DAY OUT: Worcester

Considering how many times we have been down the M5 in recent times, it's almost a bit odd that we had never visited Worcester before. After parking we decided to visit the rather impressive Cathedral, and the first surprise was that entry was free. We had anticipated a charge of £10 or more, judging what we had paid in other cities. We donated £10 anyway, and spent a good 90 minutes or more looking around the huge building. 

One of the most impressive and unusual aspects of the cathedral was the very ornate and enormous font, located in the South aisle. Aside from this there was the tomb of King John and an exhibition explaining the importance of the Magna Carta.

After we left the cathedral we headed back to our car, for a very early lunch. Then we walked up Friar Street, which is the older part of the town and featured many small, individual shops, including a chocolate shop where we purchased a small selection of hand-made chocolates. These included a Malibu truffle and a very tangy orange cream.

From here we went into an arcade, where we found (upstairs) a second hand bookshop and also a CD/DVD shop. Rose bought a book and I bought a couple of DVD's and then we visited TK Maxx and purchased some cookery tins. We looked in a few more shops, where Rose tried on various hilariously too-large hats and then we headed down another side street where we found a 'Crystal Chain' jewellery shop where I bought a last minute birthday present for Rose.

As the time on the parking was running out we decided to walk down by the river and as we were walking down the ramp from the road, I noticed a building that almost looked as if it had had a wall built in front of it. It could be that this is the case, as you can see in the picture above, perhaps a previous flood made them think twice about having a large window so near the river.

We stayed about four hours in the end and despite the horrible spray on the motorway it stayed dry all the time we were there. All in all a very nice day out, even if M&S failed dismally when it came to furnishing us with some hot-cross buns.