This last weekend, OH was heading off on a cycling trip to the Alps for 10 days, so LB and I decided it might be nice to have a girly weekend in Norwich. It's somewhere that I'd wanted to visit for a while. LB had visited before and had enjoyed spending time there. I also follow a couple of people on YouTube who live in or frequent the city and it always looked like an interesting place to visit.
We booked a small inexpensive apartment for a couple of nights and headed off after LB finished her matinee shift at the theatre on Saturday afternoon. It took a couple of hours to drive the 100 or so miles to get there and we arrived just after 8pm. Unfortunately, we just missed the local fish and chip shop, which was already closed, so we had a picky tea with what we'd brought with us, as we were too tired by the journey to head out into town. Instead, we unpacked and had a chill evening watching TV.
We were up early on Sunday morning, as I had planned for us to visit Arminghall Car Boot Sale, which is a 10 minute drive south of Norwich. It was the biggest local car boot sale and it was a good choice. It was free for buyers and there were lots and lots of stalls with lots of interesting things for sale. The weather wasn't too hot either, which made it more pleasurable.
We wandered around the stalls and I picked up a couple of small things, but then I came across this lovely hand powered Singer sewing machine which a lady was selling for £35. I kept on looking, but I couldn't get the machine out of my mind, as I've wanted a hand powered machine for a while. The idea of being able to sew without electricity i.e. in the garden or the shed, just kind of appeals, so I went back and bought it. I decided that I'd rather spend most of my money on one quality item that I wanted, than lots of small things I was less bothered about. I'm looking forward to trying it out at home.
I did buy a few small things as well. As the car boot went on, several stalls started selling everything off for 50p, so I picked up various bits and pieces. Here's a couple of photos:
Most things were 50p, but a couple cost £1. LB bought a few things too, so we both came away happy.
Our next stop was at the charity Emmaus in Ditchingham, another 20 minutes drive away. It was an interesting place with lots of homewares and furniture, some clothing, electricals and bric a brac. I came away with just a gym vest for £2.50 and then we had some lunch in the cafe which was nice. It also had lovely gardens to walk through and there was live music playing. I wanted to take some photos of the buildings, as they were very interesting, but I accidentally left my phone in the car in the car park. We enjoyed our visit though.
We then decided to make a day out of it and to drive down to Southwold on the Suffolk coast. This was about another 30 to 40 minutes drive. We've visited this resort a few times when LB was little, but she didn't really remember it. It's very non-commercial and family orientated. We had a lovely afternoon, mooching the small shops on the high street, admiring the beautiful cottages in the town, walking along the seafront, sitting on the beach getting sand in our toes and then we picked up fish and chips and took them back to the apartment. We had another night in, after a long and tiring, but enjoyable day, watching Naomi Osaka playing tennis at Wimbledon on TV. We didn't stay up to watch the football, but I was happy when I woke up the next morning, to hear that England had won.
Monday, was our last day, and we were actually going to explore Norwich itself. We packed up and I drove into the town centre and parked the car. First stop, was a lovely little garden called The Plantation Garden, which was situated close to Norwich Cathedral. It was a fascinating garden full of lovely plants and features, created from an excavated chalk pit in the Victorian era and quite gothic in style. I loved it. It was £2 each to enter and was definitely worth a visit. Here's a few of pictures of it:
From here we wandered down some of the Norwich Lanes, checking out some interesting small shops and cafes, visited Norwich Market and wandered around the town. We had to leave after lunch, as LB was due back at the theatre where she works for a training session, but we had a good look around and I really liked Norwich. It has a very relaxed, creative and friendly vibe. I'm sure we'll be back.
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