History of Nantwich
Nantwich has an interesting history. It's name derives from "Nametwich" meaning "most famous wich", the Saxon word for centre of industry and in Nantwich's case, this was salt. Norman invaders burnt Nantwich to the ground in the 11th century (man, this place is OLD), and it was attacked again in the 13th century by Welsh marauders. In the 1500's, it was once again attacked by fire and most of the town was destroyed. With the help of Queen Elizabeth I, it was rebuilt with brick and timber and many of those building still stand today. I love the ancient character of this town! Below are some pics of Nantwich:
What We've Been Up to in Nantwich
On the day we arrived, we all went out for dinner at Naaz, an Indian restaurant. I love Indian food and Britain is known for having some of the best Indian food. The food was delicious! I'd go into more detail for the foodies out there, but eventually I plan on doing some posts just about food. After we got back from dinner, I called home to wish my mom a Happy Mother's Day! My first Mother's Day without my mom :(
Since I've been in Nantwich, I've been sleeping so well. My own bedroom to myself! Matt and I are on the top floor (3rd floor) and we have to ascend/descend up these extremely steep steps. I'm always super careful everytime I walk down. Also, I have to make sure not to bump my head as people in England must have been very short when many of the buildings were constructed.
On our 2nd day in Nantwich, we went to Crewe, the closest city. Pete's daughter and I decided to walk instead of take the train. It's about an 8 minute train ride or 1.5 hour walk as its over 5 miles. Since I had been used to walking in London so much, I wanted to continue with the exercise as Nantwich is quite small and the distances to walk to places is relatively short as everything is very accessible by foot. In Crewe, we hit up a few stores and had lunch at Chatwin's, a popular eatery in England. I had a savory roll and it was pretty good! It started to rain heavily so once we were done shopping around, we all trained back to Nantwich. When I got back to our temporary home, I made a few phone calls via Skype to my former co-workers. It was really nice to hear their voices!!
On our 3rd day in Nantwich, we walked to the local college, ReaseHeath, where Pete's wife works. We toured around the campus and headed back home, except we didn't quite make it. Pete and Matt were walking ahead of us girls (Pete's wife, his 2 daughters and myself) as we stopped into a convenience store to pick up a few goodies. We were just about home when we peered into the neighbourhood pub which is literally right around the corner from their house, and who do we see at the bar? Matt and Pete! We went inside and ended up staying there for close to 3 hours. Matt sipped on his Coke, I sipped on my Diet Coke and the rest of the family on their beverage of choice. We had some really great conversation while sitting there and lots of laughter! I am really going to miss this family when we leave Nantwich! They've embraced us like their own :)
After we left the pub, we went to pick up dinner at one of the local fish & chip shops - The Coral Reef. Oh, was it good! I had the 1 piece cod with chips and mushy peas. Who knew peas could taste so good?! (Foodie blog in future will have a picture and more details of the deliciousness).
The rest of our time in Nantwich, I've spent roaming around town. I love poking my head into the little shops. I've almost memorized this town as it's that small. I love how everything is accesible by foot - no need to own a car. You can hop on the train if you need to go into the next biggest city (Crewe), but really, this town offers everything you need on a day-to-day basis. I love how the food needed for the day's dinner is purchased on the same day. Freshness guaranteed! Several times a week there is a Market in the town square where you can pick up more fresh baking, produce and other items.
Yesterday I went for the most memorable walk of my life! Pete's daughter and I walked together to pick up his wife from work. The plan was to continue walking to Snugbury's, a well known ice cream brand in England. Apparently it was just "up the street" from the college....yeah, it wasn't. Oh boy, the walk....we walked probably close to 7 miles (there and back) for ice cream in some amazing conditions (wind, rain, no sidewalk, rough terrain etc). We walked along the highway with no sidewalk where the wind generated from cars & trucks passing by at times caused us to lose our footing! Most of the time we had a narrow border to walk along and at other times we had to run across the road to walk along the other side which was passable. We walked alongside cows, horses and sheep until we finally made it to the ice cream shop located in the middle of nowhere! I have to say though that the ice cream was amazing. It wasn't very sweet/sugary but it was very creamy! On the way back, we took a different route and walked along the canal - beautiful scenery and much safer! Here are some pics of our adventures:
Well i thought I would add in what I did on the day of this adventurous walk. Pete had invited me to work as a ride along. Pete works for a company called the AA (www.theaa.com) its very similair to bcaa or ama. The differance is that not only does he tow vehicle but he will try to fix the vehicle on the side of the road if he can. Starters, brakes, battery etc. His company supplies all the tools and minor parts he may need. If a part is need to fix a job he can run to a local parts store and return to finish the repair. These repairs cost the customer no labor as its included in the membership, just the cost of parts is the only bill! It would be nice if ama or bcaa would do something similair. He did several jobs that day most of which all took place just across the border in Wales! it was nice to see the small welsh towns as well experiance their acsents which is kinda like our newfies! All in all a good day! Speaking of which i also learned a new thing about the english and that is cockey rhyming slang look it up on you tube is very interesting. One that is stuck in my head now is Apples and pears means upstairs. I also want to thank Pete, Lorraine, Tawny and, Chelsea for everything! You have all been awesome! Jane and I are very thankful to know such wonderful people as yourselves!
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