May 14 - Norwich

 May 14 - Norwich

A busy last full day in Norwich today, out visiting a real mixed bag of themes, religion, nature, and history (plus cuisine if you include eating mussels in a Belgian beer barn! 😂🍻)


First off a trip to Norwich’s other cathedral, ‘St John the Baptist’ (RC).  Smaller and newer than the city’s Anglican one, it’s impressive exterior and the magnificent interior make it well worth a visit for anyone interested in architecture (or religion come to that! 😇)

Our second port of call was to a local ‘Plantation Garden’, a restored English Heritage Victorian town garden, located in a former 3-acre chalk quarry.  With a gothic fountain, flower beds, lawns, Italianate terrace, and woodland, walking in felt like an oasis, it was beautiful.  Although a few were a little past their best, there’s also some very lovely flower displays adding a lot of colour throughout. 

Our last visit of the day was to Blickling Estate, a beautiful National Trust property. Set on over 4,600 acres the Manor House is in pristine condition, and the furnishings, books, tapestries, and paintings are amazing too. In addition, the grounds are pretty special too, having a ‘parterre’, a walled garden, an orangery, and a large man-made lake around the house.  Although mainly known for being the birthplace of Anne Boleyn, the actual building was not built until the reign of James I, some one hundred years later. It was also, at one point, owned by the family of Hobart’s, for whom the town is named!  

In preparation for our upcoming trip, this evening we went out to dinner to a lovely local Belgian pub and, although I’m not so sure that we actually need any practice, the mussels and beer were delicious 😊.  However, I’m not too sure about the name of the beer Jane’s drinking! 😂



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