University of Essex & Colchester

We wake up to a stereotypical English morning, overcast, drizzly rain, chilly temps, and a loss of electricity! Some utility work by the hotel required the outage, so we set alarms to ensure we got our “full English breakfast” before it happened. Then off to school!
Or at least to visit our volleyball coaching friend Alex at the University of Essex in Colchester.
It’s a 1970s “modern style” university with about 12,000 students, a large piece of land and great academics. The gym, weight room, and training facilities are great. Alex and the Blades volleyball team are coming off of a British Universities and Colleges Sport (BUCS) championship year!
After touring the grounds, and having a wonderful smoked salmon lunch sandwich at the Wivenhoe restaurant on grounds, we went to downtown Colchester.
Colchester was the first Roman settlement in Brittany and claims to be the “first city in Britain“ as a result. It’s a sprawling town with an incredible and walkable shopping district around High Street. Just off of High Street is the Dutch Quarter. Many Flemish Protestants moved here to avoid German persecution bringing trades and skills, plus the clapboard styles so common in Belgium and Germany.
We wrapped up our tour at the large Castle Park with the original castle, beautiful gardens, and a spattering of ruins to visit. Back to the hotel for naps.
We went back downtown to Bills restaurant (how could we miss that!?!?) for dinner with Alex and Mollie, a former JJVA player who played this last championship season for Alex. Great discussion to catch up her year here, learn about her Masters thesis, and top it off with Bills flower pot dessert and a lemon meringue pie sundae.
Wonderful day, with tomorrow bringing a visit to the land of Geoffrey Chaucer and the Tales of Canterbury.Baca selengkapnya