A Trip to Norwich

I was born and bred in Norwich, so yesterday it seemed truly odd going into the city I pop into most days for tedious tasks, this time with a big fat camera around my neck. However, since the boyfriend was still down I wanted to show him my fair city in all its glory, which meant turning into a bit of a tourist myself!

When we first got there I wasn't entirely sure where to begin. I don't know if this is just me, but when it comes to showing non-hometown friends around where I live I always go blank and forget anywhere and everywhere that might appeal to an outsider. When I'm on my own I tend to dash round the shops in the city centre as quickly as possible and head off home! However, I was surprised how pretty the city centre is when you stop for a minute. The castle is right by the shops, and looks pretty spectacular on the hilltop. The royal arcade (in the pictures below) is also crammed full of amazing shops, mostly independent and deliciously quirky. A top pick of mine is "Macarons & More" - I'm not even a huge fan of macarons, and I have a lot of time for that shop.

We then walked along my favourite part of the city, which is Elm Hill. It's very quintessentially British, with cobbled roads and mismatched buildings. It's definitely the sort of place where you have no idea what little shops could be lurking there. It's still city centre, but a bit off the beaten track so usually pretty quiet :)

Perfect for a Saturday stroll in the afternoon sun. 

The last place I insist that people HAVE to see is the Cathedral. The Cathedral itself is obviously mightily impressive, but for me it's the grounds that make it so special. Norwich does pretty well for its greenery - there's lovely gardens at Chapelfield and the Castle, to name just a couple of big'uns. But there's something very peaceful about the Cathedral close, especially if you walk all the way down & sit by the river. I have lots of fantastic memories of picnics & sunbathing sessions there with friends over the years, and I decided to add to my memory bank this time by forcing the boy to take selfies with me ;)

(Yes, I must confess that afternoon we became those people, but don't worry there weren't any kissing ones!)

Naturally, all that posing made us pretty thirsty so there was only one place to go - The Belgian Monk.

The Belgian Monk is definitely my favourite pub in Norwich, its brilliance means it is usually packed but since it was quite early we were able to get a table rather than awkwardly holding our drinks in the corner (I am not one of those people that looks cool leaning against bars). 

The beer selection in there is AMAZING. I'm not a huge fan of regular beer but their fruit beer selection seriously cannot be rivalled. I opted for my poison of choice aka cherry beer. Which is almost better than attending a party with Beyonce. Almost.

I would have loved to stay in Norwich sightseeing longer but after all that I was completely pooped. I'm hoping another friend will come to stay soon so I can take them around and find places that I've missed!

Have you been to Norwich, or any of the places I've mentioned? I'd love to hear where you like to go most!

:)

Once upon a time in Cambridge

Since I have a visitor in the form of my gentleman friend down in the magical land of East Anglia, I decided I should show him all the delights that the south of England has to offer! I have a LOT of time for Cambridge, so I thought I would take him there. It's about an hour long drive from where I live (or an hour and a half if you're like me and get hopelessly lost.. twice) so Cambridge is the perfect place to go for a day trip treat!

The weather wasn't exactly on our side, but luckily Cambridge is so pretty that having a wander round the town would be fun even if it was pouring :) although you do have to watch your step very carefully to avoid being mown down by a bicycle!

The town itself isn't what I'd call huge, but it does have a select bunch of really nice shops :) we had a potter round the John Lewis, where I fell in love with a rangemaster oven... sadly I don't have £2000, or (perhaps more importantly!) my own house yet, so for the time being at least I had to say my farewells. Cambridge also has a really cool marketplace which I love having a nose around. I am a big fan of the contrast of the super chic and the retro that there is in the town!

Since I had the new camera round my neck like a true tourist, I felt it just wouldn't be right if I didn't put it to use and reinforce the stereotype ;). Fortunately you don't have to look far for good photo opportunities, as several of the colleges are bang in the centre and they are invariably BEAUTIFUL. I only wish my brain had been jazzy enough to allow me to study at one. :(

Then it was time for the obligatory wander down to the river. We umm-ed and ahh-ed about punting, but since the sky was looking a bit threatening we decided to keep to the land. However, that is not to say that the weather put us off getting ice cream ;).

