聰明旅行家 第一季 1080P 中文字幕 Smart.Travels.S04E01.巴斯和南威爾士 中文字幕 Bath..South.Wales
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220 次觀看·2025年10月27日
Ready To Cast You Under An Enchanted Spell
This Trip, We're Conjuring Up A Bit Of Magic
As We Quest For Camelot, Georgian Elegance
And Wild Welsh Beauty
Next, It's Bath And Southern Wales
On Smart Travels
Smart Travels Is A Grand Tour Of The Old World
The People, Places, Sites And Distinctly European Flavors
Our Host Is Travel Writer And Columnist Rudy Baxa
Public Radio's Original Savvy Traveler
Now, Tips, Trips And Secret Places On Smart Travels
Once Upon A Time, There Was A Magical Land
Where Roman Legions Lounged In Steamy Baths
Where King Arthur Freed Excalibur From A Stone
And Where Noble Knights Sought The Holy Grail
It Was A Place Of Brooding Castles And Pious Abbeys
Rolling Pastures And Inviting Forests
And It Was A Land Of Chivalry, Romance And Adventure
I'm standing on the border between England and Wales
A place where history, mystery and legend converge
We'll investigate some of the stories
That surround this intriguing area
We'll sift through the facts behind the fiction
And just maybe, even ask for a bit of guidance
From Merlin himself
The south of Britain holds some terrific sights
That are easily accessible from London
We'll savor Georgian loveliness in Bath
And delve into the legends of Glastonbury
Then it's off to Wales and the Wye River Valley
For castles, country fairs and more
To me, Bath is England's most mesmerizing city
It made a name for itself
Thanks to a bubbling natural spring at its center
2,000 years ago
As the great Roman Empire spread across Europe
Roman legions invaded Britain
And they built a temple in Bath here at the springs
These ancient sites are truly a must-see
Here, Roman soldiers came to socialize
And soak in the soothing mineral waters
We're looking at the Great Bath
Which is the largest of the series of pools
That made up the Roman site
It's fed with hot spring water
Playing through directly from the spring
And the water is 116 Fahrenheit
So if you dip your elbow into a hot water bath
And put a thermometer in
You'll probably find it's about that temperature
The Roman baths at Bath are unusual
Not just because of their exceptional size
But simply because Roman baths
Didn't normally have so much hot water in them
In those days, hot water was expensive to create
But here at Bath, they had an unlimited supply
Over a million liters a day coming out of the ground
The Romans used this plentiful hot water supply
To their best advantage
And created one of the largest bathhouses
North of the Alps
After the fall of the empire, these walls fell, too
And the bath was buried
In the late 1700s, excavators stumbled across
These Roman ruins
The sacred spring is at the very heart of the baths
The Romans built a grand temple next to the spring
Dedicated to the goddess Sulis Minerva
A deity with healing powers
After Roman rule ended,
Bath spent centuries as a quiet religious center
When Queen Anne visited here in 1702,
the town suddenly became the in-place
of fashionable English society
Just as it was years ago,
the pump room today is a wonderfully elegant place
designed to serve Bath's stylish patrons
Not only did people come to soak in the baths,
but they also came to drink from the pump
The spring water was said to have curative properties
It's very warm
And has a bit of the eau de sulfur about it
But I'm feeling better already
At one time, these tea rooms were the social hub
of the 18th-century spa community
Bath transformed itself into a playground for the wealthy
with Master of Ceremonies Richard Bow Nash at its helm
He was the person who would have overseen
all the events that were taking place
and ensured the entertainment was appropriate
But he also produced a set of rules
and ensured that they were enforced
And these rules, for instance,
forbade the wearing of swords,
forbade dueling,
ensured that ladies did not wear aprons
And if you didn't observe these rules,
then you did so at your peril
In the assembly rooms across town,
writer Jane Austen attended Glamorous Balls
She wrote vividly of the flirting and social intrigues
that went on here
Bath's popularity grew,
it was rebuilt in an almost entirely Georgian style
On the Royal Crescent,
thirty stone houses stand in a graceful arc
Some consider this the loveliest street in Britain
It was actually Bath's popularity
that led to its decline as a fashionable resort
As the middle classes descended on the city,
it was no longer the exclusive playground
of the well-to-do,
who abandoned it for seaside resorts
Bath settled into life
as an inexpensive yet refined retirement community
But its grand heyday
left an extraordinary architectural legacy
A short stroll from the Roman Baths,
you'll find the oldest house in town,
Sally Lund's
This small restaurant was built on the foundations
of a kitchen dating to Roman times
Sally Lund was a young French refugee
who came to England more than 300 years ago
and set up a pastry shop here
She began baking a rich round bread
now known as the Sally Lund Bun
which became a popular delicacy
in Georgian England
You can recapture the city's
elegant Georgian spirit
here at the Bath Spa Hotel
Although the hotel is far enough
from the energetic city streets
to be a peaceful retreat,
the famous baths and modern spas
are within easy walking distance
This was originally a private residence
and it still retains the charm
of a traditional home
but with all the amenities of a luxury hotel
For such a small country,
England has an amazing concentration
of historic and cultural sites
Driving here can be a lot of fun
and you can't go more than a few miles
without stumbling upon
one fascinating site or another
We're making a day trip south to Wells
