Hello people and pinmapplers!
There are trips that seem not to be trips, they are moments when for one reason or another we pass through a place that we do not know, that we had not seen or that we had not visited in a long time, and suddenly curiosity invades us and we decide to take a walk, return to explore and turn a quick and spontaneous experience into a real trip.
And we traveled to a place little seen, known and visited, to a small English town not far from the great London metropolis, but far enough away to feel very calm and quiet.
It is the English city of Northampton, and I ended up there for a fast weekend for some reason, for a short visit that I wanted to take advantage of before returning to London almost a few hours later. But there are places that can be observed, experienced and capture their original essence with a nice walk enjoying the views and the atmosphere, a very pleasant atmosphere indeed.
And as English towns are, this one was the same, with not very tall buildings with its peculiar and characteristic architecture from another era, some even from older times, with that almost medieval style, I think called Tudor, with whites and blacks and many stripes. And we see another, larger one that turns out to be a hotel, and it has a different, original air that fits very well into the place.
And all this combines with other more modern ones, but also with many shops and typical English pubs where you can have a pint of beer on one of those main streets of the city, one of those commercial urban arteries where its inhabitants stroll on Saturday afternoons when they go out for shopping and having a drink afterwards.
And beer they must drink, well, the English like it a lot, right? And here exploring a little further we discovered a beer factory that many will like, of a very well-known beer brand, cheers! (By the way, I don't like beer).
But there is more, despite the quiet environment in which the only tourist seems to be me, I let myself go like a local, seeing that there are busy streets but still the tranquility is maintained, a relaxing visit without a doubt.
For more relaxation we can visit its heritage, and its churches, and there are several and of different beliefs, Protestant or Catholic and some more. The most important may be the Protestant Church of All Saints, which may not be too striking on the outside (accustomed to large magnificent churches) but its interior is beautiful, elegant and well decorated, again a pleasant atmosphere wherever we go.
We have some curious buildings left, like another church that seems to be really old, and also somewhat forgotten or ignored (oh, I don't remember the name), but it is there, and it remains, and I like it, for that robust, rough style without pretensions to anything, only for those who really need it, there it is.
We are discovering more, more streets, more places, more beautiful and relevant buildings, even a shoe museum, yes about the types of shoes there throughout history (I was so surprised... but not allowed to take photos inside).
And so we arrive at the most imposing of all that looks almost like a cathedral, due to its profusely decorated façade. It turns out that it was a public municipal building, The Guildhall, used for weddings and those types of events, but not religious in itself despite its totally divine appearance.
And before we leave, an important meeting point, a memorial square in tribute to one of the wars (it's a shame there are so many wars...) with its flags and so on. And then we see of course that British touch of the super typical red telephone booths, a real symbol here in triplicate, and a reminder that we had to go to London afterwards!
About London I think I have already shared something with you, for Christmas, but there is more, there will be another post in the future.
And as we continue sharing trips here...
