Leamington Spa, UK

Today I'm in Leamington Spa, a quaint little city in the United Kingdom.  I'm in this neck of the woods to visit with a prominent videogame developer.  I don't know why they're located here (about 2 hours north of London), but we're holding technical and marketing meetings all day.

As the name would suggest, Leamington Spa is actually known for the medicinal value of its water.  Early on in the 19th century, people would come here to bathe in the water.  In 1814 they built a formal spa to take advantage of the whole thing.  Queen Victoria visited as a princess and when she ascended the throne, she gave it royal status in 1838.  It's now formally known as Royal Leamington Spa.

That's a white statue of Queen Victoria in front

A public garden/park is located in the heart of the city.  It's called Jephson Gardens, after a well-known physician that "proved" the healing power of the water.  Today was a beautiful day - I sure wish my family was here with me to run around the park and play (with NO snow on the ground).

Jephson Fountain

Jephson Memorial

The gardens are located next to a river - with a nice path that winds along the river for short walks:

Of course there are swans in the river...

As with almost every town throughout Europe, there is at least one large church at the city center.  In Leamington's case, this is the All Saints Parish.  Although there has been a church at this location for 900 years, when the city received "royal" status, they felt that the church just didn't suit the popular destination.  From 1844 to 1869, they completely rebuilt the cathedral:

From the back of the church, stained glass

Tomorrow, we're off to Frankfurt.  Hopefully, I'll be able to take some pictures.  I will, of course, be celebrating the release of U2's latest album ; )