Bury St. Edmunds - my favorite places around town
But first, a self-promo:
Normally I put this link at the end of my posts, but since recently I set up commissions on Ko-Fi for embroidery pieces (including t-shirts, bags, hats, etc.) I decided to shamelessly self-promote first on this one. Tap the LinkTree button below and there you'll see a link to my Ko-Fi site, among my other online spaces:
If you are interested in starting a commission with me, leaving a tip, or even simply sharing the link, it would mean a lot. I'm not eligible to work in the UK currently, so in the meantime I'm hoping to make some income through these passion projects.
Alright, thank you for reading and clicking, now on to this week's post!
I have gotten several requests for a post about my favorite places in Bury St. Edmunds, so here it is! It's a bit of a longer post but there's lots of pretty pictures to see - let me know which one is your favorite! Bury is a lovely little town, full of cool shops and restaurants, and it is very walkable. It's about two and a half hours from London and one hour from Cambridge, which makes for nice day trips to the bigger cities.
Easily one of my favorite places in Bury is the Abbey Gardens. There are so many different areas in it, from impeccable floral displays to the ruins of the 10th century abbey, and even a walk-up café counter where they serve coffee, snacks, and gelato. I often walk here in the afternoons to find a nice bench where I can sit and read. Sometimes I get distracted by the wildlife; I love seeing the crows and swans! Even the pigeons are cute. There's this open field area between a rose garden and a section of ruins where I often see people having picnics. I've never had anything more than ice cream there, but going on a picnic with Ben at the Abbey Gardens is certainly on our to-do list!
Next to the entrance to the gardens is the St. Edmundsbury Cathedral, which I recently visited with a new local friend. It's absolutely stunning inside, with high ornate ceilings, detailed stained glass windows, and different mini chapel areas within the grand cathedral. One thing that stuck out to me inside was that there are kneeling cushions on the seats of the pews, rather than kneelers that pull down from the back of each row.
And adjacent to the Abbey Gardens are the Abbey Gardens Tennis Courts! Time on the courts has to be reserved in advance, and it can be a bit difficult to snag a good time slot but whenever we do manage to go, I love it. I'm not very good at tennis yet, but it sure is fun to just *whack* a ball back and forth. There's also a foot path that runs alongside the court so I often see many good doggos out on evening walks with their humans.
Another favorite spot is the Arc Shopping Center - it has two of my new favorite stores, Waterstones (the UK's Barnes & Noble), and a stationery store that has the cutest cards and office supplies. Plus, it's got some good cafés and restaurants! My go-to cafés here are Costa Coffee and Muffin Break. There's also a small theatre in the middle of it - we saw a production of Zorro the Musical a few weeks ago and it was fantastic! I hadn't gone to see a musical in a while so, it was quite fun.
A local restaurant that's quickly become one of our favorites is the Edmundo Lounge. It has great food, great drinks, great vibes, the whole package. I mentioned in a previous post about how this restaurant takes allergy concerns very seriously, and has a specified gluten-free menu as well as a vegan menu. On one of my first days in England, we went here for breakfast and it was delicious. My favorite food I've had at the Edmundo however has to be the honey-whipped feta appetizer, I could eat buckets of it! Plus their churros are pretty great too.
One night we went to the Edmundo Lounge for churros and drinks, and happened to walk into trivia night.
As soon as we walked in, the trivia host asked "which literary character lives at 221B Baker Street in London?" and
Ben immediately answered "Sherlock Holmes" under his breath. Someone at the table near the entrance heard him, wrote it down, and said "hey guys you wanna join a trivia group??" We did not join them, but I sort of wish we had.
--> If you want to read more about restaurants in Bury St Edmunds and beyond, check out my super casual foodie blog on tumblr where I rate meals I've had at various restaurants, and occasionally share what I make at home.
All 27 years of my life thus far, I had exclusively gotten my hair cut/colored/styled by my mom or my sister who are both licensed hairdressers. After moving abroad, I realized that I needed to find a new salon to go to here. During an aimless stroll about town, I noticed a hair salon that advertised using the same products my sister uses where she works. I figured that was a good sign, so I went in and made an appointment. I've been going to Gavin Ashley Hairdressing monthly now for undercut upkeep! It's a lovely salon, and while it definitely felt weird at first getting my hair cut by someone else, the stylist I see is great at doing my hair and I really enjoy the salon experience.
The Bury St. Edmunds Library is also a lovely spot. They have an impressive selection of books, including sections for English language learners, books in other languages, and books in dyslexia-friendly fonts. There's a children's area and community room downstairs, and the upper level has YA books, adult novels and nonfiction, and a large quiet room of computers and desks for people to work in. The library also hosts a variety of weekly activities for members of the community, a few of which I have been interested in but also am a mixture of too shy and too forgetful to attend yet... (someone tell me to just go and be the youngest person at Knit & Natter on Thursdays).
And finally, this isn't a place we go to all that often, as it ends up being very money, but I have to mention Pot Black. This is a billiards bar with pool and snooker tables, darts, poker/card tables, and of course, a bar. I was hesitant to go the first time, because bars aren't usually my scene and I can hardly hit a cue ball with any accuracy or intention. But, I had a fabulous time! Ben is trying his best to teach me how to hit the cue with some amount of aim and intention. It's not easy but it's not as hard as I was previously making it for myself. I wear my Loop earplugs to dim the bar noises, and that definitely helps me focus just on the pool table Ben and I are at. I wish we could go more often, because I would enjoy pool if I had more practice at it. Plus, there's usually a screwdriver and baggie of crisps in it for me ;)
What's one of your favorite places in your town? Tell me about it in a comment!
take care of yourself<3
~heather
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