Wednesday 12 March 2014

A Birthday trip to Lincoln.

Today is my birthday, it started off like this, what a great start!


Sophie the Cat gave me extra special cuddles, she has not been so affectionate in ages.  I must also say I do not normally eat so much for breakfast, this was a big breakfast to see us through the day as a trip to Lincoln was planned.

Our arrival in Lincoln didn't start terribly well with an encounter with some drug users and a phone call to the Police but from there on it was great!

Our first stop, after the bank where I paid in some birthday cheque's, was Spins and Needles where I got some beautiful hand spun undyed BFL DK yarn.  This was purchased for a particular project which will be revealed soon, once the creator has blogged about it.  The shop had a beautiful selection of yarns and the owner was lovely, I do love a friendly yarn shop owner, especially one who understands the need to grab everything and squish it.


From here we made our way towards Steep Hill, I feel the need to type DUH-DUH-DUUUUHH to reflect the sense of doom I felt standing at the bottom looking up.  Annoyingly this photograph makes it look rather mild.



We easily made it up the first and easiest part with a quick stop at a lovely old sweet shop called Goodies, we got some Rhubarb and Custard sticks and some Rhubarb rock.  From there we trudged up the hill.  Fortunately Steep Hill is lined with beautiful shops and art galleries so it broke the walk up a bit which was good for my legs which sadly spend most of their days under a desk.


We called in at a lovely gallery called Harding House Gallery.  It had a beautiful selection or art including some pieces from David William Sampson who we have met a number of times at the Long Eaton Art Rooms, it was lovely to see a local artist exhibiting a bit further a field.  There were lots of artists displaying there and it was all very impressive.  Well worth popping in if passing.

Next we called in at a shop called Annushka.  They sell hand painted stacking dolls, aka Russian dolls, and my word are they beautiful.  I was admiring some of the 10 piece sets and the tiny final doll that does fit in the slightly bigger one when I was pointed towards the 20 piece set.  This just took my breath away, I cannot begin to describe how beautifully painted it was and how small the final pieces are, and yes they do all open and go inside one another.  Each set takes two months to complete and the eyelashes are painted on with a single hair, just wow!  I took a photograph with my little finger in for scale, my little finger is reasonably small.


As we wandered further up the hill I stopped to take a photograph of the view from where we were.  The view was amazing, the sun may have prevented the photograph from doing it justice.  I don't mind though, I would rather have the sun on my back than a nice photograph.


 When we made it to the top we stopped in at the Castle, it is undergoing a huge and very exciting renovation so we couldn't access most of it.  I did manage to take a photograph of Lincoln's Crown Court though.  What an amazing Crown Court, made me briefly think about committing a crime just to get a look around.


We took a walk along the short stretch of wall that was accessible.  The views were great but I suspect they would have been better from the other side.  We also stopped for a quick selfie, got to be done.







After the Castle we wandered to locate a cash point, on the way we stumbled across the Whisky Shop, we get through a fair amount of single malt in this house so though we would pop in.  We left however with a bottle of Rhubarb Vodka, what a Rhubarb themed day we had!

 From here we went to the Cathedral, it stole the tallest building in the world award from the pyramids when it was built, I can see why.  How the heck did they get to the top without a crane?!?


We didn't pay to visit the whole Cathedral so we wandered around the free area, it is such a stunning building and the stained glass is beautiful.







Just look at the houses outside the Cathedral, we both questioned how much this beauty would cost, we decided on the figure of a lot.

 
Next we made our way to the Museum of Lincolnshire Life, a great Museum with a huge collection of items.  

Rooms arranged as they would have been, here is the bedroom.


A large collection of military memorabilia including at least 8 Victoria Cross medals, it was lovely to see these and to read the stories of bravery that earnt them.  Here is a giant WWII tank called Flirt, it was huge.


We also visited the Victorian School, it's like they knew we were coming.


After the museum we decided we would wander back towards the car and stop on the way for a cup of tea.  I had spotted a lovely looking tea shop of the way up the hill so we went back in search of it.  I couldn't remember what it was called but when we arrived I took note so I could share it, it's the bookstop cafe.  We had a lovely pot of Earl Gray and a bite to eat.  The building is a beaut, it even has some Roman Pillars in it.


Now we are home and I am drinking a chilled glass wine and relaxing before a trip to Suffolk for the weekend.  What a great way to start the last year of my twenties.

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