The adventure continues

A few days after we arrived I went to open a bank account.  EVERYONE told me it would take two weeks.  But, they lied.  I got a bank account on the spot, and the bank teller was American and gave us a bunch of helpful hints on the city.  A side note about the bank that made my mother giggle is that the street the bank is on is called Gentlemen's Walk.  After wandering the city so more we dicosvered a public library that is a modern glass building that is situated at the top of the city so that when you hang out in it you get a great view of the Market and this beautiful cathedral from the middle ages.  Taylor and I picked up library cards and lots of graphic novels to tide us over since we were without internet for two weeks.  Ooh! I also found a place that makes milkshakes of any English cookie/cake/sweet treat.  I sampled the Fry's Orange Cream one, delicious!

The first weekend we arrived was a weekend to celebrate the heritage buildings of Norwich, so everything was free to enter at certain times.  So of course Taylor and I made our way to Strangers Hall, a Tudor mansion that houses mayors of the city, as well as strangers (fabric makers) of the town.  It was beautiful, but one negative was that it was organized in such a way that every room was decorated from a different time period  (so the dining room was Tudor, the formal room was made to look Victorian, etc).  Taylor didn't fit in any door way.  Poor guy, it's hard being 6'5 in ancient buildings.  

Part of the outside of Strangers Hall

Main entrance

Hand painted 17th century fireplace

Victorian tea room

Victorian children's room

Too tall!

Elm Hill

Elm Hill road is the oldest street in Norwich, the road is made of cobblestone that kills your feet to walk on it, all the buildings are from at least 1500 and are slanted in that adorable kind of way.  It was here that Taylor found true happiness: a gaming store.  He had been complaining all week about how he needs to find new gamers, how he misses gaming, etc.  So this was the best thing he discovered.  The shop is fantastic.  You walk in and you look up and their are wooden beams from the 1500's, you look down and you see the original tile floor from the 1600's and you see the original place where the fire pit was.  The best part of this place is that is run by this awesome older gentleman named Duncan who is from Toronto! And he is a history nerd who got his undergraduate degree from the University of Toronto in history.  We spent a good hour in there, Taylor discussing gaming with him, and me talking history. 

At this point we were exhausted and headed home, but first we bought a T.V! Now, one of the cool parts about the UK is that you pay a yearly T.V tax and get free cable (well 50 channels) but one of them is the Food Network!!!!!!!!! I'm seriously so happy, I thought I would go crazy without Food Network for a year.  But all is well now.