Pages

Friday 12 February 2010

Out of routine

I went to Norwich on a train. It took hours.

Once there, I slept in a hotel all on my own, in a bed so big that (ironically) it could have fitted all the Lattes in it without anyone getting kicked in the face. I woke up, drew the curtains, got back into bed and read, giggling from time to time. No-one was going to start shouting about breakfast. Not only that, someone was going to make mine for me.

After breakfast I wandered around the city. It had snowed on and off all the day before, but in the morning it was sunny and bright.


I took a photo for the Lattes of the street where part of the film Stardust had been filmed.


I went in the antique shops and the second hand bookshops. £2.75 I spent. Norwich will be glad of my trade. Now I have been there, the local economy is soaring.

 

I was in Norwich to go to a funeral - not the best reason to visit anywhere. But a good reason to remember not to be complacent - to appreciate today, and the joy that a comfy bed, sun glinting off snow, and £2.75 can bring you.

12 comments:

  1. I like Norwich. I went to University there. It is a good place to wander around soaking up atmosphere and spend just a tiny amount of money. That's what I did for four years in the 1990s.

    I don't think I ever saw it under snow though - vey pretty.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Somewhere I have never ever been, I do like your little glass thing

    ReplyDelete
  3. Never been there, but just the idea of a hotel room to myself for a day, with books and breakfast and no-one to cater to but me, sounds heavenly.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Reading in bed with no clamouring sounds blissful.

    Norwich is an hour from here. It sounds as though it might become part of my thrifty trail.

    ReplyDelete
  5. I'm sorry about the funeral part... sad.

    (waking up and reading in bed is definitively in my top 10 things to do)

    ReplyDelete
  6. I'm sorry it was for a funeral. Reading in bed with no children wanting this, that and the other sounds divine.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Your post reads like the short synopsis of a Barbara Pym novel...

    A slightly harrassed, overworked mother travels alone by train to a distant city, where she must attend a funeral. She sleeps, comfortably unencumbered, in a hotel room--where she wakes in the morning, draws back the curtains, admires the view and waits for breakfast to be served. Later, she wanders through the snowy, sunlit streets by herself, visiting antique shops and used book stores, purchasing only a single, used book--which one assumes she will read on her return trip.

    All that's needed now is a few references to the war, perhaps a run-in with a vicar (and his wife?), and more mentions of tea time.

    Glad you had the chance to get away for a time...very sorry about the circumstances of your trip.

    ReplyDelete
  8. just love the comment by eurolush ! Maybe we should blog in the style of... for one day - but I like your style anyway

    ReplyDelete
  9. I was going to tell you how much I appreciated getting away to a hotel without my family when my kids were little. It was mostly that no one was asking me things -- that was great. But then I read Eurolush's post, which was perfect.

    ReplyDelete
  10. I'm glad you explained your visit. I was afraid you were descending into "The Hours"...

    ReplyDelete
  11. I'm sorry you had the funeral to attend.

    Norwich is a lovely place though - I remember going there for a conference once, and can't remember nmuch about that but I do remember wandering round the city and wondergin why I'd never been before. And now I'm wondering why I haven't been back since. Hmmm.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Yes, it all sounded like heaven on earth until you got to the funeral part. I do hope it wasn't someone young, or particularly special to you...

    (Still stuck on the bit in Euro's comment about run-ins with vicars and their wives. Surely not...)

    ReplyDelete

I love comments. I always try to respond - either here in the commentbox or by email if Blogger gives me your email address.

Thanks for visiting!