Cambridge

I woke up this morning at 4 am and it was light outside already. After falling alseep again, I was awoken by "don't worry, be happy" playing loudly in our cabin. It was the wake up call.   Everyone had to be in their cars and ready to go by 6:30 - which was no small feat for me but I did it! We had to descend 16 flights of stairs to get to our car - which made me really dizzy. Little did I know that later in the day I'd encounter circular stairs that were much worse.

Once off the ferry we instantly had to drive on the left hand side of the road. Dave did very well and was quite comfortable with it after about 30 minutes. The scary part for me is coming around a corner and seeing a car "coming right at us" - at least at home it would appear that way. Here they're safely on the other side of the road but our brains think we're going to hit the car head on.

So many of the towns here have the same names as towns in Ontario - Peterborough, Milton, Newmarket, Simcoe, Sunderland. There are cameras everywhere to catch people drving too fast. I don't understand their system. There's a sign to indicate that the camera is coming up - which gives you time to slow down. Our goal is to get home without any speeding tickets.

We arrived in Cambridge about 8:30 and were instantly taken back to the 1200 - 1400's. Narrow streets, wonderful buildings and colleges everywhere. Cambridge University is obviously in  Cambridge. It consists of 11 separate colleges. The oldest was built in 1284 and the newest in 1596. Apparently, the fellow that invented the "early computer" attended the oldest one - probably in the last 50 years or so.  :)

One of our main goals in going to Cambridge was to go to church at King's College (1441) and hear the boys' choir. It, the church service,  was an interesting experience. If there weren't any visitors, the congregation wouldn't even have had 15 people. The church was very high Anglican. We celebrated communion - quite differently than we're used to. The choir was exceptional - escpecially if you like "Handel" type music - which Dave really does.  All the singing was in Latin. After church we went back to our car to change our clothes. A tricky endevour on a busy street but we did it.

There was an open air market that we wandered around, bought a raisin bun for lunch, and got Laura's phone booth for her library. It was a very hot day - the first one of the summer. Apparently it's either cloudly and cool or raining here. They don't get much warm/hot weather. We wandered around the town for awhile. Fatigue was setting in and the heat was making it worse.  Trying to find a place to sit on the grass is challenging. There are signs everywhere saying you can't go on the grass, or you can if you're with a member of one of the colleges. Being new to town we had to keep looking for a spot to sit.  We came upon a patch of grass I've named Cow Patty Park. There were both fresh-ish and old cow patties all over the "park". People were picnicing, playing soccer, sitting etc on the grass. Honest! We found a tree and I was able to sit beside a dried out patty. Dave thought he was in the clear until he stood up and had gum stuck to his pants. I'm sure we entertained the folks nearby as we tried to get it off.

Ever heard of a punt? (Nothing to do with baseball.) Well we took a 45 minute ride in a punt (kind of like a gondola) on the Cam River. It went all along the collegues. Our punt driver was a Cambridge University student who told us all about the English education system. It was most interesting. He was really suppose to talk to us about the colleges but we (Dave) kept him busy with all sorts of questions. We did see the first bridge built across the Cam River - so that trade could take place. This happened before 1200 (don't have exact date - too many facts to remember). Thus, the town was named Cambridge.

Ice cream - which had zero flavor - and then off to check out some churches. St. Bene't's Church was the oldest in town - 1020. Great St. Mary's (1200ish) was being restored inside. They still hold services in it with the scaffolding all around. We went up to the tower and had wonderful views of all the colleges. The spiral staircase was very spirally (new word). I had to keep stoppimg because I was getting so dizzy. They certainly didn't make the staircase for any one of any size! Dave got talking to the verger (the caretaker and in years gone by, the "bodyguard"for the vickar. Poor people used to constantly bother the vickar because he was wealthy - compared to most people.) This fellow had great stories ranging from the gang/drug problems in Cambridge (he's also a constable) to the visits Prince Philip has made and the personal conversation this fellow has had with the Prince. (We saw photos as proof.)

At about 5 pm we headed back to our car and went to find our bed and breadfasst. It was just a couple of miles down the road. A lovely place. The driveway is treelined. It looks like a country manor complete with sheep in the front pasture, flowers climbing the stone house, and a horse out front. There was a bit of a cufful when Dave went to take the suitcase out of the car. It wasn't zipped shut (after our clothes changing ealier in the day) and so our clothes were all over the driveway.

Our host, Ralph, is very British. Our room is lovely. It over looks a wonderful back yard and gardens. Ralph told us that there was a great place, The Plough, to eat near by.  Here are the directions: go round the garage, to the meadow where you'll see a wooden post marking the path. Take the path through the meadow, some woods, and then into a small village. So off we went. It was a great walk. We arrived at the resturant to find out that they were out of food. Due to the wonderful weather, they were extremely busy. We expressed our disappointment and were told they could make a pizza for us. Wehad our hearts set on fish and chips but settled for pizza - the most unquie pizza I've every had. On the way back to the B&B, we cut through the meadow and paid for tht by having a number of fat slugs stuck to our feet (wearing sandels).

We're now tucked snuggly in our room. I had a cup of tea. It's so wonderful to be able to have tea in our room. Such a treat for a non coffee drinker. Tomorrow we head for Wales. I learned today that England uses miles and not klms. This was news to us as we had planned our travel assuming everything was in klms. Tomorrow's drive may well be much longer than we thought.

Oh, and the debit card issue - not solved.

One thing I learned today:  A two lane highway is called an "A road". A "dual carriage way" means that there are 2 lanes of traffic going in the same direction. A motorway is a three lane highway - each side.

One new thing I experinced today: Waiting in line for 15 minutes to get into church.

Most powerful moment of the day:  Worshipping in a church that has been used for over 600 years.

One pleasurable experience:  Having a pleasant shopkeeper explain British  currency to me. The smaller coins are worth more than the larger ones.