The Blue Boar Inn in Leicester

A ‘Grand Hotel’ of Richard III’s time

On his way to the battle of Bosworth, Richard III stayed in Leicester, leaving on 21 August.    According to tradition, he spent the night at the Blue Boar Inn[i], though Peter Hammond thinks it more likely that he stayed at the castle.[ii]  However, as this post is about the inn, it doesn’t really matter where Richard actually resided.

Blue Boar Inn, in: C.J. Billson, Mediaeval Leicester, 1920 (Public domain via Wikimedia Commons)

The Drachenfels in Königswinter

more than just tourist kitsch

I grew up in Königswinter, a town of approx. 40,000 inhabitants next to Bonn.  It stretches from the Rhine in the west across the Siebengebirge to the east. The Siebengebirge (“Seven Mountains”) consists of more than 40 hills of volcanic origin.  Of the seven hills, which gave the region its name, the highest is the Ölberg with 460m, the smallest is the Drachenfels with 321m.  How it got its name is disputed with various suggestions floating around.

The Drachenfels seen from the Rhine