And Then This Bird Almost Sat on my Foot

I went to the Norwich Castle this morning. It used to be used as a prison for about 200 years, so that was rather gruesome--you could see where the prisoners had carved stuff in the walls. They also have a big collection from the "Norwich School of Painters" which is mainly landscapes. I saw a few seascapes which I liked. There was also have a very large collection of pottery and tea services, and I saw the world's largest functioning tea pot! And two mummies.

Afterward, I walked up to one of the oldest sections of Norwich, called Elm Hill. I found a little coffeehouse and got a mocha and croissant and sat outside...I'll admit, I felt rather cosmopolitan. I got to people watch a little, and saw an old man ride by on a bike, and a man and woman with matching shirts, and a lot of little kids. The weather was gorgeous with big cumulus clouds. I was kind of nervous about sitting outside, since within the space of ten seconds it could be raining, but I was lucky today. I brought along an English architectural history book which was, as one could imagine, not overly riveting. I have to do my first hour long lecture a week from Monday (ACK!) so I need to start getting ready for that.

Which brings me to the bird. I happened to look down midway through my croissant, and there was a bird literally two inches from my foot. He was just pecking at random things on the ground, but I jumped about three feet. He was completely oblivious to me being there, so I took a picture, as you can see. I'm not sure if he's a pigeon or what, my ornithological skills are pretty bad! It made me happy, anyway.