This was one of the days we were really looking forward to, going to Lancaster to see where Bentley spent almost a year of his life while in college. We were supposed to take an 8:45 train from London to Lancaster but we were late leaving our hotel and the tube line we needed just so happened to be under construction that day. So, between leaving late and the tube construction we missed our train to Lancaster. But, not to worry, there was a train an hour later so it was not a big deal. Once in Lancaster, we walked from the train station to our hotel which was about a 15 minutes away. Add in some tough hills and our large backpacks, it turned out to be a pretty tough walk. Not to mention that we were starving!
Our hotel was an adorable little place. They were not full that night so they upgraded us for free to a bigger and nicer room. Too bad we weren't going to get to enjoy the room except to sleep but it was great. Probably the nicest room on our trip.
We dropped our bags and headed for the Lancaster Castle, and the nearby priory, which was not far from our hotel. We took a tour of the castle and learned some interesting things about Lancaster history and the witch hunts that happened there hundreds of years ago. After the tours, we had lunch in a restaurant called The Merchant. Part of the restaurant was underground and built like a cave. We had their sunday special, roast, which was a tradition for Bentley while he was here. We got one beef roast and one chicken roast. It came with the traditional English fixings including mash, veg, and Yorkshire puddings (which was more like bread than pudding).
Next we took a double decker bus to Bentley's school, Lancaster University. We wandered around the entire campus and Bentley pointed out where his classes were, his dorm and where he spent his time. The students had not started to arrive for the semester so we could not get into many of the buildings. There was a ton of construction and lots of new buildings were there since Bentley left in 2004. He thought that the campus looked completely different because of all the new buildings. It was a beautiful campus and very different from what I was expecting. I am so glad I got to go back there and experience that with him.
Management School where Bentley had several classes
Bentley lived in Pendle College - each dorm was called a "college"
The courtyard of Bentley's dorm
Entrance to Bentley's dorm
Bentley pointing to his dorm room on the second floor (Wayne - this one is for you)
The workout center at the University
We left the University and took a bus back into town where Bentley showed me the places he used to hang out with his friends. It was such a fun town and I can see why Bentley enjoyed it so much.
One of the places Bentley liked to go in Lancaster (he liked it so much we also found one in London)
The next morning we had a homemade breakfast at our hotel before heading back to the train station. It was a fast visit but we had a great time.
England was great to us but now we are on to our next adventure...Paris.
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