A(nother) visit to Norwich

(It's a bit late, sorry.  The sentences didn't flow very well earlier)

 I really am getting old - I had totally forgotten that I did a trip to Norwich about a year and a half ago.  I wrote about it here. 

As we stopped at the drop off point I thought, I know where we are, and it all came back.  It was nice because I didn't need to spend much time finding my bearings.
I headed straight to the Forum to find the loo and managed to get a tourist map in the library.  I had a very nice coffee before arriving at the Castle Museum.

Going through the Royal Arcade, I had to take photos of these beauties.  Made of some sort of metal - aren't they lovely?

A bit of info about the castle.  It is one of the  finest surviving secular Norman building in Europe, the stone keep was started by William (II) Rufus and completed by his younger brother, Henry I, both sons of William the Conqueror.
It was very important at first but gradually its significance faded and it was used as a county gaol from the 14th century before it opened as a civic museum in 1894.
Since then it has developed and been improved and now, following a major development project with support from the National Lottery, it is a fine museum.
Now, visitors can see and explore the rooms of the royal palace, filled with furniture, textiles and decoration that would have been seen by Henry I.

The basement - this was originally split into two rooms with a stone wall down the length of the space - you can see the foundations under the glass.  In the left corner, there's a screen that plays a video of the history - very interesting and not too long.  

It doesn't show in this photo but the hanging lights outline where the wooden rafters would have been.

This was a hidden staircase, bricked in very early, and it shows the stairs pretty much in their original state rather than the rickety, fairly risky, worn away stairways we usually find in old castles.

It always amazes me how thick castle walls are.

The loos - or garderobes - were huge.  Room for up to sixteen bottoms in four compartments, with showed power and prestige at that time (says the guide).  We do still judge a place by its loos, don't we?  Thing of those posh shops and high end restaurants with really fancy and attended loos.

There was ye olde graffiti all over the place - people have always wanted to make their mark, haven't they?

This is the Virgin Mary (I think) and, over the centuries it has been worn smooth by being touched, stroked by the hands of worshippers.

A fireplace.  This was in the Great Chamber (I think) which also had an elaborate water basin and a well.  Mega luxury!

Being a weekday, there were a number of school groups.  It took me back to when I used to take the Y1s to a Victorian Experience Day at Braintree Museum.
The children were noisy, of course, but extremely well behaved, letting adults pass and being very polite.
Good for them and good for their teachers.

As well as all the history, there's also a museum covering natural history, fine art, decorative arts, the Royal Norfolk, Regimental Museum and other aspect of history such as medieval life, Anglo Saxons, Vikings and Romans.

I rather liked the large collection of teapots!

This also caught my attention.  Wow!

A view from the battlements - not the best picture because the gaps had safety glass and lifting my phone above the glass made it tricky to see what was in the view finder - but you get the idea . . .

By the time I had finished looking around the museum, taking in a diet coke and sausage roll in the cafe half way through (tasty), I headed for the shop where I found the compulsory fridge magnet(s) before leaving.

I took one more photo on the way out - the ancient keep with its Bath limestone facing and a far from ancient and very welcome lift for those who can't manage the hill and steps.

By the time I came out of the castle, there really wasn't time to walk past the Cathedral (which I 'did' very thoroughly last time) up and over the river to find the yarn/fabric shops and my feet were starting to hurt so I just did some gentle window shopping, including look in Jarrolds, a large, family run, department store which, I discovered provided a very refreshing pot of tea and slice of tiffin.  The tea was necessary, the tiffin not.  But it was good, all the same.
I nearly fell in the Jo Malone department but managed to stay firm, contenting my self with a good spray of my favourite perfumes.

I meandered round the market.  One of you said you find the market quite claustrophobic and I know what you mean - it's very - um - closed in and you have very little personal space.
Some of the street food looked and smelt amazing though.

I walked past the Guildhall which is the largest surviving medieval civic building outside of London.   I think it is rather lovely.

We were so lucky with the weather.  The forecasts had ranged from showers and drizzle through to torrential rain but none mentioned dry weather with sunshine.

Never was I more glad to get on the coach and sit down.  My feet and ankles are definitely older than the rest of me!!!

Will I go back?  Yes, I think I probably will.  There's so much more to see and places to explore.  Maybe next year . . .   and maybe next time I will remember beforehand that I already know what's there.  If I don't, please remind me, OK!   :-)