Tuesday, April 15, 2014

Random Bits of Leicester, England

Here's some more of Leicester!

The car park where King Richard III's bones were found is undergoing massive renovations (as is quite a bit of the surrounding area). We visited in March 2014 and the place will probably be a lot more impressive in a year or two (perhaps right now if you are reading long after I write it).

Richard III's burial ground

We wandered around to see other sites. In the pedestrianized downtown area is the clock tower, providing vital information and a fun spot to rendezvous if people get separated.

Clock tower

Over near the castle grounds is St. Mary de Castro, the church where Geoffrey Chaucer got married in 1336. It looked like it wasn't open so we just took a picture from afar.

Trees and scaffolding do not a good picture make

Near the church is the Magazine Gateway, so called because it was the main gunpowder and weapon depot for the town during the English Civil War. Prior to the war, it was known as the Newarke Gate, an entrance into the city from the neighborhood of Newarke. The sign says that Richard III's body was probably carried through this gate after his death on Bosworth Field.

Magazine Gateway

We had lunch in town at a local pub which was rather unremarkable, except for L's enormous hot dog.

L was very gleeful

Plenty of shops line the streets of Leicester, but two in particular caught my eye. The Very Bazaar is just a cool name for a store; Shakespeares Head sounds a bit threatening, as if local Richard III supporters want some payback for centuries of Tudor propaganda passing itself off as great art.

The Very Bazaar

Shakespeares Head--maybe it's just a public toilet he used?

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