Our Own Little World: Friday night tradition

Two of the things Jason and I love most about Cambridge: cycle culture and pub culture. It is certainly true of the UK in general (and even of much of Europe) that using a bike as a primary mode of transportation is somewhat of a norm, but Cambridge - and its surrounding villages - are really a step above. There are so many well maintained, clearly sign posted bike paths that you can really get most anywhere quickly and easily by bike. And the pub culture here - pubs as a place to just sit and relax with a coffee or a drink, no pressure to leave, no expectation that you’ll move on as soon as your glass is empty, many with spacious gardens for kids to play - just brings about a more relaxing pace of life. Most serve delicious meals in addition to drinks. When you arrive, you’re on your own to find a table, grab a menu, and decide what you’d like to eat. Then you head up to the bar, place your order, give them your table number, and then wait at your table for the food to come out. If you decide you need any refills, you pop back up to the bar to order more. There’s less of a table service mindset and I love it for that because it somehow takes a lot of pressure off the whole dining experience.

To take advantage of both these experience, since we arrived, it’s be come a bit of a tradition that for Friday night dinner, we bike out along the river five or six miles to one of our favorite pubs for dinner. Slightly closer to Cambridge is the Plough in Fen Ditton. Fiona likes this one for all the swans that hang out nearby and the rowers she can watch practicing on the river. She’s not too sure about their food - her first experience was ordering a hot dog which, we learned, is a full flavored sausage here in the UK. She wasn’t impressed. She very much enjoyed my pizza though so she’s willing to give it another try. I’m glad because the setting really can’t be beat!

On the other side of the river and a couple miles past The Plough is my favorite, The Bridge. Just outside the village of Waterbeach, I find the ride out to the Bridge to be a little more scenic:

I also slightly prefer the food at The Bridge. And the fact that Fiona’s go to order just happens to be their 7 GBP Friday night special doesn’t hurt either!