An afternoon stroll in Ely

Keith woke me at 8.30am this morning and asked what time I wanted to go to the Cotswolds, but I'd changed my mind about going! The weather was still dull and grey and the thought of driving all the way just to walk around a village we'd already walked around before had lost its appeal.

We spent the morning arguing half-heartedly about where to go and in the end I suggested Ely, in Cambridgeshire. It wasn't far away and I'd always wanted to go as I'd heard it was a pretty place - a small city with a large cathedral. It took us about an hour to get there, the city visible easily from the flat landscape which surrounds it.

We parked and walked up to the cathedral which was built by the Normans in the 12th century. It was built on the site of a monastery started by Etheldreda in 673 so there was an enormous amount of history in the building. We had lunch in the cathedral cafe, walked around and admired the stained glass windows and then had a stroll around the monastic buildings (very old) and the gardens. It was very cold, just above freezing, so after exploring the town and making plans to come back in the summer to do the riverside walk, we drove home.

I particularly liked this house...

 

 

The Fens are beautiful, despite being so flat and you can see for miles. I'd love to spend more time exploring this little corner of the UK, but despite this area being so close to us, it's a region we rarely go to. Perhaps this year we'll go there more often and visit the little towns and villages that are dotted about.

On the way home we made the mistake of calling into Tesco as Sophie is back to school tomorrow and we needed bits for her packed lunch. The place was heaving. It took us ages to just get out of the car park and I wonder if everyone went today to avoid the VAT rise which will come into effect tomorrow. I noticed on the road that the diesel prices had gone through the roof. If this carries on we perhaps won't be able to afford to go exploring in the car any more!