Text: Peter Johansson
Editing: Christer Lundstedt
Photos: Christer Lundstedt, Peter Johansson
Videos: Christer Lundstedt



Monday 18th of July

07.11 Here in our room at Kidwell´s House (https://kidwellshouse.com) in Hereford, the two traveling gentlemen have woken up to a new week on English soil. Out there, the temperature is slowly creeping up. How high does it reach today? The whole country is ready for the heat it has been warned about. At least for us, breakfast is imminent before everything is tied up again and the journey continues in an eastern direction.

08.05 We are back from a simply delicious breakfast. This accommodation has been brilliant and top notch.

08.44 We had to say goodbye to our superb accommodation. After a walk that included a second breakfast consisting of blackberries, we are now at the Hereford Country Bus Station waiting for the first transport of the day, a bus. It's really hot already.

08.54 The bus company DRM Bus will take us, other passengers and a taxi closer to or to Worcester. We travel with line 420. It's lucky that the bus windows are open.

08.59 Some passengers who intended to go with this bus have regretted it because they could not continue to Birmingham. Apparently some line or bus time has changed. Everything is no longer as it used to be.

09.18 We continue east. I make a small observation. Our bus, again a city bus model, has different passengers. Some are sitting with jackets on. The road winds its way between greenery and villages.

09.40 At the Pump Street stop in Bromyard, there are travelers who pay for the ticket with coins.

10.30 The temperature has reached +28˚C and we have arrived at Angel Place in Worcester. In front of us is a pedestrian street with Foregate Street railway station at one end and the cathedral at the other. Worcester, which should be pronounced "wooster", is known for its sauce, which can be called both Worcestershire sauce and Worcester sauce. It is a strong seasoning sauce that is used as a flavoring agent for meat dishes, soups, stews and the like and is sold in large parts of the world. In addition to the sauce, there is a cathedral and a university here. There are 98,378 inhabitants living in Worcester.

Christer is having breakfast at Kidwell's House.

Peter in the breakfast room.

High Street, Worcester.

Sir Edward Elgar is with us today as well.

Peter is writing down his observations in Worcester.

A boat passes on the River Severn.

10.48 A well-dressed 70 plus man with a pipe passes us at a turtle's pace. Christer and I sit and rest outside Worcester Cathedral, another magnificent English cathedral that is almost ridiculously difficult to photograph. We recently saw another statue of the composer Sir Edward Elgar, who grew up here in the city, and a statue commemorating those who fell in the Boer War.

11.02 Swans swim in the River Severn. The bells chime in the cathedral tower. We got here to the river via the handsome Edgar Tower. Hooray, finally a bit of wind on us.

11.09 It is cool under the trees in the shade along Kleve Walk. On the River Severn the barge Carpe Diem just passed by. Haven't we seen another barge with that name earlier on the trip? In the cathedral behind us, King John (1166-1216) is buried. Wasn't he the one who wanted Robin Hood during his time as a prince?

12.05 What is a city without a visit to Costa Coffee? A Medium Americano and a double espresso have been slurped down. The customer after me wondered if anyone had seen a red hat. At least we haven't seen any. The question is, did we enjoy the coffee more or the cold air in here?

12.32 We are at a new railway station, Worcester Foregate Street. Soon we will depart with a new train to Cheltenham Spa station.

12.56 In the compartment in the train from the West Midlands Railway it is not as cool as I had hoped. My pens suffer from the heat. I have to promise to change every now and then. It might be just as well to simply buy new ones.

13.17 This is a really slow train. Partly there is a speed limit of 60 miles/h due to the heat today, and partly we are behind a slow freight train. It is difficult to overtake on rails.

13.50 We are now in Cheltenham and the temperature has risen to +34 degrees. We are walking the two kilometers to the center of Cheltenham. Due to a lack of benches, we are currently sitting on a wall. From this city comes the ski jumper Michael David Edwards also known as Eddie the Eagle. Another of the city's sons is/was Brian Jones from the Rolling Stones. The city is also a famous health resort. There are 115,519 inhabitants living in Cheltenham. We have left Worcestershire and are now in Gloucestershire.

