Slept in until 7:40, that’s a first but really nice. A light rain was falling which was pretty much what was predicted for the day. Buses only travel every hour on public holidays so I have to pay a little more attention to the schedule. Yesterday my Tilley Hat had become very dirty while I was working in the morning. On my first page I indicated that I am also using Tilley underwear (if this gets too much for you just skip a couple of line). So when I was doing my nightly wash I thought I may as well do my hat as well. With lots of soap and a fingernail brush for scrubbing I cleaned it thoroughly and wrung it out after rinsing in clean water. I hung it on my showerhead not knowing whether it would retain its shape or not. Well this morning it was like new. One of the pictures I am showing today is of the hat but not the underwear.
At any rate I caught the 10:00 bus to Chichester and poked around a few shops. My options today were to go to Fishbourne Roman Palace or Arundel Castle. Since the Tourist Information centre was closed until 11. I decided on Fishbourne as it appears to be all indoors and better for a rainy day. Also my week bus pass expired today and Arundel is on another line. I explored a few shops and scoped out the Tesco Express and found that they have excellent prices on milk (that’s code) I may buy some milk on the way home. I bought an expensive cup of tea, (Margan would understand) and then went out to catch the bus. Only problem was my regular 60 bus didn’t go there so I had to wait another 45 minutes for the 700. In the meantime I bought my ticket to the Roman Palace at the Tourist Bureau and the bus was 15 minutes late. I have found that reading a book (currently a PD James Mystery) is a great way to pass the time as long as you have a dry place to wait. I arrived at the bus stop for Fishbourne and walked for about 10 minutes to the Palace. I had a large umbrella and a clean hat and stayed dry all day.
The entrance fee was 7.30 pounds and a guidebook was another 2 but well worth it. The Palace was built by the Romans from about 75-100 AD even though preparation work had begun about 43 AD. The Romans really didn’t invade this part of England but were encouraged by the locals to take over rule. They did invade England continuing further north and Fishbourne was a good point for them to send provisions north after they arrived at the main fort at Chichester. About 150 AD the Romans left and the traders arrived and continued to operate the Palace until about 280 when it was destroyed in a fire. In 1961 when a water company was putting in a new line, they discovered some tiles which turned out to be a mosaic floor. Archaeologists started an excavation and found several more of them inside the foundation walls of a large structure that turned out to be the Palace. The recreation of the Roman Palace is built right over the mosaics with an excellent signed self guided tour. They had large gardens outside as well which were largely boxwood hedges. The soil was so poor in that area that they had to excavate trenches, remove the old soil and bring in all new loams. The post holes and trenches were quite obvious when the excavation was done. I took several pictures and you will see a mosaic with Neptune riding a dolphin, an under floor heating system and an ancient burial that was done by local people after the Romans left.
Caught the bus back to Chichester and did indeed buy some milk and a few other provisions before boarding the bus to Lavant. Back home around 4:20. I think I’ll go to the Earl of March for a meal and a glass of milk and update my blog.
At any rate I caught the 10:00 bus to Chichester and poked around a few shops. My options today were to go to Fishbourne Roman Palace or Arundel Castle. Since the Tourist Information centre was closed until 11. I decided on Fishbourne as it appears to be all indoors and better for a rainy day. Also my week bus pass expired today and Arundel is on another line. I explored a few shops and scoped out the Tesco Express and found that they have excellent prices on milk (that’s code) I may buy some milk on the way home. I bought an expensive cup of tea, (Margan would understand) and then went out to catch the bus. Only problem was my regular 60 bus didn’t go there so I had to wait another 45 minutes for the 700. In the meantime I bought my ticket to the Roman Palace at the Tourist Bureau and the bus was 15 minutes late. I have found that reading a book (currently a PD James Mystery) is a great way to pass the time as long as you have a dry place to wait. I arrived at the bus stop for Fishbourne and walked for about 10 minutes to the Palace. I had a large umbrella and a clean hat and stayed dry all day.
The entrance fee was 7.30 pounds and a guidebook was another 2 but well worth it. The Palace was built by the Romans from about 75-100 AD even though preparation work had begun about 43 AD. The Romans really didn’t invade this part of England but were encouraged by the locals to take over rule. They did invade England continuing further north and Fishbourne was a good point for them to send provisions north after they arrived at the main fort at Chichester. About 150 AD the Romans left and the traders arrived and continued to operate the Palace until about 280 when it was destroyed in a fire. In 1961 when a water company was putting in a new line, they discovered some tiles which turned out to be a mosaic floor. Archaeologists started an excavation and found several more of them inside the foundation walls of a large structure that turned out to be the Palace. The recreation of the Roman Palace is built right over the mosaics with an excellent signed self guided tour. They had large gardens outside as well which were largely boxwood hedges. The soil was so poor in that area that they had to excavate trenches, remove the old soil and bring in all new loams. The post holes and trenches were quite obvious when the excavation was done. I took several pictures and you will see a mosaic with Neptune riding a dolphin, an under floor heating system and an ancient burial that was done by local people after the Romans left.
Caught the bus back to Chichester and did indeed buy some milk and a few other provisions before boarding the bus to Lavant. Back home around 4:20. I think I’ll go to the Earl of March for a meal and a glass of milk and update my blog.
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