I found a castle today! Apparently I still haven’t discovered all of Winchester’s secrets.
Today was the last Farmers’ Market that I’ll be here for so I went and bought a few things. I came across a stall with a bunch of lavender stuff like candles and soaps and I saw cookies. Lavender cookies? Huh? It piqued my curiosity so I bought them and holy moly they’re delicious. They also smell like soap. I got my usual English Apple Juice with Elderflower and also got a thing for my lunch tomorrow. I don’t know what it’s called but it looks like a pie with asparagus on top.
Because I was hungry, I also stopped to get a grilled pork sandwich which I ate before I remembered to take a picture. I sat on a bench by the cathedral to eat and watched people go by. I may have dropped some pork on the ground which would normally suck because it was delicious, but because I had a good location it ended up being okay because I was approached by a ton of adorable dogs sniffing out the meat.
After that, I went for a walk. There’s a popular path from the Cathedral to the river which passes the house where Jane Austen died. This pic is from Friday, but same place.
This house is just a house or two down the street from Winchester College which is semi-famous for a reason I can’t remember right now. When I went by, I noticed a tour was starting so I thought, what the hell? I joined the tour. I didn’t take any pictures, but basically it looked like Oxford or Cambridge Universities. The stories were the coolest parts of the tour anyway.
Farther down the path to the river is the bishop’s mansion. The sign says it’s a house but the house looks like a mansion. Right next to it I noticed a hole in the wall I hadn’t noticed before. I figured, again, what the hell? If I’m trespassing maybe I can use my accent to play the lost tourist card. Thankfully, I stumbled across an actual tourist location. The remains of a previous bishop’s castle. I guess the criticism about how much the church spends will die down and we can all rest assured that bishops no longer live in castles, only mansions.
Anyway, these remains were so cool and completely free to visit. I can’t believe I didn’t know about them before today!
After reaching the river, I passed the King Alfred statue on the way back. The castle in this pic is where the mayor lives. There’s a lot of extravagance. To be expected in the second most expensive city in England after London.
Winchester is just full of surprises. I’m not done touring yet either, so keep an eye out for upcoming posts!
Precarious Writer 