Another day trip to the same area the Chichester is located in the same week. Stuart suggested that I might enjoy Arundel. The main attraction is the castle. It has been owned by the same family for centuries. In fact, they still live here! Remember the Fitzalans from the Cathedral of Chichester? Yep, they lived here.... The castle was massive. I spent several hours touring it and could have stayed longer!

A view of the castle from a distance.

I had to walk about a mile into town from the city's train station. It was partly along a busy road and motorway, but this is the view I saw looking the other direction.

Crossing the river Arun on my way into town.

The quaint (and hilly!!) town center.

No photos were allowed inside the castle. However, no one stopped me from taking this shot of the courtyard looking out of the cafe inside the castle! I believe that is the private, family section of the castle.

A view of the Dukedom looking out from the Norman tower.

Outside the castle in the gardens. Met a nice couple from

Scotland (who took this photo for me!)

The crypt in the small church on the grounds. Notice underneath the pillars, there is a view of the soldier as skin and bones. If I understood correctly, it was placed there before the death of the soldier in order to remind him of his mortality (?) It is a rare sculpture, though.

I just love the light coming in from a window onto the stone. Appropriately reverend.

Interior of the chapel.

A really cool fountain in the gardens. It is holding up a crown with water!

Here I am in front of the castle.

The Arundel Cathedral seen from the gardens. It was built in the 14th century and became a Catholic cathedral in the late 1800s when it was legal to have Catholic churches again.

Inside the cathedral.

The Church of St. Nicholas. It dates to the 14th century, but actually replaced a Norman church on the site.

Entrance to the church.

Interior of the church, with the 14th century pulpit in the foreground.

Graveyard along the side of the church.

One of the few Norman stones used in the rebuilding of the church. Cooool!

My trip to Chichester was certainly a surprise. I saw a poster advert in the train station saying you could get tickets there for 3£. OK... so what's in Chichester, I asked! Um, a cathedral... and um, hm. Well, whatever. Tickets are cheap. It's only a little over an hour from London, so why not? The day I asked about tickets at the train station, the lady informed me that the following day was "Everyone Ride a Train" day or something and not only were tickets 3£ return, BUT they were going to be 90% off in celebration! Woot! I took advantage and got both my ticket to Chichester and to Arundel for a total of £2.50. Yes!! It turns out that Chichester has a lot more to offer than just a cathedral. I am very glad I took a chance!

Oh, and for the record, it's pronounced "chih-chester" not "chee-chester."

Here is a back view of the cathedral, seen from the park behind it. What a lovely day, eh?

The beautiful interior of the cathedral. This place gets my vote for "friendliest cathedral in England." There were greeters waiting at the door as I entered (on a random Tuesday morning!) They offered to help me with any information I might like. There was also a free guided tour given by another greeter. It was very informative.

A cool sundial on the outside of the church.

The Marc Chagall window. It is especially significant in that it's red.

His windows are usually all blue.

Painting along the side wall showing the kings of England.

This is Henry VIII.

The tomb of Richard Fitzalan II and his wife Eleanor. This is thought to be the only medieval effigy showing the couple holding hands. He's even taken off his glove for her. Sweet!

This is known as the Cross. It is situated in the main (only??) intersection in the center of town. I think technically, it belongs to the cathedral.

I treated myself to a wonderful vegetarian lunch at this all veggie and organic restaurant called St Martin's Tea Room. I had welsh rarebit for the first time. Still not sure what it is exactly, but it was divine!! This is the back garden seating area. Beautiful!

The oldest building in Chichester. This is the Church of St Olave that dates to the 11th century.

Someone told me that the city was still surrounded by portions of its original Roman wall! Um, so I had to go see that! It turns out you can walk along it, too! Amazing!

In addition to the Roman wall in the city, I was told to go visit the Fishbourne Palace that is a few mile outside of town by bus. It was a bit of a trip out (long wait for the bus and then a walk down a random road to the museum!) but well worth the trouble. Fishbourne is basically a museum built over the ruins of a Roman palace that was discovered there in the 60s during construction. The floor mosaics are the true treasure here. In addition, they have recreated the Roman style garden outside based on seeds found at the excavation. They also have a food garden growing on the site with vegetables and herbs that would have been around in the Roman times!

Cupid riding a dolphin. This is the most complete mosaic in the museum.

Close up of cupid.

Remains found on the site. They post-date the Roman palace, though.

Gazebo in the back garden.

Recreation of the Roman style gardens.

Stuart and I went on a day trip to Cambridge. Apparently, so did every child under 15 in Italy. Geez. It was packed! I felt like they had invaded the city. Apart from that, we really enjoyed our day out. Cambridge is compact and easy to walk. We had nice weather which also helped.

I made him take a photo of me with the "holy grail"
of postboxes: the Victoria Regina one!

King's College green (I think)

We went to see the Cathedral at King's College. It was gorgeous. Sadly, after they took our 5£ (each!) it closed about 20 minutes later giving us hardly any time to really see it.

17th century grave stones

Henry VIII. Sort of why it's called King's College...

Exterior stone work

The world's largest example of a fan ceiling

Sadly photos can never do the stained-glass windows full justice.

"Henricus Rex"- aka King Henry!

Extensive grounds behind the college and cathedral

Standing on a bridge over the river Cam. Those folks are
punting behind us. Due to the gorgeous weather (especially
for England!) everyone and their mother was out.

The main street in Cambridge- and 90% of all Italy...

Punting! We got lucky and were in the "private" section facing the back of the boat. The other groups had to share their space. :) This was our rower/punter or whatever he was called. Everyone said we should do this, and I honestly thought it was just riding in a boat. It's not. The whole experience was wonderful. Seeing the city from the river was amazing. The buildings take on a different look from the boat. I would definitely do it again.

A hen do (bachelorette party) passing by

I believe that's the oldest bridge there ahead of us...

This bridge had a funny name due to it being the passage for
students going to their final exams or something. Apparently it was
quite stressful!

Old Norman building

More views of the city

A very strange clock outside one of the shops. If you notice, it's a cricket
on top of the dial. It "moves" by pushing the dial around. Very, very
odd.. and a bit disturbing.