Yesterday we took the rail from Cambridge to Coventry. We arrived in Coventry at about 4:30 in the afternoon. We took a cab to the Ramada, where we were staying for the night, and checked in. It was a little studio style set of rooms with a sitting room and a bedroom. There was a kitchenette with a microwave and a fridge.

We decided to take a walk out to the Cathedral with a little walk around the town. The town took old timber Tudor houses, inns, and pubs and brought them back to life on Spon street. Mostly there were pubs and taverns, but--much to my amusement--one of them had been made into a Hi Fi Bang and Olufsen store. The street was delightful.

We had hoped to go to Marks and Spencers to buy dinner for the evening, but apparently Coventry closes down at 6:00 sharp. All the shops closed up including grocery stores. We decided to try a pub or two with no luck--no children allowed after 2:00 pm. There went my plans to have a bitter in a pub built in the 1300's. My daughter's reaction was pretty funny.

"Everything closes at 6:00. That place doesn't like children. This place doesn't like children. 1,2,4,5,6 Where are we going to get something to eat? And WHY DON'T they like kids? Hurumph."

I inquired at a pub as to where we might a) find a kid friendly place, and b) where an open grocer might be found. We were given directions to a Sainsbury where we bought dinner, breakfast, drinks, snacks, some bitter, and a pot of Marmite for me to bring home. Marmite costs more than $12 back home--here, 1 pound 23 p, or about $2.50.

Today, we headed back toward the Cathedral and went into the old medieval church. The place always amazes me. Firstly, the 2/3rds of Coventry was destroyed in 1940 by the Germans. Hitler was wanted payback for the bombing of some German targets. He ordered Coventry to be obliterated--that is where the word to "coventrate" comes from. You can still see pieces of the original glass clinging to lead in windows. Remarkably, the spire survived. It is a monumental reminder of things we can't allow to happen again.

They have a little "Blitz" museum that they have built as part of the Cathedral services. It includes a video of what happened to the city. It is quite shocking footage.

Then we went into the new Cathedral. When you look down the church towards the altar, it is not apparent that there is any glass, other than that behind the baptismal font but when you look from altar backwards, the glass becomes a virtual "screen" of colour. The idea is that looking back you can see everything clearly--it is much harder to look forward.

A new chapel has been added since the last time I was at the Cathedral. They call it the Millennium Chapel and names of the sponsors are etched into glass on the entrance wall to the little space.

After we finished looking around the Cathedral, we made our way back towards the hotel with a stop in the gift shop and a stop at Starbucks--I needed my latte. Now we are on our way to High Wycombe by rail where we will meet one of my Aunties with whom we will be spending the next couple of days.

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