A Morning in Norwich.

I spent a few hours (and a few pounds) in Norwich a couple of weekends ago, it is very much a city of opposites.  Designer stores rub shoulders with Primark, jewellery shops with security guards on the doors sit between charity shops, stockbrokers are surrounded by market stalls.

There also seems to be a lot of Gentleman's Clubs on the walk from the train station to the city centre, great expanses of black glass and chrome.  I saw some of the 'artistes' leave as I was walking past at 9.30 in the morning.

I didn't realise that there was a castle in Norwich so I was surprised to see signs to one so I decided to check it out.

The first impression is somewhat spoiled by the huge glass lift.

This is a view from, and of, the balcony running around the inside of the walls.

You can access the garderobes from the balcony, I did, and I have the bump on the head to prove it!  There are signs up telling you that the ceiling is low, what they don't tell you is that it gets lower.

In the lower level of the keep, there is a display retelling the stories of the people who were held there when it was a prison.  It wasn't gory enough for me, I was looking forward to reading stories of torture.  But there were dressing up outfits for children.

Further into the castle there are several permanent displays - there is an Egyptian room, natural history (including bones and teeth from mammoths) and several others.  There is also a cafe and, of course, a gift shop.

After the castle, I had a wander around the shops, and there are hundreds of them!  I really wasn't expecting anything much and was pleasantly surprised.  I will go back again for another visit, but I would definitely allow myself more time.

My Weekend in Wymondham, Norfolk.

Last weekend I was invited to a birthday party, as I haven't taken much annual leave this year I made a weekend of it and headed over to Norfolk on the Friday.  The journey there was uneventful, which is more than I can say about the return journey, but more about that later.

I had booked a single room at the hotel, I had stayed in the same hotel last year too and was perfectly happy in the single room that I had, but I was given a free upgrade to a double room.

I didn't do much on the Friday as it is quite a long day when I travel over, having left home at 10.30am I did not arrive at the hotel until after 4pm, so I had a walk round, got something to eat and then chocolate and wine to take back to the room.

Saturday morning I was up bright and early.  I went for a walk past the Abbey and up to the old railway station, it was a nice walk along the river and I got to see more of the town.

Lunchtime I headed off to the pub up the road, I was going to be all grown up and have a mature cheese & ham sandwich, but The Cross Keys had Fish Finger sandwiches on the menu, I haven't had one of those for years so I treated myself.

It was then time to head off to the party.  As it was a nice day I decided to walk there, it was only a mile or so.   When I was crossing the bridge over the main road I heard a noise, I looked down and there was a steam engine travelling along.

Most of the party was spent catching up with people that I had not seen for a while, but I also met some new people too, there was plenty of food and there may have been some alcohol too.

Sunday was very foggy, so again I was up and about early.  I walked back up to the Abbey to take some more photos in the fog.

These photos do not do the fog justice, it was extremely foggy.

The train from Norwich to London was very busy, luckily I had a reserved seat.  I arrived in London to find that my usual underground route to Euston from Liverpool Street was unavailable due to the Northern Line being closed between Angel and Euston so I had to plan an alternative route.

There isn't much time between the Norwich train arriving and the Coventry train leaving although it is plenty of time for my usual underground route, and in my rush I caught the tube going in the wrong direction so had to get off at the next station.  Those of you that use the London Underground will know that it is rarely a case that when you swap trains you can step off one, cross the platform and get onto another, the change always seems to require climbing up several flights of steps, walking miles round various corridors and then back down steps to the platform.

Once I arrived at the right platform I was pleased that there was a train already there, I hurried on and threw myself into a seat.

I then realised that I was the only person on it.

There was no-one else either on the train, nor on the platform.  There was no noise, not even any announcements.  The display in the carriage which tells you the station was blank.  

I am not someone who is easily scared, but I have watched my fair share of horror movies and read my fair share of horror stories, I was sitting there expecting the lights to all start flickering and going off one by one.

Suddenly there was a noise and people started to appear, phew!

I made it to Euston and my final train with about 5 minutes to spare, the rest of the journey was uneventful.

I am doing it all again in 4 weeks time, this time for a Hallowe'en party, I had best find a costume!