jueves, 6 de agosto de 2009

Bye, bye Cheltenham...

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Cheltenham Spa. When all the spanish people read the second word, we supposed that our town would be a marvellous resort with large pools, turkish bath, saunas and we could enjoy this facilities every afternoon after the course was finished. All of us were very disappointed becuase the noun "Spa" referred in that case a kind of stillwater very known and appreciated here in the last century.

Nevertheless, Cheltenham has been a city with enough life and resources for wasting two weeks. Pubs, Karaoke, restaurants, gardens and parks for running, bookshops, shopping in general took up our scarce free-time. Very closed to Glouscester (Glosta, like Brits said), it has been very interesting because larger than Chet allowed us to go there to visit historical centre or enjoy its summer activities.




Up to 100.000 inhabitants, Chet grew up as a city in the XVIIIth when someone discovered the healthy benefits of its stinking water. Sulfurose waters pumped up easy even any effort and people of the upper classes in that time got into drinking water for avoiding reumatical diseasses.
In the Victorian age, on nineteenth century, that habit encreased a lot. For that reason, the whole of the historical buildings of the city were built up at that moment. Large rows of semidetached houses, all equal in form and poor decoration, badly constructed with raw matherial like bricks or iron filled the historical centre. There aren't any important church, governmental building or abbey that put the city on the maps. All its magnificence remained in the water. Pumps and taps in every corner of the city.





In middle twentieth century, the city changed its pattern of development. Many officers and soldiers decided to end their lives in a quiet and good-weather city. Although seems to be incredible because every day in my time there was raining, pensioner in England thought that Chet would be a fantastic place. Populations increased by a large number of retired workers who followed the same path as officers did.



Today, Chet belongs to the University of Glouscester and Exeter and a part of their campus are very closed to the city. Moreover, surrounding the city, there are a large number of industrial and tertiary activities like, ie., a RAF-OTAN air base, a very important mobile phones relay aerial for the southwest of England and Wales and the built up of a hydraulic-retractable landing gear of Airbus aircrafts.

I could never forget this experience. My first attemp to live alone and completly in English in England. I'll try to repeat it next year. Yeah!!

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