As I mentioned in my previous post I was unable to view parts of the Peterborough Cathedral due to it being occupied by invaders.

The invaders were animatronic dinosaurs from the National History Museum.  The exhibiton, entitled, ‘T. Rex: The Killer Question’ explored the question of whether T. Rex was a ferocious hunter or just a scavenger.

The exhibition meant that parts of the Cathedral were off limits unless we purchased a ticket to see the dinosaurs.

We chatted and laughed with Higgy and Mrs H over breakfast, then it was time for them to head home. We went into Norwich to see some of the architectural features. When we saw a sign for St Peter’s Church we decided to head in that direction. For some reason Mr C got it into his head that we were headed for St Stephen’s Church. He followed the SatNav on his phone which took us on a rather circuitous route that gave us chance to see some of the dinosaurs on the Dinosaur Trail that was exhibited in the city.

Eventually we found ourselves outside a church, the Church of St Peter Mansfield rather than St Stephen’s. We had a look round the delightful church before heading to St Stephen’s which we knew had a café. The service there was quirky and slow but we got our food order in the end. Mr ordered a cheese scone, which both Mr C and I thought looked suspiciously like a fruit scone. He queried this and the lady that served him was adamant that it was a cheese scone. When Mr C cut the scone in half several currents were exposed so he took it back and the Minister of the church sorted out the mix up for him.

We decided to leave the city in order to visit another church that was on our list; St Peter and St Paul, Knapton with its double hammer-beam roof with over 100 carved angels. Inside the church we found it also has a spectacular Palladian font cover. I walked around the church and through the graveyard whilst Mr C waited outside the front entrance.

As I left through the gate two dogs started barking manically at me, wagging their tails at the same time. I wasn’t sure if they were pleased to see me or otherwise, but they were on chains so they couldn’t come near. The owner came running and told them off before apologising to me, saying that they don’t normally behave like that.

We took the scenic route via the North Norfolk coast back to the hotel. Later, we dined in The King’s Head at Coltishall. We shared a crab cake starter and for mains Mr C chose lobster thermidor whilst I opted for  sea bass. The food and service were excellent.

We went back to the hotel for a nightcap on the terrace and found the staff setting up the main dining area for a wedding. The bride and some of her guests were seated nearby talking about what was planned for the following day. After a while they got up to leave so we bid them good night and wished them well for their wedding celebrations.

As I mentioned in my Leuven travelogue I enjoyed the experience of the longest day celebrations whilst walking to and from Leuven station.

We were able to enjoy Leuven’s longest day celebrations (‘De Langste Dag 2015′) as we walked from the station to the city centre. We really enjoyed the street artist entertainment which included two strange pseudo-strippers wearing skin coloured body suits with accompanying hair; they were darting through the streets pretending to be embarrassed by their ‘nakedness’. However the stars of these shows were the fabulous dinosaur puppets strolling through the streets, feeding from the trees and bending their heads down to engage with the crowd. At one point a dinosaur head bumped against my head so I bent down to let it pass by. The dinosaur had other ideas and put its head on top of mine so that I could not move. The operator of the dinosaur head was grinning at me. At this moment Mr C’s camera decided to have a flat battery so there are no photographs of the moment.

This year was the 30th anniversary of the event and the locals are rightly proud of the event.

On Saturday, June 20th right in the center of Leuven, the 30th edition of the Longest Day instead. This event has grown into the largest city street fair of Belgium which the concept of ‘heads’ adds a new dimension. Street theater, a big auto show, stalls for shopping, a traditional market, a hairdresser village, contests with great prizes suit … You come short of eyes. It therefore promises to be pretty busy in Leuven, all in the pedestrianized center of the city.

It ‘was’ very busy in Leuven that day!

I will leave you with a sequence of the fabulous dinosaur puppets that I mentioned in my quote above…