Saturday, September 25, 2010

Coventry (Sam)

Yesterday we visited Coventry, the city where my dad was born. Coventry was bombed very badly during the Blitz because of its major role in building planes and ammunition, so therefore downtown Coventry was built in the 1960's and is impossible to navigate. Around the city centre is a treacherous ring road and in the middle is a giant car-free maze of malls and markets. We made our way through Coventry Market and various other malls before we found the main attraction of Coventry Cathedral. It was really interesting because the old cathedral was badly bombed during the war and they decided that instead of rebuilding the old one, they would leave the ruins for symbolic reasons. Then many people from around the world including Germans donated money to build a new one. They held a big design contest and asked lots of different artists to help build a new cathedral.  The result is a cathedral which has got the worlds largest tapestry and a stained glass window voted best in Britain. We didn't actually go in because it was really expensive, so we went to the free Herbert art gallery and museum, which was  good also. Although there was one exhibit that was just a giant dimly lit room full of close up shots of gorillas and other apes faces, I didn't like that one because it was really quite scary and I think I will have nightmares for weeks now. (Unfortunately, we forgot to bring the camera so you will have to make up the photos in your head).
Today we went to the allotment again, and then we went for a walk around Leamington Spa. we went to the Jephson gardens and drank the salty spa water.

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