Beautiful shade under the foliage of the trees.

Plenty of birds in the Severn.

We have arrived in Cheltenham.

Christer cools off inside Costa Coffee in Cheltenham.

The artwork The Hare and the Minotaur.

Memorial to South African Campaign, Cheltenham.

14.12 We take another break during our walk towards the centre. It is needed in this heat. This time we rest on a large, cube-shaped stone. New pens are really needed. It is difficult to write.

14.42 It is heavenly cool inside Costa Coffee on the Promenade pedestrian street. If the truth is to be revealed, we are here more to get fresh air than to drink coffee. Outside it has reached +35˚C in the shade. Inside here at Costa, a man with white plastic gloves is walking around. He claims he has a Costa card and can't seem to decide whether to sit or stand.

15.05 Sitting does not seem to be a good option. The gloveman stood up at his table as he drank his coffee.

15.17 At the bookstore Waterstones, I have been in and invested in no less than three new pens. The clerk asked if I wanted colourful ones, maybe some from the art department. I declined the offer in the friendliest way.

15.28 Along the Promenade pedestrian street, we have seen a strange sculpture, The Hare and the Minotaur, and we have also seen another memorial to the Boer War. In addition, there is a statue of Edward Adrian Wilson, a man who was in Robert Scott's expedition to the South Pole. Edward was born here in Cheltenham.

15.45 A golden bus from Stagecoach will take us to the next stop on today's journey, the neighbouring city of Gloucester. It's really hot upstairs in the bus.

16.37 Riding the bus is normally fun. Riding in a hot, AC-free bus is no fun at all. Now we are sweaty at the Gloucester Transport Hub, the bus station in Gloucester, and want to dry off before continuing. Who knows, we might actually want to cool down?

16.47 Christer has received a message on his phone. Violet from the upcoming accommodation in Swindon wants a text message ten minutes before we are there. Then she has time to get there with a key.

16.53 I am currently sitting by a fountain and guarding the luggage while Christer buys drinks inside the Iceland store. We are at Kings Square. Gloucester has 132,416 inhabitants and is yet another of many English cities with a cathedral. Gloucester was long ago the capital of the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of Mercia.

Queens Hotel Cheltenham.

Imperial Gardens, Cheltenham.

The bus to Gloucester is waiting for us.

Appreciated fountain in the heat. The location is Kings Square in Gloucester.

Gloucester Cathedral.

Our bags are almost melting in the heat.

17.03 Children play in a fountain that has just fallen asleep. Some of them are pigeon hunting. We two backpackers sit and drink freshly bought cold juice. Now the fountain woke up and so did the children's joy.

17.18 Really, it's 36 plus degrees in the shade and we're at yet another cathedral, Gloucester Cathedral. The heat, the sweat and the lack of time make it difficult for us to enjoy what we see.

17.35 We are now at Gloucester Train Station and it is announced here about a delayed train. Nothing has been said yet about our train. On this day when the trains have to run at a limited speed, there is chaos in the timetables. There are delayed and canceled trains everywhere.

17.57 Now the message came. The train we planned to take is delayed. Only the carriage is not too hot when it arrives.

18.16 The train finally arrived and we are there. It's not a hot car. It is rather fried. A sauna is probably quite cool in comparison. This wagon must have been in the sun all day.

18.31 We experience, to say the least, full-body sweating here in the carriage. My palms are wet. There is no internet on board but Christer just found the upcoming accommodation in Swindon on Google Maps after a previous search with the phone. Further forward in the carriage, an elderly grey-haired man is standing shirtless by the window which he has opened.

19.05 This is not a train compartment, it is a train sauna. It doesn't make matters better that the train runs slowly. The journey takes longer and hardly any wind reaches us here in the carriage. The conductor walks around handing out the few water bottles he has.

19.32 It felt cool to leave the compartment and the train in Swindon. How hot was it on board? +34 suddenly feels chilly.

20.13 A quick walk from the train station took us to our next sleeping place. We were received by our hostess at The Rollestons Arms pub (http://level3swindon.com). She asked if we had been to The Airshow. Apparently there has been some kind of air show today. No, we said, we've gone on a sauna train. When we said that it was cool to get off the train, she added and pointed out that it was around +35 degrees. Now we are in room 4 which is an attic above the pub. Tonight it will mostly be buying drinks and cooling down.

