Broads and Fancy Houses

---

Well today I got my first look at England outside of UEA. I went on a trip set up by the International Office to show us visitors around.

Our first stop of the morning was at a "Roman town." This "Roman town" was a sheep pasture. There wasn't a single bit of ruins aside from some small sections of wall in a couple of areas. So that was a little bit of a waste of time, but that's ok.

The next stop was near Wroxham. This is where the Broads are. The Broads are a series of lakes and swamps and such that were formed in the 1200s. This part of the country was where peat mining took place. They dug peat (icky half decomposed plants) out of the ground, dried it, and burned it like firewood. Then there were big floods and these huge holes in the ground filled with water, creating the broads. Pretty cool if you ask me.

The final stop of the day was Blickling Hall. This is a stately home ran by the National Trust. It was built in the early 1600s and was owned by the Boleyn's (you know Anne Boleyn, Henry VIII's second wife) The inside was pretty awesome, it still had mostly original furniture that you could go right up to, nothing behind ropes or glass or anything. The gardens were spectacular as well! I really liked the Fuschia bushes- perennial in the UK!

Then it was back to UEA. A successful trip overall.

---