Paddington Station
Woke up for a quick early breakfast at 7:30am. The plan was to go to Paddington Station and catch the Great Western Railway to Reading.
We could have taken the Elizabeth Line, but GWR was quicker and a bit more exciting, taking the National Rail!
The GWR train was already on the platform and people were boarding as we approached. We got on and, after walking through two carriages, found some suitable seats.
Surprisingly, some people were standing as the train pulled away because there were no seats left. I offered my seat to a lady, but she politely and gratefully declined. She and her partner, like us, were getting off at Reading too.
The journey took around 25 minutes. The outside world is always a pleasure to see, a nice change from the concrete jungle of London.
Reading Abbey Ruins
We reached Reading station. It was busy as usual. This was my third trip to the town.
The town centre is very diverse, with a real mix of demographics. There's the Oracle Shopping Centre, and the town centre itself was really busy.
We decided to start at the Reading Abbey ruins. The Abbey was founded by King Henry I in 1121. Did you know Henry I was the son of William the Conqueror (William of Normandy)? William came from France and defeated King Harold of England at the Battle of Hastings in 1066.
We walked through Forbury Gardens, a beautiful park with lots of different flowers. Parts of the Abbey ruins were visible from here too.
Through an arched gateway we went. We read a plaque which said that the famous English author Jane Austen went to school here.
We then headed to the Abbey ruins. Centuries ago, around 200 monks would have lived and worshipped here.
Now it's all in ruins, with the remnants of stone and flint walls still standing and information boards scattered around the site. We walked through arches into courtyards. I wonder how many people walked through here all those centuries ago, what conversations they had, and what little mice scurried across the floor! (OK, I'm going into some unimaginable imaginations!)
It was an interesting experience. We also read that King Henry VIII closed the Abbey in the 1500s as part of the Dissolution of the Monasteries, taking power away from the Catholic Church and placing it under the Crown.
Quite a nice little place to visit and explore.
Beverages
We then headed back to the town centre to grab some drinks from the famous Greggs. I opted for a Mocha, while we also had Iced Lattes and a Mango Lemonade.
Whilst sipping our beverages, we went for a walk along the canal. Reading has a canal that stretches a long way, apparently all the way towards Bath and Bristol.
Whilst the canal itself was nice, I thought parts of the footpath could have been better maintained.
Boat Tour
After our little walk, we made our way over to the Matilda Too boat tours. We had booked the 12pm tour on a 12-seater narrowboat. Two volunteers kindly checked our bookings and welcomed us aboard. A few other passengers joined us too.
The boat had already started rocking from side to side!
One of the volunteers went through the safety procedures and gave us a quick introduction. (I forgot his name, but he was very kind and knowledgeable.)
The boat slowly started to move. It reminded me of the boats from Bangladesh that I experienced many, many years ago.
The ride was calm and tranquil. Every now and then, the volunteer pointed out landmarks and shared bits of Reading's history. Reading was known for its three Bs: beer, biscuits and bulbs. Much of this area used to be industrial, with factories occupying large parts of the riverside.
Now it's part of the town centre.
We were also told that the canal was dug entirely by hand, stretching all the way towards Bath. Wow!
I had a nice chat with one of the volunteers, who was very friendly. He spoke about the current developments in Reading. Lots of newly built apartments can be seen along the canal, although many appeared to be empty.
We passed the former Reading Prison, where Oscar Wilde was once famously imprisoned.
As the boat chugged along, I spotted blackberry bushes! Sadly, they were too far away for me to pick any.
It was a 45-minute ride and well worth it.
We thanked the volunteers and headed back into the town centre.
Lunch
For lunch, we decided to pop over to Mr. T's, a HMC-certified food place. It was a nice lunch.
Afterwards, we found Reading Museum, which is housed within the Town Hall. A beautiful building indeed.
And then I needed to answer the call of nature!
The Town Hall had public toilets, and a kind lady showed me the code to get in.
Alhamdulillah, what a blessing.
Waterstones
We decided to pop into Waterstones. All of us love books and, upon entering, we were greeted by the beautiful smell of books!
There's an incredible feeling about being surrounded by books, at least I think so. I scanned the shelves, looking for something to buy. I picked up a couple of titles, but after some deliberation, I chose *The Eyes of Gaza*, written by Plestia Alaqad, a journalist from Gaza.
Reading Museum
We looked around the museum. It tells the story of Reading's history and houses a full-size replica of the Bayeux Tapestry. The Bayeux Tapestry is a 70-metre (230 ft) embroidered cloth depicting the Norman Conquest of England in 1066. It was likely created in England during the 11th century by English craftspeople and tells the story leading up to the Battle of Hastings from the Norman perspective.
I started reading it, but gave up after a few sections. I still learnt quite a bit about the Battle of Hastings though.
It was now time to leave Reading. We returned to the station and found the platform for our train. Moments later, the GWR pulled in with only four carriages. We quickly made our way to one of them and found some comfortable seats.
As the train rolled on, I dozed off. It was only a five-minute power nap!
The day wasn't done yet.
Ice Cream
Once we reached Paddington, we decided to end the day with some ice cream. We headed over to Edgware Road to a Syrian dessert shop called Diwan Damas. They serve a variety of Syrian desserts, but we were there for the ice cream. Between us we had vanilla, hazelnut, mango and a Syrian pistachio flavour.
It was a nice ending to the day. Alhamdulillah.
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