One Amazing Week!

A couple of weeks ago I wrote that my mom would be visiting for my birthday. I can now happily report that the visit was amazing! As we did a bit of travelling, I thought I'd share some of the highlights. (Note: all of the pictures here are ones we took!)

The first day my mom was here we decided to dedicate to Norwich. My mom has visited Norwich before (she first came here in 1990), but this time I was able to show her all of my favorite parts of Norwich rather than just wander aimlessly like we did two and a half years ago when she first dropped me off at UEA. My personal favourite spot is Tombland, just outside of the cathedral, so that's where we spent a lot of time. Not only does it date back to Viking times, but it is also one of the most beautiful parts of the city, has amazing restaurants, and like I said, is set perfectly against the background of the Norman cathedral. In Tombland we had a bit of a wander, visited the cathedral (one of the only free cathedrals in the UK - St Paul's in London costs £12.50 per ticket!), and had lunch at an amazing restaurant called Farmer Browns (which I highly recommend!). We also spent a good chunk of time perusing shops in Chapelfield mall, which despite being where I work part-time during the week, I never get tired of!

Last Wednesday was my birthday, so our Norwich family friends offered to drive us out to Blickling Hall to see the place where Anne Boleyn was born. As someone who'd recently finished off a dissertation about Restoration England, I was also keen to see a place Charles II had visited during his reign. Anyway - it was gorgeous! The weather left a bit to be desired, but I must admit it gave the grounds a thoroughly English backdrop (mist, a bit of rain, ludicrously green fields, all against red brick and leaded glass). I've definitely made a note to come back to visit the gardens in spring, when hopefully they'll be a little more colorful than their end-of-February counterparts.

On the way back to the city we stopped to have tea in Aylsham, which was an adorable sort-of suburb of Norwich I'd never been to, so that was lovely. A few hours later we finished off my birthday with a wonderful dinner at The Chequers, a slightly out-of-the-way pub just outside of the city, which again simply felt incredibly English. If you're sensing a theme here, it's because my mom really, really loves all things English (this probably being half of the reason I was interested in uni in England in the first place!) so whenever we did something, we tried to make sure it was as English as possible.

The next day we woke up, crossed our fingers for better weather, and headed off to Cambridge around 10 o'clock. We were incredibly lucky as on our train journey over, the sun finally decided to break through the clouds and while it brought with it a bit of a chilly breeze, it made walking around Cambridge (and taking photos) absolutely perfect! We walked from the train station to Kings College and from there made our way to a few of the other colleges, including St. John's, which we paid £2.40 to gain admittance to see the famous Bridge of Sighs and the gorgeous 15th century buildings. In the afternoon we took a punting tour on the River Cam and then had tea and scones just outside of St. John's. All in all, it was a wonderful day!

Friday we made our way to London, and then Saturday we spent being tourists. We took a double-decker bus tour of the city, spent hours wandering Harrods, and eventually made our way to the Comedy Theatre near Picadilly Circus to see The Children's Hour, which starred Keira Knightley, Elizabeth Moss (who I love in Mad Men), and Tobias Menzies (who I LOVED in Rome!). We got rained on in fits and starts throughout the day, but by the late afternoon the sun again decided to break through the clouds and whilst getting lost on our way to a Radley store near Sloane Square, my mom and I actually had a great time discovering random fancy neighborhoods and adorable brick-laden sidestreets.

The next day my mom flew back to California, which was really sad (I miss her already!!), but I think it's fair to say that the trip was a definite, definite success.

So that's it! I won't bore you any longer, but I had such a great time, I had to share! Thanks for reading!

Kathy
American Student Ambassador