Last stop = Ely

This is Part 3 of our recent staycation in the UK. We stayed 1 night in Ely on a barge hotel.

Ely is a beautiful place (about 15 miles from Cambridge) dominated by its very old and interesting cathedral. Thanks to Tina for recommending Ely as I was originally looking at Bury St Edmunds or Newmarket as a stop off on our way back from Norfolk. Ely did not disappoint.

You have to book tickets in advance to visit the cathedral. We also went to the stained glass museum there. Both were awe inspiring. I love stained glass. They are pictures that tell a story, and so pretty! I also love the magnificence of such grand historical architecture.

This is a Royal Air Force themed window.

You always have to look up in Cathedrals. Ely has some great ceilings.

A medieval face? Love these.

And look down to the floor.

Such a beautiful space.

In the evening we dined at a restaurant called The Old Fire Engine House. It was very good. We both had the roast lamb and they asked if we wanted seconds! The homemade ice cream for pudding was delicious. I’d definitely recommend this restaurant. Also the car parks in Ely as they are all FREE! Yippee!!

The barge hotel was exciting! We enjoyed this. I’d never slept on a barge before. I think it cost £129. for our room including an enormous wonderful breakfast.

It’s a 1906 Dutch barge and it’s moored on the River Great Ouse. Such a peaceful setting. On arrival we were given a complimentary bottle of wine to enjoy on our own private deck. Lovely! We watched some birds on the river; a grebe fishing and a swan. There is a pub very nearby called The Cutter Inn.. in front of the barge in this picture.

David was in charge of the wine!

We enjoyed train spotting as they crossed the bridge behind the barge. Lots of freight trains and also passenger trains. The trains didn’t bother us at night. It was peaceful and we slept well.

We both banged our head on this doorway – ouch!!

We had our own double bed (accessed by climbing up a ladder) that was really comfy, and a full bath.

The rubber duck was cute, but toppled over in the bath, like they always seem to 🤔. Not a good sailor.

I cannot tell you how enormous the breakfast was… it was very good… sausages, bacon, poached eggs, black pudding, big field mushrooms, tomatoes, tea, orange juice, toast and marmalade. We did not eat again until the evening 🤣. It was served in our living room quarters which I think was part of the communal area of the boat, but we never saw anyone else. We had bar stools on the right overlooking the water.

Happy memories. I hope you enjoyed the Ely tour. 😊X