Day 5: Local Day in Reading

Saturday was our "local" day in Reading. We took the train (7 minutes from twyford) in with the Nielsons who showed us around town. The swan was the first thing I saw there and it was BEAUTIFUL. I mean I have seen swans before, but I was 3 feet away from it...right next to the river...in "the wild". WHAT? Crazy. Apparently, by the end of the middle ages the swans were such "valuable commodoties" that they were by default property under the Crown. All swans were marked on their bills and tallied up each year. No swans were allowed to be killed or captured as they were now considered property. Anyone caught or found to have killed or stolen one was put to death. Even today there is still a "swan-keeper" who tallies up the swans every 3rd Monday in July with a little ceremony.

Pictured next is an ancient ruin of the Reading Abbey. I took a picture from inside the ruin looking through the ancient rod iron bars to the outside where there was a modern sculpture. You can barely see it in the picture. Oh well. As you can see on the bottom right picture, King Henry I founded the area in 1121. He is buried on the abbey grounds.

Around the corner...
As shown below, Jane Austen went to school at the Abbey gateway in Reading.
This monument is dedicated to local soldiers of Reading (if I remember correctly). The monument was ENORMOUS and very BEAUTIFUL. It was an overwhelming feeling to be up close to it. I couldn't help but think of Aslan from Chronicles of Narnia when I saw it.
After our tour of the ruins and a little shopping in the Oracle (a mall area). Later that evening the Nielsons took us to a "dining" pub. There are three main different types of pubs. You've got a drinking/bar pub, a family pub, and then a dining/nice pub. We experienced the drinking/bar pub on Friday night. The castle was a "dining" pub. Pub is short for public house. People traveling would usually stop at these public houses (which served as a hostel type hotel) and served food/drinks. Eventually, the public houses turned into different kinds of pubs and started serving food depending on the type. I can't really remember HOW this transition occurred, but I'm sure you can research that on wiki right? Below our pic in front of the castle is a "famous" pub in Reading. We walked in...pretty cool. The Castle was REALLY good though. As always, dessert was superb.