this town is well known for the Roman baths and I’m not showing them here because I didn’t visit this time. I saw them in 1971 and I actually remember them fairly vividly. But this is an interesting town to visit so from a historical perspective I recommend spending one day or two days here.
I don’t know what this was promoting but maybe it was something related to pigs? That must be a good guess. This is just an intersection in the countryside to show the signage. It was very muddy since it had been raining very heavily for the past few weeks.A typical England breakfast. There’s not much flavor so bring your own sauces and spices.
Cambridge
You will still see these old telephone booths around the country. I didn’t check to see if the phones were working but I suspect many of them are not. It’s a beautiful cathedral. This is the one this week I liked the most due to the color arrangements. It’s nice to warn people actually this was in Cambridge. I missed looking up at the ceiling which you must do if you visit this tavern. It’s an interesting place to visit and I highly recommend recommended
Ely
this is a cute little town you will want to spend a day walking around in. As you can see below there is the home of Thomas Cromwell who was the Lord protector for a number of years after they killed Charles I am proclaimed a parliamentary government with him as the head. But he lived here for only 10 years even though it was the 10 years during the revolution.
This is the England way of saying not to throw your gum on the sidewalkCromwell’s kitchenAn old rendering of the house next to the large church which he attendedThis was the area before it had been filled in creating more land for farming and easier transportation.
Winchester
It’s interesting to know that Jane Austen is buried here
Reading
I first visited this town in 1971, the first train ride outside of London. I remember that it was an easy direct train. My cousin was coming to London on her European trip and I wanted to see her so I decided I would park the car in this town and then take the train into London. I did not want to drive in London.
As I travel around England I see a lot of these “street food“ restaurants, most of which are from southeast or east Asia. Many of them have been closed probably due to the lack of business. I looked at this and it didn’t seem that appetizing. It’s just something on rice which is more like poke bowl than Korean food.People were supporting England and Denmark and Greenland This Guinness extra stout I bought in the store but it’s made in Nigeria. Kind of strange I didn’t know that buses could read
Birmingham
every town seems to have its interesting little things. Near Birmingham new street station you’ll find mostly Hong Kong related restaurants and businesses with a smattering of Indian and some other shops. It’s a little confusing getting around the station so make sure you have your GPS maps working properly. I was very happy being here, not that I found a lot that was interesting but I certainly enjoyed the Hong Kong style food which was obviously created for their main customers, Hong Kong Chinese so it was very close to San Francisco Chinese restaurant flavors.
The Victoria pub here is just interesting at night time, the colors It’s nice they sell hooch which is called “hooch“.A symbol of Hong Kong influence in BirminghamI didn’t have much time to go into the cathedral so I just took this photo from the outside which I thought was kind of interesting
Worcester
I would bet Worcestershire sauce comes from here since Worcester is in Worcestershire. And originally I heard that the sauce concept was from Asia or India and was originally made with fish but gradually changed to include other ingredients.
The Guild HallThis is interesting advertising for a law firmInteresting name for the street And here you have fish Street. I didn’t smell any fish And of course they have to celebrate Denmark by having a Copenhagen StreetThese old churches need a lot of money to be maintained so this is one way they help keep the church in good shape. They had some event with kids inside which was kind of interesting. It’s like a community center
I stopped to see a home builder, model homes, to see some interesting things regarding England style home building. Here are a few things I found interesting.
You could see the radiator which is used for the main heating. I don’t really find these to be very effective but maybe it’s a less expensive way to heat the house? And putting it below the window?This is a typical electrical plug. The switches in the middle allow current to flow through the plugs which seems to be safer than not having them since you can cut the power so kids sticking things in the holes don’t get electrocuted.This might serve as the replacement for a circuit breaker? I didn’t ask to see but I suspect there are also circuit breakers somewhere. These were in the kitchen.I asked about this addition to the house which is not provided by the builder. This is just for show. I was interested to see how this would be heated. This addition in England is called a “conservatory”. I guess it must be conserving something. Most places I’ve been have these which I find helpful but kind of strange. You can turn these on and they are radiators which will dry your towels and also warm up the bathroom. But again I didn’t find the heat generated by these were really sufficient to keep the bathroom warm. After washing clothes, which I do every day, I put them on this rack so they dry out by morning but I don’t keep them on overnight because these tend to get fairly hot. But then again the one that my friend had in Paris seemed to keep the bathroom nice and warm.Just an interesting sticker
Worcester cathedral
Worcester Cathedral Nice windows The cathedral is very long The crypt contained the old portions of the cathedral, almost 1000 years of history You can see the foundation supports down here in the crypt This cathedral had one of the most beautiful pipe organs I’ve ever seen Beautiful and intricate design I was interested to find out who was buried here You can tell by the names these people buried here were Normans since it’s clear they came from Harcourt and Camvile. My family came from Tracy in Normandy Well, what do you know. King John is buried here, the guy who was forced to write a Magna Carta or be overthrown by the angles and the SaxonsHere lies King John. And I’m sure you know from history that he was the son of HenryII, the fellow depicted in “a lion in winter“ with Peter O’Toole and Catherine Hepburn.
England’s small towns are really interesting to walk around and enjoy the old buildings and see how they have been repurposed for shops and for other purposes.
Ely
Ely is an important town for England. This is where Oliver Cromwell looped for 10 years when he became the Lord protector after executing King Charles the first. This was the first attempt to create a republic which ultimately failed when Charles II became king evidently because Oliver‘s son failed to effectively carry on his father‘s leadership abilities.
Oliver Cromwell‘s homeThis is a visitor center as well as the house itself A little different history here. Actually during the 1500s England was not kind to the Jewish population.The dining room Entrance to the kitchen Moss growing on the side of the building Schizophrenic Shop. It’s an optician selling boots which have hearing problems. Just joking Saint Mary’s Church where Cromwell attended A cute old building
Winchester
This was a very complete graffiti wall Inside Winchester Cathedral The map of the inside of the cathedral There is an interesting collection of silver upstairs. This is from the 1700s A view from the silver collection area During the Civil War these windows were destroyed. After things settled down they took the glass shards and created what you see nowThe first bishop is buried hereThis is the original door from the 1100sThe place where the clergy sat during official ceremonies One of the original alters from the 1100s Yes, Jane Austen was buried hereThe spicy chicken above was a little bit sweet and not spicy. The salmon sushi was England style so the rice was very poorly made. William Walker spent weeks underneath the foundation during a flood and helped shore up the pilings so the cathedral would not collapse. He is memorialized here
Portsmouth
The HMS warrior As I was looking at the ship my cousin was on this Viking cruise ship passing by just as I was in Portsmouth. We later met up in London. I waved to her but she didn’t get my messageThis is the perfect EV Very quintessential British fish and chips The map of the dockyard. You have to pay 51 pounds to see everything. I didn’t pay so I got to just walk around the pier since it was already a little late in the afternoon and there was not enough time to see everything I just like this photo of the HMS warrior One of the ships inside the boat museum which is included in the free pier walk around The figurehead for the BenbowThe Royalcrest with the national flag A navy ship docked maybe for repairsThis is a strange version of the tardisNelson’s ship. This is a very extensive museum inside and probably very interesting.So Henry the eighth was walking on this pierThe Spinnaker tower
