Castles, Cathedrals and Dungeons....oh my!

Twas Monday and it saw S and I on a park and ride bus into Norwich town and in search of ancient things.

Turns out we were in the right place :)
We first ventured into Norwich Castle....sitting high on a hill, looking forebodingly over the people and town, the castle dates back to 1121.

(PIctures are to come, still working out internet access at S's house and am on her pooter at present)

The sheer immensity of "the keep" or main area of the castle, was overwhelming...the feel of the cold, rough hewn stone work, the high.......high..........wow...really freakin' high celing and beamwork...the tiny slivers of windows letting in a bare minimum of light....it was easy to see the lords and ladies in their tapestries, velvet and chainmail wandering about with glasses of mead and meat on tables everywhere.

My favourite bit was walking along the upper catwalk and looking at the armour and tapestries. Beautiful.Breathtaking really. Hard to imagine living there though, not very cozy! S and I had many giggles including riding a chariot and scaring each other with the wax heads in th cages. It was set up to show the life of the prisoners inside the main floor of "the keep"r...not a pleasant life that's for sue.


We took a guided tour of the dungeon,....peeeewwww...it stunk really bad... led by a colourful and enthusiastic young man with a flair for the really nasty dungeon and torture stories.

As this castle was used as a prison from 1300's onwards, the energy was more than a little oppressive.

Pitch black but for a few lights, torture devices with wax people in them and complete with the sound of moaning.
Yes, I really did hear some god awful thing moaning down a tunnel. One other member of the tour heard it but no one else, we shared a grimace but could not utter the words outloud of "ghostly noises".....it raised every hair on my body and almost sent me running..i toughed it out though....it was an intense adrenaline rush and offered everything a good dungon should.
What a place to house people......ugh!

We then wandered the town, and sat amongst all the old flint buildings having a bevvie, and cornish pasty watching all the people...walked through Norwich market and bought the biggest bouquet of sunflowers ever in the history of the world, and made our way into the cathedral....wowowowowowowowwoowwoowwo....

The cathedral was built around the same time as the castle and has housed nuns, a school and many lives and characters passed through its beautifully carved environment.

The cloisters were lovely,...imagining the penguined habits of the nuns appearing and disappearing behind the ornate arched openings..a serene and beautiful place to end our day.
Norwich itself has a pace much like Victoria, laid back and touristy, but no too much.

Next stop....river boat cruise along the broads......a paddle boat is in the offing.......I will be singing Ol' Man River you can be sure.