Going to Norwich seems to be turning into an annual tradition of ours. We love the city, it’s only an hour’s drive away and we’re really learning to appreciate the charm of going back to somewhere we have been before when the intention of the weekend is to have time off.
We drove over on Friday afternoon, listening to the Parenting Hell podcast on our way which is our usual car journey listen of choice. Our Airbnb was lovely, a converted dance studio, tucked away behind some beautiful houses that would fit right into a Richard Curtis Christmas film and very close to the centre.
Norwich had really gone to town on the Christmas decorations; it felt like every street was lit up and there were Christmas trees everywhere. We stumbled across a pub called The Belgian Monk and it felt like old times (aside from the fact I wasn’t drinking alcohol) being sat there sharing crisps and having a proper chat without the interruption of a toddler. We then had dinner at St Andrew’s Brewhouse. We went for drinks there last year and loved the atmosphere and how festive it felt, and we weren’t disappointed this year. We had a very leisurely meal and rather enjoyed people watching the various Christmas parties and trying to figure out other people’s office dynamics.
Pastries at Bread Source was a must on Saturday morning; we love Bread Source. We discovered a different location just three minutes from our Airbnb and it was a lot quieter than our usual – more central – spot and it was lovely and peaceful eating cardamon buns surrounded by piles of baked goods, beautiful handmade garlands and twinkling Christmas trees.
We did a little shopping, finishing off our Christmas presents, browsed Norwich’s abundance of cute, independent shops (can’t possibly comment on whether I bought the bauble-shaped candle…) and had a little look around the cathedral, partly because it’s free and was a good escape from the howling winds, and partly because I knew it would be lovely and Christmassy and I wasn’t disappointed. We had lunch at the cathedral café which turned out to be run by Bread Source as well, so it was our second visit of the day and, quite frankly, we weren’t mad about it.
We then spent the rest of the afternoon relaxing at the Airbnb and I think this was the biggest treat of the weekend. We did venture out briefly to get a hot chocolate from Hotel Chocolat but otherwise lying on the sofa with my book without any interruptions was glorious.
Dinner was at Benoli and I would highly recommend this place. The décor was all deep colours with fairy lights and candles and the food was delicious pasta and Italian-themed starters and puddings. Everything was so tasty.
Rounded off the day by watching Shetland in bed and again, I think this was a bigger treat then going out for dinner just the two of us. Peace and quiet is extremely limited in our lives these days!
We had pastries at Bread Source, of course, the next morning before heading home to our boy who had been treating Granny and Grandad to his loud renditions of Jingle Bells for most of the weekend…
Comments