Adventures in Cambridge

Jason's parents are in England for a visit and we've been busy, busy, busy ever since they got here. They left Columbus on Saturday afternoon, flew all night, and got here Sunday morning. We expected them to be completely jet-lagged and too tired to do much site seeing on Sunday, but we were wrong! They were ready to go as soon as they arrived. Here's what we've been up to so far...

Day 1:

Once we met them at the train station and we got their luggage dropped off, we decided to take them for afternoon tea, in true English fashion. Not wanting to tire them out too much, we hopped a cab to Grantchester so we could show them were we lived this summer, the quaint meadows where families happily frolic through the fields, and the Orchard - the best place around to get afternoon tea.

We were lucky to have some really nice weather - sun and high 60's - and even the swans made an appearance:

And, as always, there were frolicking families aplenty:

After exploring the meadows a bit, we settled down to tea:

We had a hard time deciding which treats looked best, so we went for a smorgasbord of cakes and goodies - yum!

Feeling slightly bad about all that we had consumed, we opted to walk the three miles back into town (John and Terry were troopers!). Unfortunately, we were tempted by even more food on the way home and had to stop and sample the blackberries that grow all along the path. Lucky for us we had Jason with us - all of the berries at our level were gone, but Jason was able to reach the best ones for us.

And finally, because John and Terry still had a little energy left in them, we ended the day with a tour of Jason's office:


Day 2:

After catching up on some much needed sleep, John and Terry woke up ready for more site seeing adventures. We decided to take them on a tour of Cambridge highlights. First a stop at Downing College, the college that Jason is associated with. Next, a photo op at the laboratory where the electron was discovered...OOOH!...the nerdy excitement!


From there, we continued on to the market. Jason and John loved it! John says that this is a picture of he and Jas "shopping"...


After a quick Starbucks break, it was on to check out Kings College, one of the most well known colleges in Cambridge. Have you ever seen such perfectly manicured grass??


As if we hadn't seen enough for one day, we decided that it was too nice a day to miss out on a punting trip. Neither John or Jason would volunteer to punt Terry and I, so we had to hire this strapping young fellow:


Contrary to how it may appear, Jason and I were actually enjoying ourselves...Terry just caught us off guard! Despite the sunny skies, it was chilly out! Behind us is Mathematical Bridge - our favorite in Cambridge.


After our punting trip was over, I had to head into work for a bit, but in keeping with tradition, Jason and his parents wrapped up the afternoon with tea at Aunties Tea Shop.

Day 3:

Today, Jason bailed on the tourist activities and instead went into his office to get some work done. John, Terry, and I decided to explore the Cambridge Botanical Gardens. I'd never been, and it was quite impressive! Feeling quite adventurous, I monkeyed up this Weeping Willow, hoping that my klutziness wouldn't land me in the pond below:


I'm glad to report I made it back down nice and dry!

Jarod, do you read this blog? If so, this one's for you...check out the garden we found...your mom was quite fond of it!


The Botanical Garden map also boasted of a "Grass Maze." I couldn't wait to check it out. I was thinking of something along the lines of a corn maze constructed with tall grasses. John warned me not to get my hopes up, but I couldn't help myself. Turns out, we walked right past it without even realizing it at first because it was so much less than expected. We all puzzled our way through though so we could say we'd done it!


Last, but certainly not least, the 'Scent Garden.' Lots of great (and some not so great) scented plants. We found lemon, orange, lavender, and pine scented varieties just to name a few.

Today ended with afternoon tea and scones at our house followed by a traditional English dinner (fish and chips for all) at a traditional English pub.

Tomorrow, it's off to Paris!!

To be continued...