Winchester Cathedral Lightshow and more

I always love taking friends to Winchester. Or recommending it. I've not found one person who's not fallen in love with the city.

This was my first time in Winchester this year (I usually go at least twice). This time I had asked a friend if she'd like to go and see The Storytellers with me. The Storytellers is a light-show put together by Luxmuralis, a collaboration between Peter Walker (sculptor) and David Harper (composer) who create light and sound installations across the UK and abroad. This is the third show I have been to. You may have been to one of the shows yourself in the past.

I was particularly interested in this show, as writing is in my blood, and also this is the 250th anniversary of Jane Austen's birth. She spent her last days in Winchester, and is buried in Winchester Cathedral. It all seemed apt.

We arrived in the early afternoon on Thursday and headed straight to The City Mill for tea and cake. I love The Mill with its setting over the River Itchen. There is a beautiful garden where you can eat outside if you like. The river rushes by on both sides before running under The Mill (still in use today) and under the bridge at the end of the High Street before flowing forth to the countryside. At The Mill there is a secondhand book shop which I could not allow myself to look in this time as we were travelling light with just a rucksack with everything we needed for a one night stay.

While we were at The Mill we were approached by a lady asking if we would like to be part of a publicity photoshoot. Of course we said yes. She placed a vase of flowers on the table and we just had to carry on chatting while she took photos. Fame at last!

Our accommodation for the night was Travelodge, which is just around the corner from the cathedral. Everywhere in Winchester has become dreadfully expensive, and we got a good deal here.I've stayed there once before. There is no restaurant here, so we had breakfast at Wetherspoons the next morning. We do this a lot now as hotels charge so much for breakfast these days, and I cannot do it justice.

After a short rest we headed off to queue for the six o'clock showing of The Storytellers. The show begins with earliest storytellers. From Gilgamesh (creation story) through to the Bible, Shakespeare, Jane Austen and Dickens and more recent storytellers through films like The War of the Worlds, I Robot and Harry Potter.

My friend hadn't been to a light show before and loved it. We spent just over an hour walking through the cathedral observing the different pieces until we came to the climax in the centre of the cathedral. This is always the most spectacular.

After the show, we headed out to an Italian restaurant for dinner. The meal was gorgeous, especially the dessert called The Lemon, a combination of a white chocolate shell filled with cheesecake cream, a bed of cheesecake and crumpled biscuit. Oh, it was divine.

The next morning after breakfast, we went back to the cathedral to see it in daylight. It has been a long time since I have been down to The Crypt where Antony Gormley's installation stands surrounded by water. The Crypt is often flooded, and sometimes can't be accessed. We were lucky to see it. Such a stunning installation.

The exhibition Kings & Scribes was still on. (This is about to change to an exhibition about Jane Austen) I think I may have seen this one a couple of years back, yet only remember parts of it. This is held in an upper gallery. Downstairs is the original Winchester Bible in such good condition considering it was made in the mid 1100's. A video shows how it was made from the preparing of the calf skins, to the guide lines drawn for writing on and the bookbinding. Upstairs is an exhibition about Kings (Alfred of course) and old stone from the building. The exhibition forms part of the entry fee, which incidentally lasts a whole year, so you can visit as many times as you like.

Mortuary caskets

The burial place of St Swithun

Old steps upstairs in the gallery

After the cathedral visit we went back to check out at our hotel and had a drink at The Mill before heading out see Jane Austen's house, or rather the house in which she spent her last days.

Jane Austen's house

We had a late lunch at The Refectory and then visited the City Museum. The website gives you information about the other places mentioned here. When I used to go to the museum, it was free, but like everywhere else there is an admission fee, but it covers The Great Hall and Westgate Museum and lasts for a year. There are three floors to visit and a great gift shop! You can see a wonderful model of Winchester which took nine years to build and lots of Roman finds.

Purses owned by Jane Austen, City Museum

Then we walked up the hill towards to the top of the city to visit The Great Hall where apart from the stunning hall itself, there is Queen Eleanor's Garden and the Long Gallery where you can read about the history of the hall and the castle next door (ruins). We ran out of time to visit the Westgate Museum, but we will be back. We'd packed lots in. I even had a chance to show my friend the two tiny churches I love so much, The Church of St Lawrence and St Swithun's.