Saturday, June 8, 2013

The Market and Dorchester

When I packed for England I was told to expect a lot of rain. I packed several pairs of jeans and long pants as well as long sleeves and a rain coat. We have been here for a week now and it has yet to rain! Luckily I remembered to pack some shorts and t-shirts as well! Today a local told us to enjoy the warm weather while it lasted. They said they were amazed it had been so nice and expected the rain to come at any time.

Now by warm weather I mean 60's. It has been cooler here then even Flagstaff. I never need more than a light jacket and the only reason I need that is because it gets colder when you are walking along the coast (Which is most of West Bay). 




So besides the weather, I also enjoyed a lovely day at the Market in Bridport and the town of Dorchester. Bridport is the town about 2 miles away and once a month on the second Saturday, they have a town market. The market is filled with fruits and vegetables from farms nearby, locally caught fish, and lots of miscellaneous things to buy! I bought some fruit, homemade wheat bread, and some vegetables. It was fun to walk around and see all of the different things people had laying out. I did not take very many pictures of the actual stands as I thought that might be inappropriate! 
This is a picture of a fire truck in Bridport! Behind it you can see the white tents which were set up all along the sidewalks on both sides of the street. One thing I have noticed here is that there are not any police or police stations. Interestingly enough there was a show that was recently filmed here called "Broadchurch" and so they have signs for a fake police station used in the show but West Bay is so small that there is not an actual one. Even more interesting is the fact that the show is based on a small village community after the death of an 11 year old found near the cliffs.Something that could actually happen here! Feel free to google it! 

One of my favorite things about traveling here besides the gorgeous views is the method of travel. Double decker buses are so cool. I sat on the top both ways (there and back). I am excited to try the ones in London as well as I think the roofs are open on those ones! I am amazed that these huge buses can drive on the small roads throughout England! I am even more amazed that all of the little cars that drive by them are not afraid to do so! 
























After a short bus ride (30-40) minutes we arrived in Dorchester. The drive between the towns is mostly open with green hills and roaming animals. Dorchester is a very historic market town. It seems to be best known for being home to Thomas Hardy. He wrote a book titled, The Mayor of Casterbridge, about the town. Since then, several other authors have visited and chosen to write their books with settings in Dorchester as well. Dorchester is much larger then West Bay with a population of about 18,500. West Bay is between 1,000 and 2,000 people. So it was fun to see a "bigger" city. While there we walked around and explored the little shops, ate at a nice little café, and visited the Dorchester Museum. 
This is one of the "main" streets in Dorchester. There are not very many people driving along these streets, mostly just walkers. I took a picture because the third building in is a Subway.
I totally expect to see lots of "American" things in London because of the amount of tourists but I was not expect ing to see it in one of the country towns. There were lots of people inside eating.  


 One thing that I love about this part of England is that even when you are in the middle of a city,there are still lots of green trees and grass and beautiful parks! This one on the right was just off the main street. We walked through it and down to another street and it was so peaceful. I think that every town should just have nice little green parks randomly dispersed. There were not very many people walking on it. I suppose that most people were on the main streets doing their shopping or exploring other parts of the town. I am totally content just walking around everywhere because there are so many beautiful buildings and things to see! 
Eventually we stopped for lunch at a little café. I think it is so charming how many cafés England has! Tiffany ordered a "Dry" cappuccino. The waitress has not idea what a dry cappuccino was and eventually they decided that what she wanted was a cappuccino with less coffee and more froth! This was one very frothy cappuccino! And of course it is served with a little biscuit! 

 We decided to walk around after lunch and found the Dorset Museum. The Museum has artifacts from around Dorchester as well as individual exhibits for specific categories. As I mentioned before Thomas Hardy is important in Dorchester history. In the Museum there was an entire exhibit devoted to his life including a "mock" study room similar to the one at his home. 


This is a skull of the Weymouth Bay Pliosaur. According to the sign it is the most complete skull to ever have been found. If you can't tell from the picture, it has the most powerful jaws of any animal in the history of Earth. It measured 18 metres in length and 10 metres across. This was part of the Jurassic Coast exhibit in the Museum. For anyone who doesn't know, West Bay is one of the many towns along the Jurassic Coast. The Jurassic Coast is a World Heritage
site. It is approximately 96 miles in length. It is also the fifth greatest Natural Wonder in Britain. 

This next picture is of a Ichthyosaur! The Ichthyosaur is a dolphin like reptile. It is about 192 million years old. It was found in Lyme Regis which is one of the other towns along the Jurassic Coast. 



Shortly after the Museum we caught the bus headed back to Bridport. From there I walked back home and studied for a while. We have our first exams coming up on Monday. The not so fun part of Study Abroad! Afterwards I went for a short hike to Eype. I have spent the rest of the evening studying and chatting with my parents. One week down! Just under a month left! 

4 comments:

  1. never heard of a dry capuccino... is that a flagstaff thing?

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  2. I'm so glad you have this amazing experience! I enjoy reading your blog, but can't wait to hear about it in person! Love you...Aunt Laurie

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  3. Thanks, Aunt Laurie! I am enjoying my time here and I love blogging but I am definitely getting more excited to be with all of you in July! Love you too!

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