My husband's last day in the UK

We had another quiet day.  My husband did a load of wash in the Washer/Dryer combo at the flat.  This is what Helen calls "a cultural experience."  Each load takes about two hours and 20 minutes to wash, and then another hour to "dry" (the quotation marks suggest tentativeness, in case you didn't pick up on the irony). The sounds emitting from the machine are a cross between a jet taking off and a motorcycle revving its engine close to your ear.  It's quite the process.  Katherine has taken to hauling laundry over to the Uni to use their facilities.  I understand when my flat counterpart from last fall was here, she used the heated floors to dry clothes.

After working on the computer for a while, we decided to do a few errands.  I had to submit some paper work on campus, so we set off along the Severn River Walk behind the flat.  It was an absolutely beautiful day, although the breeze made it a tad cool.  Still, it was a pleasure to meander along the riverway.

This path behind the flat leads down to the walkway by the River Severn

.

There's a swan sanctuary in the River Severn between the canals near our flat and the car bridge leading in to the city center.  The swans have been commemorated in this sculpture, gifted by the people of Kleve, Germany,  along the walkway.

Kleve is a city in northwestern Germany. (think Anne of Cleves, Henry the VIII's fourth wife).  It turns out that the castle in Kleve is called Schwanenburg (Swan Castle).  I couldn't find anything to confirm it, but I suspect the reference to "Twinning Association" means that Kleve and Worcester might be sister cities.

The car bridge just past the swan sanctuary is a very busy roadway.  Walkers must walk up to the car bridge and then cross over to the other side.

Walking along the car bridge we saw a plaque bearing the city of Worcester:Coat of Arms.

The motto on the ribbon reads  Civitas in Bello Et Pace Fidelis = The City Faithful in War and Peace.  The pears on the coat of arms are said to date back to Queen Elizabeth I.  When she made a visit to Worcester in 1575 she noted a pear tree which she learned had been planted in her honor.  She was so pleased, she bade the city use pears in their coat of arms.


The corner diagonally across from the swan sanctuary is home to a fading memorial.

Just as I was taking the photo, a man on a bike rode up and asked if we were Americans.  He told us this particular memorial commemorated the unfortunate death of a young man who, while drunk, broke in to what I assume was an abandoned power station.  Apparently, there are a number of wells inside, and in his drunken state fell to his death.  The cyclist said that British folk are quite serious about keeping up such memorials with fresh flowers, but this one has started to fade and is mostly silk with only a few fresh flowers from time to time.

Just before the memorial is this directional sign.

This would be another case of a "cultural experience."

The rest of our walk to campus was uneventful.

Part of our mission today was to take care of some errands--printing boarding passes, getting our train tickets to the airport  for tomorrow and picking up a few items from a beauty supply store.  To finish off our tasks, we crossed over the Sabrina Bridge to the city center.  This offered a great opportunity to catch a good shot of the Hive.

It was time for our daily "buckyou-uppo", so we stopped in to the Hive to have a cuppa and a snack.

My husband marveled at the idea of having food in a library, but that's just what we did.

Next stop--Foregate Train Station to purchase our tickets.  It always amazes me that a one-way ticket is only nominally cheaper than a round-trip.  In this case, it was only one pound cheaper--go figure.

After collecting our purchases, we continued down Foregate/High Street.  We passed by this little cafe:

The "Slug and Lettuce" is an interesting name for a restaurant, doncha think?  I'm not sure I'd order a salad there--just sayin'...

We took a slightly different path taking us back to the flat around the western side of the Cathedral.

The light was fantastic.  Down on the River path, we sought the shelter of a line of trees.

It's a real pleasure to traverse this path.

Our evening ended with a lovely dinner with our friends  It was a wonderful end to a fantastic visit.  I do believe my husband will make a special effort to return to Worcester.