Day 125, 11 May: To The City Centre and Norwich Cathedral

Norfolk Terrace, UEA, Norwich, Day 125. To The City Centre and Norwich Cathedral

Mom's Picture during her Walk

By late morning, I was up and about, walking to the UEA Hotel (oh, by the way, it does have a name: The Broadview Lodge) and then off around the pond, running, my dad running, and my mom walking and taking pictures with my camera. They turned out really nice too. I ended the run with my dad, bringing him up to the top of the trail, a tangent line from the pond.

      After getting ready early and getting to the hotel too early, I headed back to my flat and had some of the flat breakfast of eggs and beans. There was more, sausages and this breaded thing that Laura (Lithuanian) gave me, and Marie had nicely put toast in for me. After twenty minutes, though, I had to run, just as the medics Gemma and Alvin were coming down the stairs to join in for ‘round two’ of the breakfast (No, not ‘brekky’).

      Marie decided to join me to see my parents, since she was leaving today for the weekend to celebrate her brother’s birthday back home and wouldn’t have been able to meet them any other time. I think she really wanted to hear their American accents. But it was great, they asked her about school and she asked about how they like England (don’t worry, they really like it; as my mom says, they have a sense of humour for her jokes that she did not find from Parisians).

      Next the three of us were off to the city centre. As much as they wanted to go to a pub, I felt like showing them a really good falafel place…because it’s really good. Maybe not traditional English food, but it was healthy and filling. It took a while to walk over, but it was worthwhile (I don’t know why I keep repeating with repetitive words—there, I did it again). After a relatively quick lunch, we walked to the Norwich Cathedral, my dad’s only requirement in visiting this city (his friend Ric Burwell spoke of it very highly when he had visited Norwich), and I found myself even more impressed than I was the first time, back during the scavenger hunt with lil’ Mo Peep and his sheep (Anna and me) on Day 6. I had a camera with me this time and we spent time at the back of the Cathedral. We lit candles. As we walked the hallways outside, I explained that my tour guide last time I was here had mentioned that these hallways were almost used for the Harry Potter movies…but they were too small. The set location was in Scotland, instead. Still, the Norwich Cathedral is utterly beautiful.

Reflection of the Cathedral Courtyard
 through the glass

The Street with the Falafel!!

Me (with a Haircut) and Mom, 

      On our way back to that street with falafel, we walked over the oldest street in Norwich, Elm Hill. It was around in 1200 and though realigned three centuries after, the uneven rocks give one the feeling of the evolution of a road. A plaque next to the street sign, attached to a nearby building, informed us of how the last of the elm trees from the time of Henry VIII perished due to Dutch Elm Disease…I felt an eerie resonance to a real-life Lorax. As far as visiting the street, my flatmate Matt told me about it last night, so I decided to make it part of our itinerary for the day. I remember during this walk, my mom mentioned my brother Johnathan wearing a bowtie to prom and how it was my step grandfather’s.

Mo--I'm gonna miss this guy.

      Once back in my dorm room, I got ready and headed out to Constable Terrace dorms with Vinnie to see Mo, Joe, Vito, Matt (Vito’s good friend), and others. The night ended up at Lola Lo’s, a nice venue in the city centre. During the night, I found out more about James, the guy in the neighbouring flat. He’s the best tennis player at UEA and it blew me away. Another great guy I met was Tom, an Air Force pilot-in-training. He described the moment when a plane lands with hand gestures and I realized the ridiculous precision that pilots need to land, and land smoothly. The sad part of the night was knowing that I wouldn't see Mo again--he leaves in a week, but I leave tomorrow for a week so I just miss him. Mo--lil Mo Peep, MoJo (with Joe), MO!--and his success with the baby fro. He was the first international friend I met in Norwich and the first to go. He has so much swag--that is his legacy.

 Once back at the dorm from the night, I dropped into my bed and fell straight into sheets that seemed like clouds.