And that concluded our visit to Cambridge for the day! :(

I will definitely go back again as soon as I can, I do love it so. <3

If anyone has any recommendations of good places to visit when I'm next there (especially food places as I must say we were lazy and opted for a quick Subway!) then I'd absolutely love to hear them :)

General week chit-chat

This post isn't a particularly exciting or even particularly well thought out one, but I just wanted to share what I've been up to over the past few days which has stopped me posting :)

Saturday & Sunday 

I worked ALL DAY BOTH DAYS. I work in a residential home for young people with special needs and challenging behaviours which I absolutely love love love, but after two full-on days I was quite ready for a hot chocolate and bed.

Monday

Even though it was my day off I got up early & went into Norwich, the city nearest to where I live (I'm a country bumpkin through and through) with my mother bear. The main reason I wanted to go into Norwich was to make a cheeky purchase of a new camera (!). I decided I didn't want anything too fancy, because quite frankly I would NOT know how to use it, and they can be a lot of money to spend on something whose buttons and knobs would bamboozle a camera newbie. After talking to the sales assistant in John Lewis, who was so lovely and helpful, I decided that a bridge camera was probably the most suitable option for me at the moment, and opted for the Samsung WB1100F. I haven't really had a proper chance to play with my new toy so my opinions are on hold so far! But I particularly liked the fact it had a Wi-Fi connection so I could put pictures on my laptop easily, so get ready for some very picture-heavy blog posts. ;)

After making my very exciting purchase, we went for lunch. We have a bit of a tradition, and always go to the same place - a burger joint called Captain America's. If anyone is ever in Norwich I'd definitely recommend paying it a visit, if you like all things 60's and USA then it's almost certainly for you! We also had a mooch round some of the charity shops. There is a huge British Heart Foundation store that was full of furniture, and I fell a bit in love with a gorgeous dresser. Sadly I drive a Nissan Micra, not a van, so we said our goodbyes. 

Since we were in the city and had both read the book, my mum and I decided then to go and see The Fault in Our Stars. It was so, SO good, and definitely lived up to the book! We both cried our eyes out, as did everyone in the cinema. After the film ended we went to the toilets to get some tissues, and saw at least 10 other people from that screening doing the same haha.

Tuesday

I had work again on Tuesday, so a fair bit of my day was taken up with paperwork and other such delights. However, in the evening I went back into the city and met up with my gorgeous friend Sara. After pondering long and hard about where to go for dinner (our friendship is partly based on how much we hate decisions!) we decided to go to T.G.I's round the corner. We both had ribs and a bottomless coke, and it was DELICIOUS. Even more lovely was when we finished off the evening with Earl Grey tea and catch ups back in Sara's flat. Dinner and chats is definitely my idea of a perfect evening.

Wednesday 

Yesterday I woke up early and made a start at Sorting My Bedroom. Since my boyfriend was coming down from Leeds to stay that evening, I felt I couldn't leave it in the state it was currently in (I honestly can't express the horrorful state. Even I must admit it was VILE). So armed with bin bags and boxes, I enlisted the help of my dad and got cracking. There's definitely still heaps and heaps to do and sort, but at least now I don't have to perform an elegant deer-like leap to get across to my desk. 

After a morning of "sorting", I was thoroughly ready for a break, so I went on over to my friend Anna's house. Since she goes to Uni away as well I only get to see her in holidays :( she is definitely one of the most lovely and funny friends I have, so it was great to see her and catch up with her :) especially when it's over a mini-milk.

After I left my boyfriend told me his train would be late, I popped over to my friend Josh's house to see him. Our tradition when we see each other goes as follows: I pick Josh up from his house, we go to Tesco's, buy some salted microwave popcorn, Ben & Jerry's Cookie Dough ice cream, and chocolate fudge brownie Frijj milkshake. We then take our feast back to his house, and put on a horror film. The only change to our tradition last night was that Josh had already been to Tesco and had the goods already ;) what a good boy *pat on head for Josh*. After scrutinising IMDB for horrors (most of which at least one of us had seen - the good ones anyway!) we decided to go for A Serbian Film, which neither of us had seen. I had to leave to pick up my fella from the station before it ended, but it was HORRIBLE. I'm tempted to google the ending, but quite frankly I don't think I even want to know where that film was leading. Is it possible to un-see things?!

Thursday

Aaaaand that brings us to today, folks! Ben is currently fast asleep still so I left him to his fly-catching and snuck back to my laptop to write this. I'm not sure what we're doing this weekend yet (today I have the second half of root canal treatment so I think fun might have to be postponed until tomorrow, boo hiss). Whatever we end up doing though, I'll be sure to christen my new camera ;)