and then on to Glastonbury
The cathedral town of Wells
is a medieval gem
Long before the arrival
of William the Conqueror,
this town was an important player
in the Saxon kingdom of Wessex
Today it's England's
smallest cathedral city
Most visitors come to see
the magnificent cathedral
that was begun in the late 1100s
and took more than 300 years to build
Along with the other towns in the area,
Wells prospered as a center of the
wool trade in the Middle Ages
The cathedral nearly met with disaster
When late in construction,
the foundations began to sink
But when cleverly designed scissor arches
were added to the nave,
the beautiful structure was saved
Today the cathedral is home
to the bishop's seat
and looks after the faithful
of both Bath and Wells
Our next stop is the town of Glastonbury
Many different elements of mysticism and religion
intersect here in Glastonbury
Shrouded in legend and revered by pilgrims,
Glastonbury has a wonderful
otherworldly quality
This is the reputed birthplace
of Christianity in England
and a center of Arthurian myth
Glastonbury Abbey is probably
the oldest religious foundation in England
going right back possibly to Roman times
According to legend,
the first community here
was founded by Joseph of Alamathere
He comes into the gospels
as the rich man who supplied the tomb
where the body of Christ was laid
Well, there certainly was a church on this site
so old that nobody knew who had put it there
and the stories really grew around that
Glastonbury is linked with
several King Arthur stories
including one in which Guinevere
was carried here by a rival noble
The more famous story
is that Arthur was buried here
that his body was brought here
after his last battle
and laid in a grave
in the graveyard of Glastonbury Abbey
The water at Chalice Well
has a mysterious red tint
One claim is that it's the resting place
of the Holy Grail
and the water is infused with Christ's blood
Researchers have shown
that there are rust deposits
at the bottom of the stream
But many people still believe
the water has healing properties
The striking Glastonbury Tor
can be seen for miles around
Tors are natural hill formations
This one is topped by the remains
of a 14th century church
Some believe that Glastonbury Tor
is Avalon where King Arthur sleeps
Each year thousands of tourists
tromp happily through the little villages
in England's countryside
Charming as they are
those little thatched towns
can get pretty crowded
But we're heading off the beaten path
to check out the sumptuous scenery
and friendly people of southeastern Wales
Here there are fewer tourists
and some wonderful lesser-known sites
England and Wales meet here
in the beautiful Wye River Valley
The Welsh and English scuffled hard
for control of this territory
and the warfare left a rich and regal history
We timed our visit to coincide
with the Royal Welsh Show
This agricultural extravaganza
takes place every July
near the town of Bilth Wells
It's an unforgettable celebration
of rural life in Wales
The show attracts spectators
and competitors from far and wide
and contenders in every category
vie for top prizes
In the sheepdog trials
highly trained dogs
under the guidance of a single shepherd
work to control their woolly charges
Here you can tap your toes
to some of the best folk music in Britain
and even try your hand at farm life
Yeah, city boy milks wooden Welsh cow
All right
Some of the more adrenaline-charged competitions
involve pole climbing, logging, and wood chopping
The Royal Welsh Show recently celebrated
its 100th anniversary
and year after year
visitors keep coming back to join in the fun
Our home base in Wales
is a little hotel
in the town of Crickhowell
From here we can explore
the Wye River Valley's best sights
Wales is loaded with B&Bs
and charming smaller hotels
The Bear with its cobbled courtyard
and lovely garden
is one of my favorites
The building itself dates
all the way back to 1432
Today it's warm and full of character
and the restaurant and pub
have gained recognition throughout Britain
Here you are
Thank you very much
Come to B&W
Hay-on-Wye
a small town on the English-Welsh border
has a rich history
dating back to pre-Roman times
But these days it's famous for one thing
Books
In fact, it's known throughout Britain
as the town of books
and it boasts the biggest
second-hand book trade in the world
It seems that in 1977
a second-hand bookseller named Richard Booth
pulled a publicity stunt
He declared Hay an independent kingdom
with himself as its king
and his horse prime minister
The king printed currency on rice papers
so that people could put their money
where their mouths are
and issued Hay passports and car stickers
Well, the bookseller's stunt paid off
Since 1988, Hay has been the site
of a literary festival
that attracts names from all over the world
And the many hard-to-find books available here
have drawn ever-increasing numbers
of book dealers and collectors
to the town
The Abergavenny area
is renowned for regional wine
fresh produce and especially lamb
At the Clanwenarth restaurant
we went in search of a traditional Welsh meal
This is local lamb
That'll be a little bit milder
and a little bit more tender
And it should be very succulent
very sort of sweet succulent
This is really good lamb
Wine making has recently seen
an upsurge in this area
And nearby Sugarloaf Vineyards
has discovered these south-facing hills
an ideal growing site
Welsh wines are quite underappreciated
Not many people are aware
of the quality produced here
Especially some excellent white wines
We describe it as a smooth blend
well-rounded
Oh, it's very nice
With a hint of honey flavors
And it seems to be really popular
with the visitors that we get here
Is there something a consumer
who wants real Welsh wine
should look for on a label?