The sauna session is over. Finally arrived in Swindon.

Peter is waiting to check in.

The Rolleston Arms, Swindon.

Here we will sleep one night.

View of Swindon.

Regent Circus, Swindon.

20.49 We didn't understand the handwritten WiFi code we have here in the room but have received a readable code texted by the hostess Violet. We hope it works because right now we are out in town for grocery shopping. We stay next door to a barking dog who doesn't like noise in the stairwell. Swindon, which is in Wiltshire, is for us mostly a stop on the way to Oxford. There is nothing special to see here. The city has a population of 201,669 people.

21.24 There will be no dinner tonight. On the one hand, the heat has taken away the appetite for anything other than drinks, and on the other hand, it is very late and the restaurant selection meager. After going to a small Polish supermarket (Fantasia Supermarket) and buying lots of drinks, supper and breakfast, we are back home in the room. The WiFi code is working. It is good. The shower is started with a red button in the bedroom.

21.50 We have rarely drunk such amounts of liquid in such a short time. How much have we really sweated this day?

23.30 The upcoming Oxford stay is planned. It's probably just too hot to do anything we'd like to do there, boring. This is the end of this journal. The pages do not hold. They come off and it doesn't work. There will be a change.

23.52 A warm night awaits. All the windows are open, we have had a cold shower and we have a big fan running. It doesn't help much.


Tuesday 19th of July

08.20 It is morning in Swindon. We want to say a big thank you to our black friend. I'm talking about the big fan that the hostess set up in our room before our arrival. It made the night bearable but still really warm. One can only hope that the next room will be cooler. Heat wears us down.

09.21 We have calmly eaten the purchased breakfast. Among other things, we have eaten a classic from the time of European train trips, yoghurt from the brand Jogobella. We often bought these in Poland and neighbouring countries about 20 years ago.

10.28 Soon we will be out on the streets of Swindon, where it is already over 30 degrees.

10.57 We have checked out and are currently making a stop inside a mall, The Brunel Shopping Centre. We do this to cool the bodies, stop the sweating and lower the body temperature. Due to yesterday's heat and the temperature in the room, the bodies are still heated.

11.20 Here at Swindon Station, our purchase of water took time. According to the clerk, the cash register had frozen. It sounds incredible in these temperatures. Although a better phrase in Swedish is probably that it messed up.

11.37 In order to get away earlier from here in Swindon, we have joined a previously delayed train. It departs before the one we intended to take. By the way, the imaginary train we were supposed to take is also delayed. Yesterday's train chaos also affects today's train traffic.

Traces of the night's desperate attempt to keep the room cool.

Canal Walk, Swindon.

Swindon Station with an ugly high-rise.

We experienced the highest temperature of the trip in Reading.

The Town Hall, Reading.

Saint Laurence's Church, Reading.

11.46 A message about an alarm from a passenger has been called out on the train. Also, the refreshment cart has passed. Two ladies in the compartment ordered beer. It looks tasty.

11.54 I follow news from the home areas. There is a verdict in the so-called Malin case. The accused is judged guilty. It will be five years in prison for murder. A discount has been given because he was under 18 when the crime was committed and the time that has passed since then.

12.42 We are now sitting and drinking takeaway drinks in a square in Reading. None of us have been here before. Reading on the River Thames in Berkshire has a population of 242,572. Due to the proximity to Heathrow and London, many companies have chosen to stay here. The city also has a university and a famous music festival, the Reading Festival. Famous people from Reading include actress Kate Winslet, who starred in the film Titanic, comedian Ricky Gervais and artist Mike Oldfield.

13.05 We don't go too far in the oppressive heat, but we want to see a bit of the city anyway. Now we are standing on a bridge over the River Kennet. What frequency does it have? The temperature has now reached +38˚C. What makes it bearable is that there are some cooling winds at times.

13.10 A male swan on the waters of the Kennet does his utmost to protect his partner and their seven young. He does his utmost to protect them.

