Coventry

(John) We forgot to take the camera today so I will have to rely on words to describe Coventry.  It was a rainy day, we had nothing planned so after I got back from my run I suggested we take a look at the cathedral's and mooch around Coventry's shopping district.  Nobody seemed to object so, needing the practise Lesley took the car keys and off we went.  We had decided to park at IKEA because we would only have to spend 10 quid and we'd park for free.  That would be easy, that's only three plates of meatballs.  Lesley drove with confidence around the treacherous ring road and with yours truly navigating we arrived in no time.  We were accosted on the way in to the car park by a man informing us that today parking was free, we just needed to make a donation to a charity I cannot remember.  So really cheap parking and the warm and fuzzy feeling you get when you give to others.  Just what you need on a cold rainy day in Coventry.

We managed to negotiate our way out of IKEA (we were saving it for last) and in to the award winning indoor market  (follow the link it's worth it) which because it was a circle we walked around a few times before we found an exit different to our entrance.  Then we got lost a number of times in the maze of pedestrian precincts despite the fact that we had a perfectly good map.  I found a sports shop and a spotty teenager who sold me a bright shiny new pair of running shoes - 1/2 price of course.  Lesley tried to buy a shirt but needed to coerce a stranger into going in with her on the 2 for 1 deal and failed while the rest of us hovered around in W.H. Smiths pretending we didn't know her.  Eventually we found our way out of the shopping precinct and stumbled upon some churches two of which were cathedrals.  One was really old and ruined, the other adjacent was really new and in very good shape.  Choosing the ruined one first, we proceeded to the information office to buy a ticket to get up the tower, the only part of the building not destroyed in the 1940 blitz.  As we approached the lady closed it down for lunch.  So we ambled for a while shared out our meagre rations for the day and went over to the new church where after watching a very good film that showed us everything that was inside, we discovered that it would cost 13 pounds to see it for real.  So we went over the road to the free Herbert museum and art gallery.    The museum was a lot of fun, brought back a lot of my childhood memories and explained a lot about the blitz and the rebuilding of the city.  There was also a great Lady Godiva exhibition that I will definitely go back to - maybe today actually - and we got to help a woman who was trying to find people to fill out her survey.  After the museum we got lost again in the shopping precinct, discovered the wimpy bar had closed down (no knickerbocker glories for us today), got stuck in a car park that we were not parked in, got scared in an elevator that took far too long to travel one floor and found our way to the IKEA restaurant to fill up on meatballs.  Except Lesley, who is trying to eat well, so chose a soup and salad, then sabotaged her efforts by buying a chocolate cake and two chocolate bars "they were only 39p".  I helped her out and ate most of the cake.  I also had, just because I could, a beer.  The novelty of drinking beer in IKEA was too good to pass up.  Then we got trapped in IKEA.  We had been very lucky to get out the first time, the second time we discovered that like the hotel california, at IKEA, you can check out but you can never leave.  Luckily they have comfortable beds, funky bathrooms, endless meatballs and free wi fi so I have been able to post this blog entry.  If we ever get out we may book in to IKEA in London too.