Today started with a knock on my door. It was a housekeeper who came to clean my sink. We talked for a while, she was very interested in Bambi. Then again, who isn't?
I met Shirley at DOS and we decided to go into Norwich today and save campus work for Friday. Going into the city with a mobility instructor is great, they automatically tell you what you're passing, which kind of stores there are, how to locate the bus stop, etc. Bambi and I get around so well that people actually forget I'm visually impaired, and can't really see what we're passing. Sure I see store windows, but most of the time I can't make out what's in them. Norwich is not a grid (I've been spoiled by New York, every time I go somewhere and the layout isn't a grid I get disappointed), but it is a very old city with a stereotypical English look to it. I find it charming; the buildings aren't very high at all, the streets are narrow, the paving stones of the road are old (but well kept, you can imagine horses walking along them pulling carts). and there are some very old buildings with cool architecture. The city is very pedestrian friendly, there are many streets that are just for walking, no driving, and there is an open air market. I kept expecting to come to curbs, but there aren't many in Norwich. Instead there are "gullies" which are little channels on the side of the road meant to carry away excess rain water.
The market is very cool; it is a group of stalls in a grid pattern (: D) with a variety of items for sale. Places I will be coming back to include: various butchers, cheese shops, a sweet shop, a spice stall, and the fruits and vegetables stall. It reminds me of the Union Square Farmer's Market, but is more permanent. Shirley also told me that things are actually cheaper at the market; at Union Square you're paying more for the same (albeit better quality) products that you could find in a supermarket. I couldn't help cracking up when Shirley mentioned that there was pigeon meat for sale in one of the butcher stalls. NYC pigeons are known as rats with wings, so the prospect of eating pigeon seems gross when you first think about it. Shirley assured me that these were wood pigeons, not the dirty city birds. You know, I'm actually quite tempted to give it a try. XD
Another thing I found quite cool was the castle. Yeah, a real castle! It's a museum now, and I hear during certain hours it's only 1 pound to get in. It's situated on this hill, and while we were walking around it, I had a feeling we were walking in what was once the moat. We passed under a bridge at one point, so there was probably water surrounding the castle.I wish there was a painting of what the area looked like centuries ago, I love stuff like that. Unfortunately, I didn;t get to see the cathedral today, but I'll be back very soon to check it out.
The streets in Norwich are not wide at all, so there are no beeping devices at crosswalks. Instead they have a small cone on the underside of the walk/don't walk sign (which is a little below eye level) which spins if you can walk, and stops when the light switches. I was very happy to see that they had something in place to help blind people figure out when it's safe to cross. In a small city like Norwich you can't really depend on traffic patterns like you can in cities like NYC. Touching the cone is a simple, yet effective signal.
We went to a couple discount stores to pick up some supplies before heading back to campus. I finally got my cooking supplies and towels, and at pretty good prices too. I'm only here for 5 months, so I wasn't looking for top of the line products. Shopping with Shirley was awesome,she found things quickly and kept an eye out for discounts. Consequently I got a lot of "value packs", why buy 1 mug for 60p when you could get 4 for 50p? I'm storing all my stuff in my room because I don't want it to get mixed up with everyone else's in the kitchen. Plus, I don;t want a stranger drinking alcohol out of one of my mugs, eww!
Ok, speeding things up now, getting tired. Got back to campus, made arrangements to meet with Shirley on Friday, and then with to the Clubs and Societies Fair. Put my name down for 4, we'll see just how many actually interest me. Cooked dinner, showered and used my towels for the first time (you don't appreciate towels until you don;t have them), took a nap and was supposed to go to a social, but just couldn;t drag myself out of bed. I might be coming down with something, I have that stupid sore throat feeling.
Pretty packed schedule tomorrow class wise.
Time to sleep, good night!
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