We built this city ...

This past weekend, yours truly got a visit from a friend. Ellen had been studying abroad in Ireland since early January. With her recent travels bringing her to England, London specifically, Ellen then made the additional train ride to Norwich. It had been six months and 3500 miles since I had last seen her.

It was an odd, unusual, but eagerly welcomed feeling. In the many times that I had been introduced to new people in England, given tours, been explained various customs in Norwich, it was a first to be on the other end as I gave Ellen a city tour of my second home.

I am my own harshest critic, but I felt my tour of Norwich was pretty damn good. Consisting of a mix of pertinent historical details about famous sites like the Norwich Castle, Cathedral and riverwalk, as well as including “Shit, we all went to that club last Thursday night and got hammered ...” the tour had many points of interest with corresponding stories to tell.

Afterwards, Ellen and I met up with some friends at the Adam and Eve, Norwich’s oldest existing pub and, as it bills itself, “probably the oldest pub in England” (Love the use of “probably” here). With the Adam and Eve being an historical pub, with great food and not one to get shitfaced at, there was only historical information to tell.

The Adam and Eve was built during the construction of the Norwich Cathedral, one of the first cathedrals built in England, completed in the early 12^th century. Located very close to the Norwich Cathedral, the pub was perhaps one of the leading facilitators of the Cathedral’s construction. This is so, because the workers of the cathedral were not paid in cash; rather, they were paid in beer, distributed after the day’s work, every night at the Adam and Eve.

Sitting in a comfy booth with a group of friends, sipping a black pint of Old Peculiar, I drew from the pub an enhanced sense of Norwich’s history. It is located in the city's pubs. If I were to study, really look closely into to Norwich’s history, the Cathedral for example, where would I start? By visiting the cathedral? Reading a book? Maybe I am simply an experiential learner, but sitting in the Adam and Eve, drinking beer, looking around and thinking back; I can envision the sweaty labourers of 900 years ago, trudging into the pub for a beer after a long day's work.

This was how the Cathedral was built after all. Not by generous donations from noblemen, nor government sanction; but, truly, the cathedral was built on strong men who were willing to work hard all day in order to go on the lash at night. Norwich’s tourist tagline: “A church for every week of the year, and a pub for every day,” seems to be very fitting now that we have solved this puzzle piece of Norwich’s history. There are so many pubs, because they were needed by workers building the churches. Thus, the history/mystery of Norwich is solved, and now it is undoubtedly clear how the city came to be as it is. A city built on beer. “History lesson over kids,” drop the mic, leave the classroom.

Perhaps Norwich should change its tagline and take a page out of Starship’s playbook, or maybe it is good as it is. Either way, Norwich proved to be lovely time for Ellen and myself. Although, I find it odd that this introspection of mine came from presenting the city to an outsider, rather than by my own local observations. Hmmm ... LW