May 18th: Birthday Celebrations

Photos for this post

Today was a special day - Robert’s birthday. I set the alarm so that I could run down to the market as soon as it opened and be back in time to do a nice breakfast for him when he woke up. The Norwich market website gives opening times for the stalls - don’t believe a word of it! I hung out, in the rain, wandering around, getting to be on first name terms with the stall holders and learning how to make gluten free bread, while waiting to buy a couple of quail eggs… I had seen them on previous days, I knew which Butcher stall sold them, so this was no flight of fancy. But today, of all days, this particular butcher showed up late… and when he did he had no quail eggs. Only duck eggs. There were no signs of stirring from Robert’s room when I arrived home, so I was able to surprise him with baked avocado stuffed with duck eggs, shrimp and tomato … he opened his birthday cards from friends and family, and we decided to return to the castle for a tour of the dungeon and a chance to see the museum and art galleries properly.

The dungeon tour was quite interesting, with all manner of instruments of torture through the ages, and plaster-cast heads of executed criminals. We toured the castle exhibits and extensive galleries - a great place to spend a rainy day, perhaps many a rainy day. The castle may be small, but the galleries are so extensive we still didn’t make our way through all of them. Glorious artwork and fascinating exhibits to linger over. And a study center! He’s very lucky to have this amazing resource within walking distance. Again, it just made me love Norwich all the more.

We left the castle and walked across town to his birthday present - Afternoon tea at The Assembly Hall. The Assembly Hall is an elegant Georgian home in the City, and holds English Country dances occasionally. The room was beautiful, stately, a piano played softly in the background … and the food … who knew that you could simply smile at the wait staff and say “ooh yes please” when refills of the teapots and tea trays were offered. We dined on dainty sandwiches of Norfolk ham, smoked salmon, egg and cress - all cut into little triangles. Added to that were cheese toasties and tomato chutney, brioche rolls filled with goodies, and, of course, both sweet and savory scones … with an assortment of pastries and cakes. With such a tea, there ought not be need for food for the remainder of the day. We looked in disbelief at the menu for Christmas dinner; it would take a couple of days to get through, and a gym membership should come as part of the deal!

We walked back to the castle to see more of the exhibits and then retired home… for a dinner of delicious Cromer crab. I think the birthday boy enjoyed his special day.