Yesterday Will showed me around Norwich (a city within Norfolk), where he was born and raised. This involved not only seeing the city itself, but also a few really nice landmarks: first, the Norwich cathedral, an absolutely gorgeous church that was finished at the end of the eleventh century, and Norwich castle, which was finished a few years earlier. It was, at one time, home to a medieval court. Norwich actually has the largest number of surviving medieval churches in England -- there were seventeen of them that we could see from just one view from the top of the castle. Some of them are still used as churches, and some of them are now used for other things (we went by one that is now a performing arts school, and little girls in dance attire were going in and out).
Norwich cathedral, though, is the big one, and we went there first. There was a service going on, and I'll point out that I think it would be much more fun to be religious in England than it would be in America. Just being in the cathedral, surrounded by walls, art, and tombs that were nearly a thousand years old, and hearing the beautiful music, made me, a very non-religious person, feel more religious than I ever have in my entire life. There's just something particularly magical about the setting.
Norwich castle was similarly magical to be in. It's been periodically revamped and reorganized, but they've done well in keeping most of it feeling and looking rather medieval. It's a strange (but fascinating) feeling to stand in a room that has been around for so long, and that medieval Europeans once stood (and feasted) in. We went to the top of the castle to the battlements, and got a few really good views of the city from there.
What we also saw at Norwich castle, though, via the mini museums that they have going on there, is that Boudica came from Norfolk! I studied Boudica a few years ago, and for those of you who don't know, she was a pre-medieval queen who led a successful raid against invading Romans. She has a wonderful story. I was really moved to find out that I got to visit her homeland.
After seeing the city (and, of course, visiting a pub), Will's mom picked us up and drove us down to England's east coast, where I got to see the shore. The pebble beach was nothing like the white-sand beaches of California, but it was very nice and beautiful nonetheless. We went to dinner, too, but I'll wait until my next post before I go into traditional English food. :)
Today we're going to see Will's dad, and then tomorrow it's off to Paris. It's been lovely so far seeing the city where he grew up, and getting to stay in his old house.
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