13.44 Costa Coffee at Butter Market has cool air, good coffee but no toilet. We need to cool down, cold. Our bodily engines are close to boiling.

14.07 We got ready to travel further by going to the toilet and cooling off more inside the railway station. Soon we will get on the bus that will take us north to Oxford. Do we really want to go by bus today? It can get hot.

14.32 The buses here in Reading have different colours and themes. Here there is burgundy, lion, leopard and red. We chose the red one. It's not for the colour but for the fact that it goes to Oxford. The company is Oxford Bus.

In Reading you will find Kennet. Kennet is a river.

In Wallingford we cross the Thames.

Athena Guest House, Oxford.

Bicycle decoration in The Plain roundabout, Oxford.

Boat hire at Magdalen Bridge Boathouse.

On the way to Oxford city centre.

15.04 The bus journey goes unexpectedly well, not at all as hot as we feared. About halfway to Oxford, in Wallingford, we are now. Here there is a castle and a restaurant called Five Little Pigs. Here in town the river Thames also flows in a significantly more modest version compared to London.

15.28 We are reached by the news that it is +40.2˚C at Heathrow Airport. It is a new British heat record.

15.50 We got off the bus and are now outside the Athena Guest House on Cowley Road in Oxford. At 16.00 we will check in here. For some reason the property is called Amazon Guest House in our reservation. However, the house in the picture and the address are here for Athena. Have they changed their name?

16.10 No one opens here even though it is 16.00 and we received a message to meet here at this particular time. Two other guests came out of the accommodation. The first came out to go to the pub across the street. The other man let us in. What happens now?

16.20 The other man is apparently also waiting to check in. Christer has called the host and been asked if he has a car and if we are at the airport? Answers to that question have been given and it has been promised to send someone who can check us in. This someone, an Asian man, just came here.

16.32 Christer followed the man, probably the owner, into an inner office completely overflowing with all kinds of stuff. Payment, registration and submission of information were handled there.

17.09 There is an unstable WiFi network here at the accommodation. Our bodies have had to encounter liquids inside and out. It has been drunk by the liter today. Christer is looking for shopping places for dinner and breakfast. There seem to be local supermarkets nearby.

17.49 Now we are going out and taking the bus. It won't be the last bus to Woodstock but the next bus down to the center of Oxford.

The Clarendon Building, Oxford University.

The Sheldonian Theatre, Oxford.

If the dog gets heat stroke.

We visit Wendy's on Magdalen Street.

The heat changes Christer's body shape.

The Eagle and Child, meeting place of J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis.

18.16 There was no bus for us. We decided to walk instead. The Woodstock thing has a connection to the first book about Commissioner Endeavor Morse, active in Oxford. Speaking of Morse, we're going on Cowley Road. Young Morse (in the TV series) was active in the Cowley district.

18.25 We are now standing at one of the city's attractions, Magdalen Bridge. Down on the river Cherwell we see such punts as we also saw in Cambridge. There are boats that are staked out.

19.00 We are now visiting an old acquaintance. We got to know her in Manila, Philippines in 2005. So it's a restaurant in the hamburger chain Wendy's and we're going to eat exactly one hamburger meal as tonight's simple dinner. The restaurant is located on Magdalen Street.

19.30 In front of us is The Eagle and Child, the pub of the authors J.R.R Tolkien and C.S Lewis. The last time we were here in 2010, we didn't have time to go inside. Now that we have time, the pub is temporarily closed. Also, it's raining. The extreme heat is beginning to give way. A change of weather is underway.

19.56 We don't really recognize ourselves in Oxford. It's not like we remember it twelve years ago. Again we ask ourselves if things change in cities or if our memories are distorted as the years go by. Oxford is primarily known for its university with approximately 21,500 students. There are also a lot of other businesses in the city. In the Cowley district is the old factory area of Morris Motors, where today the car brand Mini is manufactured by BMW. The book publisher Oxford University Press owned by the University of Oxford is also known. There are 149,853 inhabitants living in Oxford.

