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Month: June 2018

It’s That Time Again

It’s That Time Again

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This morning we visited the Fitzwilliam Museum. You know what that means? Right, it’s time to play Ugly Baby Jesus again. You know the rules. Just pick the most unflattering representation of the Christ Child and leave a comment telling us which one you think it is. Without further ado, here are the contenders. Tweaker Baby Jesus Inappropriate Nibbling Baby Jesus Existential Ennui Baby Jesus Not Hungry Baby Jesus Cookie Jar Baby Jesus Bolshie Baby Jesus The Amazing Shrinking Baby…

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Evensong

Evensong

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We had seen the school boys walking around Kings College in top hats and black gowns. 7 to maybe 12 years old. Very cute, very quaint. I knew that the local colleges educate local boys in return for their indentured servitude as choristers.  I also saw that every day, they sing “Evensong” in Kings College Chapel, one of the masterpieces of Gothic architecture. It was free. I figured I could enjoy listening to choir boys in such a gorgeous spot….

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Changes

Changes

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Cambridge has changed a lot since I was a student there – more business, more gentrification, more tourists – but some things remain the same. The statue of Henry VIII over the great gate of Trinity College is still holding an orb and chair leg. The tiles on the roof of the North West corner of First Court at St John’s college still show signs of wear. That’s part of the unofficial and highly dangerous route up outside of the…

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A Tawdry Tale

A Tawdry Tale

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As I looked out of the window last night before going to bed, there was a vast flotilla of Canada geese not doing anything in a highly suspicious manner. Yes, the picture was taken through the window of the boat because there was no way I was going out there. I know all about ambush predators. This morning we spent a while at a huge antique warehouse, then on to the cathedral. I’ve never been in a building with such…

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Ely

Ely

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One of the nice things about Ely is that apart from the cathedral there is no building higher than three stories, so from the distance the first thing you see is this. From the wharf where we moored it’s a fifteen minute walk up steep streets to the cathedral. The morning was spent cruising the Great Ouse (pron OOZ), which sprawls fat and lazy across the fens. There were no currents, no locks, and the bridges are high enough that…

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Salter’s Lode

Salter’s Lode

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Today, after two hours of foreplay, we got to dress up in life vests and make a mad two hundred yard dash through fast flowing tidal water. But first, We had to fend off some stowaways. We left our improvised mooring early this morning, and headed thought a surreal landscape of wind turbines… … for Marmont Priory Lock, where we had made an appointment with the lock keeper. Even though we are heading towards the coast, this lock took our…

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….Suddenly – Indiana!

….Suddenly – Indiana!

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Guest author: Paula And who better to write about parallels to the Midwest than a Midwesterner? I had had concerns. Having been to Cambridge before, I knew the region is flat. I didn’t know the area along the River Nene and was very pleasantly surprised by the rolling countryside, lovely honey colored stone buildings, a beautiful river. (And cows.) But there was a niggling worry:  what if the countryside goes all flat on us? And low and behold: we left…

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Guided Tours and Other Delights

Guided Tours and Other Delights

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Let me be honest about this. Peterborough is not a tourist town. Yes, the cathedral is one of the finest in the country, but apart from that there is nothing much to attract visitors. As a result, when tourist do turn up, the tour guides welcome them like the prodigal son. We were the only people to turn up for the 11:30 am tour of the cathedral. Our guide confessed that his tour was supposed to last forty-five minutes, but…

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Peterborough

Peterborough

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When asked what you should not miss in Peterborough everyone seems to say the cathedral, and then is stuck for anything else. Perhaps there is nothing else. It seems as if the historic town center has been redeveloped into shopping malls and pedestrian precincts with the same stores as in any other town. The cathedral area has some strange and charming buildings built in the ruins of the old abbey. We’ll be exploring some more tomorrow. Most of today was…

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Thomas Lives!

Thomas Lives!

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We are moored next to one of the stations for the Nene Valley Railway, one of many ‘heritage railways’ in the UK running vintage steam and diesel engines along one of the railway lines axed by the Tories in the 1960s. They let you peek in the maintenance shed. That looks like a familiar face. Could it be? It is, it is, it is! Thomas the Tank Engine. Thomas has not been feeling well lately, but all the local kids…

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