Distance Walked: 7km, Time Taken: Didn't Bother Measuring, # Beers: 1 bottle Cobra beer
As today is Sunday, and the sparse train-bus links to Hadrian's Wall are even sparser than normal, I just spent the day ambling around Carlisle. I particularly wanted to visit this city as a favourite book series of mine is the Sir Robert Carey books by PF Chisholm. He was a real person. The grandson of Mary Boleyn, and if the rumours were true, also of King Henry VIII. Mary was his mistress before Anne appeared on the scene. The English-Scottish border at that time made the American Wild West seem tame. Sir Robert was made Deputy Warden of the West March and was sent here to try bring peace and the rule of law to the border. The books are loosely based on his life and are excellent.
I spent the morning wandering around Carlisle Castle. This is where he was based so I had fun comparing what exists now with what would have been there in his time. Sadly, the tower he had his rooms in has been demolished. I tried to buy some souvenirs about the Border Reivers and that time in Carlisle's history in the Castle shop but there was nothing. For some reason they don't want to dwell on that part of their history. Plenty of stuff about Roman times and the Wall of course.
For lunch I went to the Cumbria Roast Company. Here I got a Yorkshire pudding, that served as a plate, and was filled with a roast meal with all the trimmings. It is Sunday after all. A thoroughly Harmless meal.
After lunch, I visited the cathedral. There was a vicar/parson/religious person right by the entrance. He was handing out laminated guides to the cathedral and he made of point of showing all the possible places you could make a donation to its upkeep. After suitable admiring the ceiling and stained glass windows (both spectacular) I waited until he was busy showing a group of people something off to one side, stuck my laminated sheet back on his pile and slunk out the door - without donating.
I then took refuge in a bookshop with an attached cafe and spent a pleasant hour or so browsing among the books before having a pot of tea and a slice of cake (sadly stale). I had planned to do more roaming around the streets admiring the historical architecture but it had been grey and drizzly all day, so I gave up and took refuge back at my hotel. At which point the clouds cleared and the temperature increased. Grr.
One thing I did notice was the large number of op shops (I counted almost a dozen) and the number of empty shops. All of which suggests the economy is not good here in the north and perhaps in the UK as a whole.
After finally finding decent Italian food in Cumbria, I decided not to push my luck any further and settled for a traditional English meal tonight. That is, I went out for a curry at the Masala Bazaar. I had the lamb biryani, which I foolishly ordered at the normal level of spiciness. They did offer to make it mild but I was too proud. Fortunately it came with raita and I also ordered a beer so I survived. I further cooled my mouth with a dessert called matka, which was kulfi flavoured with saffron and cardamon and topped with chopped pistachios. All in all a perfectly Harmless meal.
While I was eating I got to see some dining habits of couples. One young couple spent all their time while waiting for their food on their phones, not looking at each other, never mind speaking. They appeared to be on a date. When the food arrived the woman accidentally dropped her fork on the floor. She picked it up, handed it to her boyfriend and helped herself to his clean fork. He gave her fork a quick rub with his fingers and then ate his dinner. A middle-aged couple also ignored each other. They insisted on being seated at a table for 4 rather than one for 2. They then sat side-by-side, not speaking. He managed to get through 3 pints of beer by the time they finished their entrees. She did speak to him briefly when he ordered the 3rd pint, trying to talk him out of it, but he ignored her. If I want to be ignored, I'll just get myself another cat.
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