20.10 We just saw a familiar face. It was our neighbour, he who went to the pub. He passed us here in the center.

20.18 At Radcliffe Square outside All Souls College is the round building Radcliffe Camera. It is sometimes seen in films from the city. The building from the 18th century serves as a library. It is one of the 28 different libraries belonging to the university here in Oxford.

Martyrs' Memorial, Oxford.

Carfax Tower, Oxford.

Waiting for the green light.

We sneaked a peek at All Souls College.

University Church of Saint Mary the Virgin.

Radcliffe Camera, Oxford.

20.58 How many liters of liquid have we actually sweated today? Have I wondered this before on trips? Probably. We are on our way home on foot. The bodies are tired after two intense days in devilish heat. It will be nice with a different type of weather in the coming days.

21.40 Regardless of how much we drank today, we need to drink even more. In addition, we have bought breakfast at the Co-op on Cowley Road. I want a full width bathtub with ice water.

22.55 Good news, ice cold milk is good and refreshing. Bad news, the historically weak WiFi connection makes it impossible to get meaningful facts about the buses we will be traveling with tomorrow.

23.07 A strong effort has been made by Christer out on the unpredictable internet. We have a result. There are now bus times and a plan for tomorrow's foot movements.

23.37 Our room has an unexpectedly good temperature. I should probably sleep well tonight.


Wednesday 20th of July

07.24 We have woken up in the room at Athena Guest House. It is nice to have slept a night with a comfortable room temperature. The heat has left us and today will be a significantly cooler day with elements of rain. The World Championships in Athletics have started in Eugene, which is located in Oregon, USA. There were no Swedish or Norwegian athletics medals during the night's competitions.

08.27 We are waiting for the bus that will take us down to the center here in Oxford. The first bus on the route is cancelled. Luckily there will be more.

09.17 Finally the bus that will take us along Cowley Road towards more central parts arrived.

09.36 We got off the bus on High Street and with steady steps we walked towards Oxford Bus Station at Gloucester Green. The last time we were in the city, in 2010, we got there by bus from Heathrow. A nice and welcome wind is blowing. It's around +20˚C today, thanks for that.

09.59 The reason why we are already leaving at this time is that we wanted to have plenty of time today. Now this bus is also delayed. The new departure time will be when the later bus in the timetable is due to depart.

10.05 A lady with crutches just had a good line when a driver said he was undercover today. Her comment was, then why don't you have a different uniform?

10.17 The lady with the crutch has struck again. You are late, she told the driver. Yes, but only 14 minutes was the answer. Look, it's more than that, she thought.

10.31 The driver disappeared for a while. It must have been a toilet break. Now we leave Oxford.

11.15 We sit at the top and at the front of the bus from Stagecoach. Outside, the countryside passes by.

Morning in the room at Athena Guest House.

Peter is waiting for the bus in Oxford.

On the A34 towards new destinations.

We got off the bus in Milton Keynes.

The UEFA Fan Zone on Station Square in Milton Keynes.

A lot is purple at Kikis Café.

11.37 We have just stopped in the small town of Buckingham, which give its name to the county of Buckinghamshire.

11.55 It's time for us to get off our bus at the bus stop outside Milton Keynes Central railway station. Here in Milton Keynes, which belongs to Buckinghamshire, we will stay long enough to have time to drink coffee. This is one of the new cities founded in the 1960s in south-east England. In contrast to many other English cities, it is spacious and well-planned, but this also means that it is rather boring. Milton Keynes was deliberately laid out roughly halfway between London, Birmingham, Leicester, Oxford and Cambridge, so that it could accommodate the excess population in the area. The city was founded in 1967 and today has 271,701 inhabitants.

12.16 At the station in Station Square there was an area connected to the women's football European Championships and also a toilet. The latter was visited by me. Here in Milton Keynes, the ladies play three group stage matches and a semi-final in their tournament. Now we are at Kikis Café (https://kikiscafe.co.uk) for a coffee break. Here is a beautiful interior in purple colours.

12.47 It is a modern city that we are in. It was founded as mentioned as late as 1967. However, there is interesting history in the area. A bit outside the city is Bletchley Park. It was there that a group worked on cracking the Nazi Enigma code during World War II. We were just asked what time it is by a guy walking past us.

