Another beautiful English Country day and my last full day in Tunstall. The family came back late last night and the kitties and Teddy were excited to see them although Teddy clearly began to sense my leaving yesterday afternoon when I was packing my suitcase and he has been reluctant to leave my side. I've grown very attached to him an the kitties but it's time to move on and for them to get back to their normal routines. I was hoping his parents wouldn't notice that Teddy had gained a little weight since I've been here but they couldn't help but notice. Fortunately they weren't upset that I spoiled him rotten and just happy their furry ones were so well taken care of and were given lots of love in their absence. And I know with in a few weeks of being back on their routine here he will be back to his svelte self.
I took him for a short walk before the family took me to see some of the countryside and ultimately to the large city of Norwich in Norfolk county. It's about a 45 minute drive past gorgeous fields, tiny towns and very small villages. Including a town called Halesworth which is very charming but also boasts a large theatre/arts complex called "The Cut" housed in a refurbished 18th century building. Such a great space clearly and they have hosted shows that were featured off-Broadway so it clearly gets some international works and so close to Tunstall. It's great how much artistic outlets there are in this rural area.
Norwich has so many shops and reminds me of Cardiff, Wales with several large shopping centers as well as a charming town center with little shops and a beautiful town hall as well as several large churches including the huge Catholic cathedral of St. John the Baptist. From there website is describes the cathedral as: "St John’s is the second largest Catholic cathedral in the UK. After nearly a century as the parish church of the Catholic community in Norwich it became the mother church of the new diocese of East Anglia in 1976. It now takes its place with its ‘elder sister’, the Anglican cathedral which is located in the centre of the city. Norwich is one of the few English cities to have two cathedrals and, over the last 30 years, we have grown closer in a spiritual and practical partnership."
We walked through the mall a bit so the family could pick up a few things they needed and then they took me to lunch at a very good Italian restaurant that is a chain establishment throughout England called "Pizza Express" and it really was delicious, I had a margarita pizza" yum, yum.
It was nice to chat with them and hear Jo, their 14 year old son chat about their experiences in Holland and Belgium where they did some sound healing seminars with children. He's a very sweet young man and I got some cute pictures of him with the Sooty cat.
Norwich, according to a web site is described " Norwich (ˈnɒrɪtʃ/ NORR-ich)is a city on the River Wensum in England. It is the regional administrative centre and county town of Norfolk. During the 11th century, Norwich was the largest city in England after London, and one of the most important places in the kingdom. Until the Industrial Revolution, Norwich was the capital of the most populous county in England and vied with Bristol as England's second city."
We also stopped in at an indoor shopping area which was so beautiful and I found online it's brief history "The Royal Arcade was opened in 1899. Its architect was George Skipper and it is built in Art Nouveau style. Glazed Doulton tiles depict peacocks and the floor came from Italy and was laid by Italian craftsmen. The lights are not contemporary with the building and were provided in the restoration in the 1980s. A local newspaper said:-“it’s as if a fragment of the Arabian Nights had been dropped into the heart of the old City”. Pevsner said it was “innocent from the front, but very naughty once its back is turned”. Langley’s Toy Shop is the only original business remaining in the Royal Arcade. The Arcade was built over the site of the Royal Hotel, an Elizabethan inn originally called The Angel although the name was changed in honour of Queen Victoria on her marriage."It is funny that in all the time I've been here, over 6 weeks, so many people have corrected my pronunciation of Norwich because I pronounce the "w" and as you can see from the above pronunciation breakdown they don't.
We had a nice drive back around 6pm and even saw, about 10 minutes before arriving to the house, a few bunnies in fields and one that decided to cross the street in front of us and fortunately far enough in advance that we had time to stop and let him take his time crossing. Teddy was in the back of the car the whole time but just chilling out so he missed all the excitement of a few bunny sightings.
The rest of the evening was very relaxing with a movie and just hanging out with the furry ones before I have to leave early tomorrow morning to catch my bus tour to Cornwall.
