JANE, BATH AND BEYOND

The LLDD-Hyphen-L has two former officemates who became ninangs at our wedding: Ms. Tina, who the LLDD-Hyphen-L affectionately calls "Mommy Teens"; and Ms. Fely, who the LLDD-Hyphen-L affectionately calls "Mama Fe", and I affectionately call "Mamafe Mamasa Mamakusa".

Anyway, it was "Mommy Teens" who was in London recently, and the LLDD-Hyphen-L and I took the opportunity to bring her to some places in the UK that we've heard much about but never actually been to. More particularly, we decided to take a day trip to beautiful Bath, setting of some of the most famous romantic literature in history.

Bath, of course, is also home to other romantic literature greats, namely Jane Austen and her classic novels. Now, as a dude, I confess to not knowing much about Ms. Jane or her work, but the LLDD-Hyphen-L is a big fan, and she (and our tour bus guide) assure me that we should get excited over the following places pictured:

(appeal to readers: what exactly am I looking at here?)

Fortunately, Bath is such a lovely place that you don't have to be a Jane fangirl to appreciate it's charms.

At the center of town is a private garden/park that's so beautiful and picturesque the newlywed couple above made it their wedding shoot location. Ang mali lang nila, ginawa nila harap-harapan sa amin ni LLDD-Hyphen-L, so of course we matched them cheese-for-cheese with our own pre-nup photo shoot re-enactment.

Bath is also known for its, well, baths. Particularly famous is the town's ancient Roman spa complex which features thousand year-old hot springs and pools...

...amazing relics and artifacts...

...models and dioramas depicting typical Roman life (complete with blush-inducing nude miniatures [bottom] that beg a slew of "aw, look at his little __" jokes)...

...and, of course, questionable gift shop merchandise tie-ins.

But it's all good, because the Roman baths gave off such a pampered, luxurious and indulgent vibe that all lady visitors couldn't help but feel (and pose) like they were Roman goddesses themselves.

And as we head towards the last stages of our tour, we encounter an ancient wishing well where the LLDD-Hyphen-L drops a coin to wish for an early return to and a longer stay at beautiful, historic and romantic Bath.

And then this suddenly appears on the well's walls, and I begin to wonder if the LLDD-Hyphen-L's wish actually involved some sort of Jane Austen/Gladiator spa fantasy