13.11 So we are sitting at yet another bus stop. We are back at Milton Keynes Central. A new bus will take us to a new city.

13.28 It could have been cooler on the bus from Arriva Bus and it could have been bigger but what can we do? It's just a matter of going along. We are now on our way to Northampton.

14.02 This bus covers every residential area and every small village. After traveling along a country road we are now in Hanslope.

15.01 So we are finally in Northampton, which is one of England's oldest cities. Here there will be a stop for a late lunch and sightseeing before the next shot in the English geography. Northampton has a population of 225,100 and is the capital of Northamptonshire (Northants for short). Northampton is one of the largest urban areas in England that has the status of town instead of city.

15.52 During our walk around town, we have seen both Superman and Batman. In addition, we have seen a defibrillator kiosk. Now we're at Northampton Grill BBQ for a really late lunch. It's so late it might be an early dinner. Today we eat Turkish food.

We don't have time to join the party.

On the bus heading to Northampton.

Market Square, Northampton.

The Guildhall, Northampton.

Sculpture on Abington Street, Northampton.

The sculpture Discovery in Northampton.

16.38 That was a much needed meal, really good. In addition, there were sockets at the table where you could charge your mobile phone. Now we have to find the way to bus stop 3. First we have to find it online (Google Maps) but also here in town in reality.

17.01 Here on the square All Saints Plaza in front of All Saints Church, a little girl has been frightened by and then chased away pigeons herself. We rest a bit on a bench and recharge for the next bus journey.

17.16 After a while we realized that the stop we were looking for was not along the street but rather inside a bus station, Northgate. There we are now.

17.27 We changed gates and are now ready to travel north to Leicester. There are many people who want to travel with our bus. Once again we have help from Stagecoach.

18.17 Our bus journey rolls on without much drama and I start to feel sleepy.

19.16 I'm still a bit tired. It's been a long day of travel today, but now we're at least at the Haymarket bus station in central Leicester. From here we will make our way on foot towards our hotel.

19.50 We have checked in at the hotel which is Hotel ibis Leicester City. We had some trouble finding the entrance but eventually got in and are now in room 207. We have stayed at a few hotels in this chain before, e.g. in Morocco. From the window we have a view of the platform at the railway station. We'll probably be there tomorrow morning.

21.17 Just as we returned to the hotel after shopping at Lidl, the Spanish footballing ladies scored 1-0 against England. It is the question of the quarter-finals of the football European Championship. At Lidl, we did not, as we intended, buy detergent. It's not like we forgot. There was simply no small package. At the self-scan payment, a clerk came to confirm that we were not too young to buy beer. Soon we will be enjoying these drinks too.

Fish Street, Northampton.

Turkish lunch at Northampton Grill BBQ.

The Parish Church Of All Saints, Northampton.

We arrive in Leicester and at Haymarket Bus Station.

Mural in Leicester.

Hotel ibis Leicester City.

21.43 We continue to follow the Euro 2022 match here in the room. England have now equalised. Ella Toone scored the goal.

22.00 No more goals in the match were scored during regular time. Now there will be extra time for 2x15 minutes. The match is played in Brighton.

22.05 England now lead 2-1. Georgia Stanway has scored a really nice goal.

22.39 The match is over. England are the first team to reach the semi-finals.

23.41 Tickets for our train journeys tomorrow have been purchased on the internet. We will stay two nights at this hotel. Tomorrow we spend a bit of sightseeing in two other cities. Now on beer day we will celebrate it by drinking our beers from Lidl.


Thursday 21st of July

07.55 "Like a prayer" with Madonna is heard on the radio. It's cloudy outside. Today we won't be carrying around the big backpacks. It'll be nice. The bags can stay here in Leicester. We ourselves will take a look at two large cities a little to the north, Nottingham and Derby.

09.10 Even at this accommodation, it is so and so with the WiFi network. Although we won't need it for much longer because we are soon going out and going by train.

09.34 Leicester Railway Station (Leicester Station) is large and airy. Outside the station stood a statue of Thomas Cook. He was active here in Leicester and founded the world's first travel agency in the 19th century. He organized various trips using the railway.

