Tue, 26 Nov 2002

author Tim	location Metheringham, Lincolnshire, England
posted 19:49 GMT	section Europe2002/Europe/UK/England/Lincolnshire ( all photos )

Lincoln ( 41 photos )
After a late and lethargic morning, we set off for a walk through the foggy fields towards a nearby village. A wonderful sight, but getting mighty cold in the exposed parts.
Eventually wandering back to Jill's place, we lunched before heading into Lincoln proper. Lonely Planet summarises it thusly: "a compact medieval centre with some wonderful Tudor architecture and one of the steepest urban climbs this side of San Francisco." We parked at the top, opting for a walk down first, then up later.
The city is completely dominated by the cathedral. We were in awe of it's size, but unfortunately the friezes on the outside were undergoing restoration, spoiling the effect somewhat. We decided that the entry fee (most cathedrals and the like ask for a donation - quite different) of £3.50 each was a bit steep, considering there was five of us. So we took some photos from the doorway and headed across the road to the other major structure - the castle.
We spent a great hour or two wandering around, taking in the castle's varied contents: a prison (complete with a chapel kitted out in a way only one other in the world survives - in Port Arthur, Tasmania. We've seen that one too, which made for interesting comparison), Lincoln's copy of the Magna Carta (which was shipped out to Brisbane for Expo '88, but we didn't see), and the very high Observatory Tower (which we climbed up). A nice walk around the walls completed our tour.
Next was to take in the famous Steep Hill on our way down to Just Another Overgrown High Street. In truth, there are some surviving historical buildings, such as Britain's only cafe built on a bridge, where we had afternoon tea, the 12th century Jew's House and of course the lolly shop Goodies, where Liz and Margaret stocked up on nourishing health snacks.
Eventually hungry, we headed a little out of town for a great dinner at a strange British institution, the Fish & Chips Restaurant. Imagine a greasy fish and chip take-away shop on one side, tacked on to a sit-down, licensed, table-service, and very clean restaurant. It still serves the same food, albeit packaged a little more pleasingly. Quite a strange creation indeed.
We piled back into Jill's little car (five of us in a two-door Barina/Corsa!), and headed back to relax at home.

Tomorrow, Liz and I are going to London to drop Margaret at Beckenham for a week, and then head out to Reading to stay in a hotel near our friends there while we work out how our life is going to play out.

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