Sunday may 16

Feeling much more human today after a reasonable night of sleep.  Still not perfectly on British time but much better than zombieland yesterday.  Had a semi English breakfast of cereal, egg and toast.  Still can not get over how much gets eaten for breakfast in this country.  Get looked at strangely for not wanting to add tomato and meats to my egg order.
Penrith seems typical of most British towns-everything is closed on Sunday!  Not having much else to do, I headed over to St. Andrews, the local Church of England where a small crowd gathered for services.  The service was much more modern than back home with the use of modern versions of all prayers although the final hymn was one I knew from childhood.  Said a prayer for a successful trip.  After services I walked through town back to the castle ruins for a bit more of a look around.  A park is set up next door with the final sping flowers blooming and the starting growth of the summer ones.  Am always amazed at how perfectly the English gardens seem to grow.  Tulips and daffodils giving way perfectly to roses.  Lunch was yogurt, fruit and veggies sitting in the park before one more trip through the ruins.  Am struct by the utter neutrality of the information on Richard of Gloucester in both the castle signage and the tourist literature.  None of the negativism usually seen with references to his reign.  Testing my memory a little but I believe this part of England was Richard's territory, where his brother Edward IV sent him to watch the border and where he honed the administrative skills which led to his downfall as king-I guess the northerners are different than those further south.  I've always found Richard to be an interesting character since so much of what we "know" is written by those who defeated him and had reason to vilify him.  Seems unlikely that the hero battle commander of Barnett and Tewksbury could have been as deformed as Shakespeare said he was, unless in part it was from a battle injury sustained as he led the vanguard for his brother during the final battles in the War of the Roses.  Now I am waiting for the others to arrive-hence my time to write history (from memory for those of you who really think I need to look it up-I don't) as love of history is a gift from my dad.  One for which I will be forever grateful.