The castle gates remain closed until 10 o’clock so after breakfast and checking out of the hotel we visited a small garden next to the lawns. By the time we had finished in the garden it was still to early for the gates to be open so we took the long way round to visit the Russian Doll shop and a second hand book shop, only to find that the shops didn’t open until 11 o’clock. I did however manage to replace the wash bag I had ruined due to leaving my shampoo bottle open on our journey to Lincoln.
We didn’t want to wait until 11 so we made our way back to the car, through the castle grounds. We then said goodbye to Lincoln and set off towards Newark to visit the National Civil War Museum, which we found very interesting. After visiting the museum Mr C set off into town in search of a cook shop which we failed to find. This left us with time to visit the Parish Church of St Mary Magdalene which we found to be quite stunning inside. After the visit it was time to return home to unpack before getting ready to go out for an evening meal to celebrate our anniversary.
As it was a Monday night not many places were open so we went to a local pub carvery where I chose turkey which was delicious. After the meal we returned home to enjoy a glass of champagne on the patio in the warm evening air, watching the sun go down. A perfect end to a lovely weekend.
14 Comments CherryPie on Jun 22nd 2016
The hotel breakfast was nice, although it was served in an unusual way. The toast was served stacked on the plate with the breakfast rather than in a toast rack. After breakfast it wasn’t time for the castle gate to open so we walked around ‘The Lawns’ which was formerly a lunatic asylum.
When the gate was open we entered the castle to look at the Poppies Wave both from the ground and the wall walk. On my way to see the poppies at ground level I saw a mother duck and her cute ducklings sitting at eye level on a wall. By the time I got back from looking at the poppies the mother duck and some of the ducklings were on the ground below the wall. Four ducklings however were running frantically backwards and forwards on the top of the wall squeaking loudly whilst mum waited patiently. A Lincoln Castle grounds attendant gentle herded the ducklings along the wall towards mum, when all but one wildly jumped off the wall to join the others. The last one eventually launched itself off the wall landing on its back needing a little assistance to right itself. For a few moments it looked like it was wounded, but all of a sudden it joined the back of the line of ducklings following mum.
After this excitement we climbed the stairs to the castle walls where we enjoyed views of Lincoln and the Poppies Wave from above. When we had finished at the castle we walked to the nearby museum of Lincolnshire Life stopping for a cup of tea along the way. The museum had some interesting exhibits, including life size models of men fighting on top of WW1 trenches and a WW1 infantry tank Mark 4. When we had finished looking around the museum we made our way to the Cathedral Cloisters for lunch.
After lunch we ventured down to the low town area intending to find the arboretum but decided that it was to far in the time we had available. Instead we browsed around an arts and crafts shop where they had a large collection of colour art pencils. I was almost tempted but Mr C had bought me some for our anniversary so I thought I would wait until another occasion before getting any more. We walked back to the hotel through the Temple Gardens which were enjoyable in the sunshine.
For our evening meal we dined in the White Hart Hotel which we had enjoyed on our previous visit to Lincoln. The food was nice but the service was rather disappointing. Sherry was served in a tumbler and the wine list disappeared meaning the starter arrived before the wine was ordered. The wine list was requested for a second time and the head waitress quickly sorted out our requirement. The staff were not in a hurry to engage in conversation with us and we are not in a hurry to return which is a shame because we had excellent service on our previous visit. To finish the evening off we called in at the Wig and Mitre before returning to the hotel.
8 Comments CherryPie on Jun 21st 2016
We set off on our journey a bit later than we intended but we still managed to arrive at the cafe we planned on visiting in time for lunch. There was a bit of a saga getting served, we were being ignored by the waitress. Eventually we got served and the food was as good as I remembered it from our last visit there.
After lunch we made our way to lower Lincoln which we did not explore when we were in Lincoln last year. We visited the waterside and viewed the Empowerment sculpture along with the high bridge. I popped into Bon Marche to see if they had a jacket that I had seen on their website. It was something I thought would be suitable for my brother’s wedding later in the year. They had the jacket, but not in the colour I was after. I tried it on but one of the assistants pounced and put me off exploring further. We visited a small indoor market which had an interesting second hand book shop which had a lot of military and religious/spiritual books although neither of us was tempted to buy anything.
There were some interesting and colourful characters wandering around this part of Lincoln. As we walked under a bridge we had to negotiate three rough sleepers, one of whom was high on drugs. I was left thinking that if I had stayed in that part of Lincoln last year I wouldn’t have wanted to return for a second visit. We returned to the car and made our way to the Charlotte House hotel where we checked in and took our bags up to the room which was in fact a suite. It was a fabulous room with his and hers tellies and his and hers shower and bath.
There was champagne waiting for us on arrival but we left this for later and made our way through the castle grounds to see the Poppy Wave which is currently being displayed there. After taking a few photographs we made our way into town for a drink and a slice of lemon cake before returning to the hotel to enjoy the champagne whilst we got ready to go out for our evening meal in The Old Bakery. The food was delicious and the service excellent. After dining we visited a pub called The Strugglers which was rather small with no seats available. Mr C asked if there was another room to sit in and we were advised that there was but the room was a snug with only two tables so we would have to share. We popped our heads through the door and a gentleman plumped up the cushions on the end of the bench next to him, inviting us in. After a while we got into conversation about the upcoming EU vote, Timothy Taylor beer and micro breweries in Lincoln.
After the conversation it was time to return to the hotel for a well earned sleep in the fourposter bed.
6 Comments CherryPie on Jun 20th 2016
The in and out campaigners, equally spout propaganda to entice us to support their view.
We also have the left winger/right winger instinctive put downs of each other disregarding the issue at hand…
The older generation 80/90s (people I know) view this in a different perspective than I do. They wonder if exit will lead to another war (in the European context)…
Economically no-one knows what will happen if we Exit, we only know what happens if we Remain, remain is the status quo. Leaving might be turbulent…
It is important for us all to make a choice and vote on 23rd June 2016.
8 Comments CherryPie on Jun 20th 2016
Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you:
For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.
Matthew 7:7-8 (King James Version)
4 Comments CherryPie on Jun 19th 2016