09.53 EMR, East Midlands Railway is the company that will now take us north to Nottingham with its train. It will be a new city for me, but Christer visited it in 1997.

10.22 It was a fast train and a fairly short journey. We have now arrived at Nottingham railway station which is situated on the River Trent. The city is probably best known from the stories of Robin Hood. There are currently 337,100 inhabitants living in Nottingham.

10.39 Finally we found a bench to sit on here in Nottingham. It stands by the castle wall of Nottingham Castle. The castle stands on Castle Rock and below it is the statue of Robin Hood as well as some pictures that describe various stories surrounding this legendary figure. On the way here, we have also seen England's oldest inn, Ye Olde Trip to Jerusalem from 1189.

Room 207 at Hotel ibis Leicester City.

Thomas Cook stands outside Leicester Station.

A funny figure greets the passengers.

Ye Olde Trip to Jerusalem in Nottingham is claimed to be England's oldest inn.

The wall around Nottingham Castle.

Robin Hood, Nottingham's foremost celebrity.

10.52 We have filmed and photographed around the statue of Robin Hood. According to tradition, he was an outlaw during the late 12th century in England, first mentioned in 1377. Robin Hood became known in modern times for living by the motto of taking from the rich and giving to the poor, but that is something that does not match the legend. The stories of Robin Hood have evolved over the centuries and changed to suit the tastes of the times. He was said to be staying in Sherwood Forest near Mansfield, north of Nottingham.

11.08 Costa Coffee on Friar Lane offers exactly what I'm looking for. Partly they have a toilet, partly they sell coffee and sausage sandwiches. We will be sitting here for a while before seeing more of Nottingham.

12.06 We have walked around and seen a bit more of Nottingham. It's cool today. It's not something I directly complain about. Nottingham is not a boring city and here you have everything you need. However, there is nothing that really stands out and fascinates. Possibly we are getting a bit numb after all the cities we have visited and seen in this country.

12.51 Lonely Planet's guidebook suggested a Robin Hood walk through Nottingham and we have just done it. It was nothing special but still something to do and follow. We have seen various places with a historical connection. Now we are at the church of Saint Mary's in the Lace. According to the story, Robin Hood is supposed to have been recognized here by a monk whom Robin robbed. The monk reported Robin to the sheriff. Next door was also the sheriff's jail.

13.24 Soon it will be time to leave yet another city. Goodbye Nottingham, there wasn't much antiquity and history here. On the other hand, the stories surrounding Robin Hood are an extra spice, even if most of the things surrounding him are probably just made up.

13.40 The train company Cross Country Trains will take us to Derby. Between the tracks, we have seen a lone forgotten teddy bear.

14.38 There must always be some trouble then. I have pain in my right calf. After a short journey, we have arrived in Derby, where we got off the train at Derby Midland Station.

Old Market Square, Nottingham.

Saint Mary's Church, Nottingham.

The Nottingham Canal.

Nottingham Station.

A forgotten stuffed animal in Nottingham.

We are ready to discover Derby.

15.01 The railway station was not directly central. In slightly questionable weather with drizzle in the air, we walked towards the center. We are now in the center of Derby. Nearby, the Lombe brothers started what is believed to be the world's first modern factory, the Silk Factory in 1721. Now we are resting on the Derwent, another river. We have bought some snacks from a kiosk. There will be a snack here on a bench.

15.36 We've had the weather against us here in Derby. It's a bit cold and drizzles from time to time. In addition to the factory with its museum, we have seen the cathedral and walked along the pedestrian street Saint Peter's Street. Derby currently has 266,481 inhabitants and is the capital of Derbyshire. There has been a settlement here for almost 2000 years. After the Romans, the Anglo-Saxons and Vikings came here. The Vikings called the city Djúraby. Derby has had a porcelain industry and the company Rolls Royce has also manufactured cars and aircraft engines here.

16.39 It was a rather short visit, but that's how it will be this summer. Some places we see a glimpse of, others we experience a little more deeply. There are now many who want to leave Derby on the same train as us. We will first go back to Nottingham before going home to Leicester again. At the station a guy was sitting and playing the piano.

