Discovering England: A Glimpse of Reading, Berkshire

by - May 15, 2016


I'm not sure many people outside of the UK know about Reading. It is a big town, thirty minutes away from London by train. It has no particular cultural landmark, except for Reading Gaol, the prison (now closed) where Oscar Wilde was imprisoned for being homosexual - which, to be honest, is not a cool thing to boast about! Reading is a great economic centre though, a lot of companies have settled there and apparently, the town has been developing a lot during the recent years.
This is not a city I'd tell you to visit, because there's just not that much to see, but I really wanted to dedicate a blog post to it, it has been my home for a year and I was so excited to come back. The first photos of the post are photos of the Forbury Gardens, which are quite beautiful. The lion reminds me of Aslan, if any of you have seen the Chronicles of Narnia films! ;) Another thing that I like there are the Abbey ruins. The building dates to the 12th century; I love ruins and old buildings, so seeing these old stones full of History makes me happy. I wish the Abbey was in a better state though, it must have looked so grand back in the day!


The place where I spent most of my time last year was the university. And if I had to choose one word to describe Reading uni, it would be nature. The campus is huge, much bigger than a lot of other English campuses I reckon. There is nature everywhere. Above are photos of the view from my window, as I lived in a hall that directly faced the Whiteknights lake. The last four photos were taken on my holidays in the Harris Gardens, which are a peaceful, vast area where you can find many different species of flowers and plants, and this year we got to see the blooming cherry blossoms. People hardly ever go to these gardens, which makes it even better because on sunny days, it is far quieter than the centre of campus, where everybody goes to find a spot in the sun during revision time. 
It felt so good to be back in Reading, go to all these spots again and see some of our friends. I'll always feel at home there, and I hope I made you discover a little this rather unfamiliar town!

Had you actually heard about Reading before? What is the city that makes you feel like home?

Lots of love,
Julia x

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13 commentaires

  1. Beautiful photos Julia! I think it looks like a very nice and cosy place. I had not heard of Reading before, but there are so many beautiful places around London, that I'm not surprised I didn't know of it. I've stayed in a small town outside of London also, Chesterford, which was just beautiful but I hadn't heard about that place before I went either.
    I feel very much at home in London. Which is strange because I don't necessarily like crowded places, but in London it feels like you can be whoever you want to be, without any judgement, a feeling that I liked very much.
    Hope you are having a lovely weekend.
    Much love,
    Mona

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    1. Yes there are so many nice places that we never heard of, which is cool because it makes more of them to discover! :D I didn't know about Chesterford either! It's true that in London, you can wear whatever you want and act how you want and nobody will give you weird looks or tell you off for it! I understand why you felt at home there, it really is a different atmosphere! :) xx

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  2. Beautiful photographs.. I would love to visit :)

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    1. There are indeed some nice spots there! xx

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  3. Such beautiful photographs Julia! Despite having lived in England for most of my life I've never visited Reading.. I'm clearly missing out!

    I myself feel very much at home in the suburbs of Munich with its abundance of nature trails, culture and the mindset of the people there, they certainly have an appreciation for nature and preserving the environment.

    Vintagonista- Sumeyye

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    1. Well maybe going there for a day of shopping (they have their own Victoria's Secret shop now!) and hanging out in the uni park, you'd love it I'm sure! Munich sounds lovely, it must be the perfect mix of nature and culture - what's not to love about that! :D xx

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  4. No, I hadn´t heard about Reading before. Even though you claim there isn't much to see, your pictures prove you wrong. The gardens and the campus must be a pleasure to stroll around in.
    I feel at home in Heidelberg, which is where I was born and raised.

    Linda, Libra, Loca: Beauty, Baby and Backpacking

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    1. The campus is indeed a great place to spend a peaceful afternoon - sometimes families go there, to enjoy this little part of nature with their children! I had never heard about Heidelberg, I just googled it and it looks lovely, I love that bridge and little houses! xx

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  6. I've never actually visited Reading before but I can see from your pictures that it is a truly beautiful place (then again, I think that you could make anywhere look stunning Julia, your pictures are always a breath of fresh air!). I bet it was fun studying on such a green campus, educational places are often plane and miserable but I bet it was a super inspiring place to be! I hope that you've enjoyed your week in England xx

    http://blossomingdaydreams.blogspot.co.uk/

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    1. Yes it was so much more pleasant to be in the big green campus than stuck between buildings! I really enjoyed going back to England, thanks for stopping by xx

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  7. Ohh, the word "Reading" you're pertaining here is a place! I see. Anyway, I've always loved visiting UK and it's nice to see a different side of it in these pictures. I like a uni close to nature unlike the ones I used to have now where we are surrounded by tall buildings. Thanks for sharing these pictures! <3

    xoxo,
    SHAIRA // New Post

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    1. Haha yes it is an actual place, and they did chose a great word for that! I know how it feels when you only have big buildings around, not the best atmosphere to study - being a student in Reading really has its perks, even though it's not a big, famous city! xx

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