS AND PARTICULARLY BEACHES NEGRIL, PLEASE VISIT THEIR WEBSITE.

If you liked this video, please take a look at our (rather shaky) video of our trip to Paris!

We're sharing this post and its glorious memories with the Time Traveller linky over at Mari's world. Zip over to enjoy more great travelling posts.

 

Gorgeous Jamaica

I had never been to the Caribbean and not imagined that the chance would come my way. But Jamaica, beautiful, stunning Jamaica, took my breath away, and now I crave the chance to go back. Hopefully one day, I will.

If that sounds a bit over the top, well, it's justified. Jessica and I were only in Jamaica, in the Negril resort, for four days in mid December. However, despite the rainy British weather since our return, we can still feel the recuperative effects.

But let me take you back to the wonderful day (seriously!) when Jessica and I were invited to the Beaches Resort. The idea, of course, was that we lucky people would sample the delights of this special place and then report back. I have to admit that it wasn't the most onerous task I have ever been given.

The resort had just been voted top hotel for families in the Caribbean in Tripadvisor's Traveller's Choice Awards as well as being put in the top 25 all-inclusive resorts in the world. We had never stayed in an all-inclusive resort and were extremely curious about what to expect. Could it really be as good as all that?

Read more »