Thursday July 7 - A delightful day with goodbyes starting

My day began as it has for the last several - sitting by this lovely window with the wonderful view. It has been open since we arrived - no screen and no bugs. I'll really miss sitting here.

Breaky was what we had in the room as we needed to be in Leicester by 10 am. Since we left Belfast, all of the driving has either been on freeways or quiet country roads. Being in Leicester was much busier and therefore a bit more challenging for Dave. He's pretty much a "seasoned" driver at this point. Making the adjustment back home will be challenging - strange as that may seem.

We were going to see the location where King Richard IIIs body was found, in the city center where parking is a rare as hen's teeth. Our tickets were for 10 am. Just before 10, we finally found a parking lot and began to walk. After walking briskly for about 5 minutes, a bobby (police) told us it was just a short walk ahead. This didn't bring much comfort as our last experience with bobbies and "just ahead" resulted in a couple of miles of walking. Thankfully he was right.

You may wonder why all the interest in Richard. It just worked out that way. I love it and Dave says he's learning a lot and really enjoying it as well. :)

Long story short, Richard's remains were found under a parking lot/school playground due to years of research. The very first scoop of the excavator's bucket revealed his leg bones, but they didn't know that for a couple of weeks. Had they dug just one foot farther over, he never would have been found. The stress of the digging crew (both on machines and the archaeologists) on the site was quite intense said a retired judge who volunteers at the site and who used to play in the playground as a kid. The actually spot were the remains were found is covered with heavy glass so you can see it.

Across the street is the Leicester Cathedral (1200s) were Richard was finally buried. His tomb is very simple. On the same site as the church was a Roman temple many years ago. (This is church # 7 and may be the last one.)

There was a market in town which was delightful to walk through. I found the purses I've been looking for. This is a very multicultural city. Lots of people from India and Arabian countries. Up until today, we've pretty much only seen white folks. The atmosphere in Leicester was much more interesting due to the diversity. We came across an international grocery store. What fun! There was peanut butter from Africa, pudding from Romania, soup from Turkey, curry from Jamaica, and so much more. We didn't see anything from the US or Canada.

For lunch we had a bacon cob, a bun with lots of peameal type bacon on it, and cherries. Food is so inexpensive here. The cherries were under $2 a pound.

We checked out the train station and picked up our tickets for the trip to London tomorrow. We're feeling confident about that part of the trip. Back at the hotel we had some wine, read, sat by the window, and napped. Very relaxing couple of hours.

We walked into the village for our last dinner in this area. De Olde Red Lion was where we went - again. This place is bustling with people and dogs. Dogs are allowed and there were about 5 of them tonight. We chatted with some folks from Rwanda, who are visiting family here, and one women from here who's off to Miami tomorrow. She's jewelry buyer. Each had their dog along. So nice.

One last stroll around our favorite village and then back to the hotel. Sitting on the floor was a pile of things that need to be packed - things I've bought here. I decided it was time to tackle that. I'm so glad I did as tomorrow and Saturday will be too busy.

One thing I learned today: 76% of UK suicides are men. (A billboard for a help line was where I saw this.)

One new thing I experienced today: A facial. There's a spa here and I've been thinking about a getting a facial all week. Dave encouraged me to do it. I got the "rejuvenating facial that would target fine line, wrinkles, and dark circles". So facial is code for lots of creams applied to the face, neck and chest - some of which are removed, many are not. It was super relaxing. Did my skin look better when it was over? Yup, but I think that's because the fine lines, wrinkles, and dark circles had so many layers of cream (some probably tinted) that they "seemed" to disappear. :)

Mos powerful moment of the day: Having "access" to a royal grave. Any other such gravesite it always far from public access - at least in our experience.
 
One pleasureable experience: Supper! The fish was excellent and the cider was so refreshing.