UK Explorations - Ely

A while back, Jason and I realized that we've been in the UK for almost a year and have done next to no exploring of the country that we're actually living in. We've taken every opportunity to see the rest of Europe and have inadvertently neglected the UK. Once we made this realization, we decided to make a more conscious effort to do more traveling locally. Last weekend we started small with a trip 15 minutes north by train to the small market town of Ely.

Ely is most famous for its enormous, centuries old cathedral which can be seen from miles away.

The architecture was amazing and it was only more impressively large up close. This picture doesn't even begin to do the size of the cathedral justice.

It was a beautiful day, so we spent some time wandering along the river, enjoying the sunshine.

We were also lucky enough to spot the "famous" Ely ducks. Supposedly they are famous because they are seen wandering all over town, even spending lots of time waddling around the town square which is no where near the river. I think they should be famous for a much different reason...

Have you ever seen a more ugly duck in all of your life!? I haven't! It looks like a cross between a rooster and a duck. So sad that these adorable little ducklings have such a sad fate.

We also spent some time checking out a popular antique market near the river. Jason hunted the book shelves for old math and science books while I pursued the antique jewelry. All in all we enjoyed our afternoon in Ely. The town reminded us a lot of a miniature Cambridge and was, in many ways, actually more enjoyable. The distinct lack of traffic and tourists was a welcome change to our daily life here!