17.12 So we are back in Nottingham again. It won't be a long stay. We await our train which will take us back to Leicester shortly.

17.36 Our train is in London in two hours. Hopefully we won't be on board then. In that case, we fell asleep and missed getting off.

18.32 Although I actually fell asleep for a while, we got off the train in Leicester when we were supposed to. Now we take a little sightseeing in this city as well. We have seen a larger white building, the town hall and now a park with a fountain, pigeons and various people. Leicester is a large city with a population of 353,660. A large part of the inhabitants here have a background in South Asia. By that I am referring to countries like India, Pakistan and Bangladesh. According to information, 43% of the inhabitants are of Asian origin.

Market Place, Derby.

Derby Cathedral.

Ye Olde Dolphin Inne, Derby's oldest pub.

Derby Silk Mill, the world's first factory?

Saint Peter's Church, Derby.

Leicester Market.

18.40 We will try to see as much of Leicester city center as possible before we have dinner tonight. There should be some interesting sights here.

18.52 In the older parts of the city centre, we have seen a beautiful clock tower (The Clock Tower Leicester), Leicester Cathedral and behind it a statue of the old English 15th century king Richard III. Since 2015, he is buried inside the cathedral. Richard was King of England 1483-1485. He became the last king of the House of York. William Shakespeare's play Richard III has made his name famous. Richard fell at the Battle of Bosworth Field, the last English king to die in battle. It is said that the dead Rikard was dragged naked through the streets before being buried in Greyfriars Church in Leicester. According to some rumours, the remains were thrown into the nearby River Soar during the dissolution of the monastery, but other sources suggested that his original burial place was located under a car park in Leicester, where the city's Franciscan monastery was formerly located. In 2013, DNA tests confirmed that the remains found under the car park at the former abbey were those of Richard III. The King Richard III Visitor Center is now located here.

19.21 We left Richard III behind and are now in Castle Park, which is located at what remains of the castle, Leicester Castle. A short distance away flows the river Soar.

19.28 We have thought a bit about how to prepare future trips in the best way. We have realized that we wrote down many sights we planned to see but did not note what they are or where they are located. These thoughts have now been disturbed by a hunger that will probably make us leave the park shortly.

19.38 The Chinese dinner restaurant we planned to visit was not of the size and quality that we imagined and hoped for. It took the must out of us and the spirit of fine dining disappeared. Now what do we do with dinner? Hunger has struck acutely. It has to be something we can get hold of quickly and close by.

Town Hall Square, Leicester.

The city's pride unexpectedly became English champions in 2016.

The Sporting Success Statue at Gallowtree Gate.

The Clock Tower Leicester.

Leicester Cathedral.

Richard III made headlines when his remains were found in 2013.

20.01 The answer to the question I asked was like so many times before this summer. We are at KFC on the High Street. When we put off dinner for too long and need food quickly or when we want to get really full fairly cheaply, KFC is a simple solution, but now simple dinners will soon have to be enough. We deserve white tablecloths, waiters and a wine list, or at least plates and cutlery.

21.05 It's another evening with the purchase of breakfast, but we didn't find a small package of detergent. Soon I will buy a pack of a larger model and pour over what will fit in the glass jar I have with me. This time we were at Tesco Express in our laundry detergent hunt.

21.19 We tried two more shops in our search for the white powder but it yielded nothing.

21.37 We are back at our hotel, A content-rich day is coming to an end. Today we have had time to see the central parts of three large cities, Nottingham, Derby and Leicester. We've covered the area known as the East Midlands pretty well in other words.

23.01 Our coverage of the news on TV has taught us that the German ladies beat the Austrians 2-0 in the soccer European Championship, that American President Joe Biden has contracted Covid and that there is a fire in Spain.

The Guildhall, Leicester.

You need to be careful here!

Saint Nicholas Church, Leicester.


VIDEOS


You can see 72 photos from July 18 in this photoalbum.
You can see 77 photos from July 19 in this photoalbum.
You can see 46 photos from July 20 in this photoalbum.
You can see 86 photos from July 21 in this photoalbum.


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