I would say if you're looking for regional wine
instead of Welsh table wine
it will say on the label now
Welsh regional wine
Which means all the grapes are from Wales
Means all the grapes are from Wales
and their quality is short as well
And at the Sugarloaf Winery
do we say cheers as well?
We say cheers
Well, cheers
Cheers
Thank you, Louise
Thanks
A great way to take in
Wales' beautiful scenery
is by steam train
Merthyr Tydfil is the oldest line in South Wales
The train takes us through Brecon Beacons
a national park that covers
more than 500 spectacular miles
The Brecon Beacons
is one of Britain's most treasured parks
and the locals guard its pristine beauty
The park's motto is
Kill nothing but time
Take nothing but photographs
And leave nothing but goodwill
At one time
iron working dominated South Wales
and the world's first steam-hauled train
ran from here in 1804
But iron eventually took a backseat to coal
as the quest for black gold gripped the country
This area was once notorious
for its coal mining industry
Maybe you remember the classic film
How Green Was My Valley
Though commercial coal mining
has all but ended here
you can get a vivid reminder
of that tough industry
in the town of Blind Avon
at the Big Pit National Mining Museum
The miners spent long hours
doing difficult, often back-breaking work
in cramped spaces
Men now are still suffering
from breathing problems
You get white finger
which is your fingers are damaged
from vibrating tools
So you do pain
in the long run with your health
The wages were low
and the conditions always dangerous
Well, you always had a danger of gases
You always had a danger of
how can you put it
in flood of water possibly
And obviously as you were mining the coal
you were disturbing the roof
The strata sometimes
that could cave in as well
There's always a threat
all the way through
During your visit to Big Pit
ex-miners suit you up in helmets
and safety lamps
before lowering you
300 feet down a mine shaft
for an underground tour
First of all, I'd like to welcome you
all to Big Pit
It is a mining museum
but it's still classed as a working mine
So we are not allowed now by law
to take any contraband underground
Like South England
Wales has some terrific ancient sites
Carleon means camp of the legion
And more than 5000 men of the Roman legion
were once based here
The troops have been sent to Wales
to crush the rebellious native tribes
The Romans founded a fortress here at Carleon
And they used it to guard over the region
for more than 200 years
In the amphitheater
6000 spectators could cheer on gladiator battles
and other bloody sports
Carleon's long and varied history
has fostered many legends
And one of the most enduring is Camelot
Camelot, the very name evokes visions
of chivalry and romance
Some people say that this is the site
where mighty King Arthur's palace stood
Of course, several other sites in Britain
make the same claim
But it's fun to imagine Arthur
and his noble knights
seated at the round table
vowing to defend their kingdom
In the steep wooded Wye Valley
the magnificent ruins of Tinturn Abbey
have enchanted visitors for centuries
The poet William Wordsworth
once wrote a sonnet called
Lines Composed A Few Miles Above Tinturn Abbey
He said that the site did
connect the landscape with the quiet of the sky
The great Cistercian Abbey
was founded in 1131
and became one of the richest
and most important monastic houses in Wales
But when King Henry VIII
broke with the church in the 16th century
Tinturn Abbey and other monasteries
in Britain were dissolved
All that remains is the graceful beauty
of the abbey's skeletal ruins
The churches and coal mines of South Wales
have forged a special kind of community spirit here
and helped foster one of the area's
most beloved traditions
the Welsh Men's Choir
We've dropped in on a rehearsal
of the Garn-de-Faith Gleamon Choir in Pontypool
You'll find choirs throughout Wales
and many welcome visitors
Well, the one cup there
was given to us by the German choir
from the neighborhood of Heidelberg
that we do exchanges with
And they presented us with that cup
the first time they came
And many of the older members of the choir
were quite anti
having a liaison with the German choir
relatively soon after the war
when a lot of them had lost family in the war
But we went ahead with it
And inscribed on the cup
there was the phrase
Speak with me and I am your friend
Sing with me and I am your brother
And we always thought
that was a very good motto
England and Wales
they work their magic on you
With enchanted castles
mystical abbeys
and romantic scenery
it won't take some sleight of hand
from Merlin to draw you in
And if you're looking for a little
happily ever aftering
you might just want to give this place a try
I'm Rudy Maxa
Thank you so much for joining me
