English Town and Country Day 1

Christine at the Cathedral Cottage Bed and Breakfast took good care of us. The English Breakfast on our first morning revived us. If you have never had this, it can be reproduced in your own kitchen, but you can't get it at a diner. It starts with a bowl of cereal or muesli. Then you get a poached egg over baked beans, with bacon, sausage, sautéed mushrooms, a grilled half of tomato, and toast with jam. The bacon is more like ham, without all the fat of American bacon. Of course, we asked for hot sauce, and she had it, but she said it was the first time in eight years that anyone had asked for it. I liked this breakfast so much, I had it all three days, despite the cholesterol in the eggs, and the fat in the sausage. I have decided that I am truly on vacation, and should not try to follow a low fat, low salt diet. After all, eating good food is one of the main activities of a vacation, and also the main way to experience a culture.

The room was a small cottage at the back of a lovely garden. Of course, we did not spend much time in it, because we had gallivanting to do, led by Tim and Ruth. The first day we walked through the City Centre of Winchester, and saw all kinds of amazing old buildings. Winchester Cathedral is very impressive, built about 1079, with one of the longest naves in Europe. Alas, their choir was not singing this week, so we skipped the evensong. We also saw several small chapels from the 16th century, tucked amongst the shops, the thousand year old city mill,  and the 13th century Great Hall. It had the Round Table from King Arthur's time hanging on the wall.

Round Table

We did some good eating that day, too. We stopped at a Patisserie for good coffee and lunch, then a lovely pub for some of the local ale. We hiked about a mile out of town to see the lovely gardens and 12th century building of the Hospital of St. Cross. Hospital in this instance means hospice for travelers. They still hand out the Wayfarer's Dole, a piece of bread with a small cup of ale.

Oldest residence in England

Sign in the Pub- The Wykeham Arms

Echinacea in the garden at St. Cross

We ended the day at a pub in the country, the Bush Inn. I ate my first Fish and Chips of the trip. And we learned that a free pub does not mean they are giving it away. It means that it is not owned by one of the breweries. A very full day.