When I told the guys at work that I was doing a day trip to Leicestershire to see the King in the carpark, I was asked why…well why not…it’s my general reply to why! I was undecided about catching the train to Leicester or driving but decided on the train when I saw that it was raining…England + Rain + Cars = Slower travel than Trains…but this doesn’t take into account me missing the train by 2 minutes and having to wait an hour for the next one (it wasn’t a good start).
I will be totally honest and say I didn’t really have much idea about what was in store on my visit to Leicester…I only wanted to see the Carpark King and anything else was going to be an added bonus. My first stop was to head to the Visitor Centre which is all about Richard III whom they found in the car park…seriously what were the odds that they would find his remains under a council car park…I just LOVE stories like this…they give me goosebumps.
The visitor centre takes no more than 45-60 minutes to walk through…it takes you through a bit of the history via a video then onto the battle in which Richard was killed (which I need to learn more about hence I want to visit Bosworth Battlefield Heritage Centre now)...
…the injuries that he sustained in battle and what happened after his death…
…and then you head upstairs to learn how they went searching for his remains and then getting his DNA tested, it’s all rather fascinating.
What they do miss is all about his reign, I would have loved to have learnt a bit more about him…especially around his two missing nephews (strangely enough, I did watch a documentary a week prior to my day trip to Leicestershire about him and how we shouldn’t judge Richard III as a nasty man…apparently he was grieving…hmmm that makes killing your nephews okay does it now?!).
^^Just in case you wanted to see a vintage selfie of Richard III
What really tickled my fancy was how they showed you where they found his remains…I thought it was so well done…look away now if you want a surprise…
…so cool right! Look at that spine and I just can’t imagine how excited everyone must have being on the day that they discovered his remains.
Make sure you pop through the gift shop as they have some pretty choice stuff in there…
…I resisted these mugs…just…it was raining so trying to balance an umbrella and mugs plus trying to take photos just wasn’t going to work!
Obviously no visit to Leicester is complete without paying your respects to King Richard III so I popped across the path to Leicester Cathedral to say hi…there’s a sign saying no selfies (apparently a lot of people where doing selfies….why oh why!)...
…I thought it was such a simple resting place and am so happy that Richard III wasn’t transported down to London to be buried.
The cathedral itself is rather small in comparison to other cities but still very beautiful…
…I love taking the time to wander around reading inscriptions…
…and looking at the dates…
…looking up, cathedrals and churches have the best ceilings…
…and stained windows!
This is my favourite photo from my day trip to Leicestershire!
Walking past Leicester Guildhall which looks like something out of a Harry Potter movie…
…I managed to pop into the Jewry Hall Museum which is free and well worth a visit however it is a bit dated in it’s set up. I had no idea that the Romans were in Leicestershire or that this museum housed some blooming fantastic mosaics (I love mosaics a lot hence why I was desperate to go to Libya a few years ago) so I got a pleasant little surprise…
…there is even a small child’s foot print from the roman times.
And of course there are just some Roman ruins out the front of the museum as well!
I had a Pretty Woman moment…no mum, nothing like that…but that moment when she returns to the shop and tells them “BIG MISTAKE”…yeah well my footwear choice was one big mistake…my feet were swimming in my shoes and bloody hell I was cold…
…it was time for cake and obviously it was meant to be as I stumbled straight into a cafe that sold mainly gluten free items called Almeida…the carrot cake was good however the Chai Latte didn’t rock my world but it was a nice little place to sit down and relax for a moment or two.
Feeling revived after cake and a cup of tea (which is my tick for Leicestershire), I stumbled across a chocolate shop selling hot chocolates which looked like a work of art…I had one of those drats moments as I’d just had that chai latte…
…so I bought G some chocolates and then ate half on them myself on the train ride home, thank goodness for sticky tape on a bag so that he didn’t realise I ate half of his gift! I may have called the young man a weirdo at the shop after he told me that the marmite truffles were rather tasty…people that eat marmite are weirdos.
And then promptly had another drats moment when I stumbled across Mrs Bridges tea rooms which was packed…double drats!
So I did what I don’t do really well these days…I shopped…
…and I shopped some more, there was a fabulous vintage fair going on inside one of the hotels in the city centre which is held quarterly…
…and there was so much to browse through, I may have bought two skirts!
Then took a shoefie between the tulips
Of course then I stumbled on the Leicester market…
…which sells fresh fruit and vegetables (hello gluten free items!)…
…and maybe I picked up some Red Leicester cheese that was produced in Leicestershire!
One of the reasons why I was told that nobody visits Leicester is that it’s an ugly city but…
…how…
…can…
…you…
…call…
…this…
ugly!
Okay it’s got a mixture of buildings going on from different eras which aren’t all beautiful…the 80’s wasn’t a good decade for anything fashionable…shoulder pads and blue eyeshadow anyone. I was surprised on how much I enjoyed the city and I do think Leicester makes a nifty little place to visit on a day trip especially by train as it’s a really easy walk to the main centre. Why not check out my other nifty little day trip ideas from London if you want to escape the mad house!
What’s your New Year’s Resolution? Where do you suggest I visit in your home county?
xx
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