We went to Norwich by train today. It's located to the northeast. During the 11th century, it was the second largest city in England (after London). Now it is still a big city, but nowhere near the second largest city in England. According to the book of English place names, 'Norwich' means 'trading centre' or 'landing place', and it was an important river port for salt from near the sea. Soon after you get out the station, you can see the canal, and then you can see Norwich Castle and Norwich Cathedral.
We visited the Cathedral, which has stood for long long time. In the cathedral, there was a quiet air and it was so splendid. There is a famous Green Man. The Green Man is a sculpture which is representation of a face surrounded by or maybe made from leaves. The Green Man is possibly an ancient British fertility or nature deity, like a Japanese 'kami' (deity). Unfortunately I couldn't find it in the huge cathedral.
We explored the city centre and also visited UEA; the University of East Anglia. It was a huge campus, more than I expected. I used to work at a huge local university in Japan, but this was different. There are accommodations and even full pubs inside campus. We spent a lovely day there.
Some of the accommodations at UEA are called 'ziggurats' after the ancient Mesopotamian structures. This was a famous design in 1960s universities. You can see a picture below.
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Norwich Station
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canal
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Norwich Cathedral; you can't see the spire though...
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in Norwich - this street is called Tombland
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The University of East Anglia - ziggurats
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