These boots were made for walkin.....
Cary in the Dragon House garden
Blenheim Palace and gardens
The Eagle and Child - Tolkien and Lewis's favorite pub
Lamb! (Watch out for the poo!)
St. James Church, Chipping Campden
We are now in Cambridge, and back to hoofin' it. We left Chipping Campden this m0rning and made it to Cambridge (through some very strange AA Route Finder directions) to the home of Nick and Ann Ladd. We had a really nice lunch and then dropped off the car at Europcar with no hitches - yea! It was a fun experience to drive in England, but all the same, I'm glad to be back to walking and taking trains. After dropping off the car, we walked into the City Center which is not very far from the Ladd's home. We made our way down to Newnham College where Emily lived during her three week study exchange program six years ago. She was very excited to see all the things that she remembered - she was an excellent tour guide. We also found Nadia's - the little shop where she had lunch most days while she was here. We'll be heading there for lunch tomorrow when we see more the town.
Now to catch you up on what else we've been up to. In our last blog entry, we had just returned from Blenheim Palace and Oxford (by the by - Cambridge is MUCH nicer). It would be impossible to overstate the impressiveness of Blenheim, though. I think that only the Queen's palaces could compete. They even have furnishings from Versailles that the Republic sold off after the French Revolution. So to compare it to a Royal Palace is not a stretch. Of course, like all landed gentry, they also had several moments of monetary shortfalls, so in the early 1900s, the 9th Duke of Marlborough decided that the easiest way to earn a lot of cash fast was to marry it - so he married Consuelo Vanderbilt. So this is the level we're talking here! Apparently it was a great exchange - he got cash, the Vanderbilt family got a European title - everyone was happy - except the couple, of course.
Anyway, moving on...on Sunday we went to church at St. James' Parish in Chipping Campden. We went to the 9:30 traditional (read 'old people') service so that we would be able to walk on the Cotswold Way for the rest of the day. The service was more like our Rite I, so a little stiff for us, but the strangest part was the sermon. I've sat through short sermons, long sermons, rambly sermons, even sermons with which I didn't agree, but I've never sat through a sermon with absolutely NO point - and even that wasn't delivered very well. Oh well, it was a visiting priest, so I trust that the poor congregation isn't relegated to that every week.
After church we walked to Broadway Tower along the Cotswold Way. It was about four and half miles each way, but was very pleasant. We had fun just walking and talking and avoiding all the sheep poo on the ground - which we did ALMOST 100% - no permanent damage though. The tower was interesting. It was built by a rich landowner in the early 1700s on a lark. We paid the £4 each to go up, though I'm not sure if it was worth it. We're doing pretty well on budget, though, so no big deal I suppose. We did almost get blown away when we were on the top though!
On Monday, we pretty much relaxed, walked around town, read in the garden, and did laundry. We decided that since it was our last day before we are moving a lot (Cambridge and London) that we should rest up and be ready. Plus it was our last chance to do laundry. Since the Dragon House had a washer and dryer, we were able to put clothes in, go walk around town, come back, change them out, go have tea, come back, change them out, and then read in the garden. A much better deal than reading a magazine in a dingy launderette - which is what we've been doing.
So - here we are - in Cambridge and getting ready to go out for a really nice dinner for our second anniversary. We're going to the Loch Fyne restaurant, which looked really good when we found it online. They catch the fish in Loch Fyne in Scotland and send them to their restaurants that they have all over Britain. We walked by the restaurant while we were poking around today, and it looks really nice.
Hope all is well with everyone. We should have pretty regular and reliable internet access from here on out. Hope you enjoy.
One last thing. We were dehydrating this afternoon (the weather finally felt a little like home), so when we stopped at the TI (Tourist Information) we bought some Gatorade. On the bottle, they had a little synopsis of where and why Gatorade came from. It was nice that while sitting in the middle of a University responsible for the likes of Newton and Darwin that a little slice of the University of Florida made an appearance. Its Great to be a Florida Gator!
Cheers for now!
-Cary
HAPPY ANNIVERSARY JAMEY AND BETH!
Now to catch you up on what else we've been up to. In our last blog entry, we had just returned from Blenheim Palace and Oxford (by the by - Cambridge is MUCH nicer). It would be impossible to overstate the impressiveness of Blenheim, though. I think that only the Queen's palaces could compete. They even have furnishings from Versailles that the Republic sold off after the French Revolution. So to compare it to a Royal Palace is not a stretch. Of course, like all landed gentry, they also had several moments of monetary shortfalls, so in the early 1900s, the 9th Duke of Marlborough decided that the easiest way to earn a lot of cash fast was to marry it - so he married Consuelo Vanderbilt. So this is the level we're talking here! Apparently it was a great exchange - he got cash, the Vanderbilt family got a European title - everyone was happy - except the couple, of course.
Anyway, moving on...on Sunday we went to church at St. James' Parish in Chipping Campden. We went to the 9:30 traditional (read 'old people') service so that we would be able to walk on the Cotswold Way for the rest of the day. The service was more like our Rite I, so a little stiff for us, but the strangest part was the sermon. I've sat through short sermons, long sermons, rambly sermons, even sermons with which I didn't agree, but I've never sat through a sermon with absolutely NO point - and even that wasn't delivered very well. Oh well, it was a visiting priest, so I trust that the poor congregation isn't relegated to that every week.
After church we walked to Broadway Tower along the Cotswold Way. It was about four and half miles each way, but was very pleasant. We had fun just walking and talking and avoiding all the sheep poo on the ground - which we did ALMOST 100% - no permanent damage though. The tower was interesting. It was built by a rich landowner in the early 1700s on a lark. We paid the £4 each to go up, though I'm not sure if it was worth it. We're doing pretty well on budget, though, so no big deal I suppose. We did almost get blown away when we were on the top though!
On Monday, we pretty much relaxed, walked around town, read in the garden, and did laundry. We decided that since it was our last day before we are moving a lot (Cambridge and London) that we should rest up and be ready. Plus it was our last chance to do laundry. Since the Dragon House had a washer and dryer, we were able to put clothes in, go walk around town, come back, change them out, go have tea, come back, change them out, and then read in the garden. A much better deal than reading a magazine in a dingy launderette - which is what we've been doing.
So - here we are - in Cambridge and getting ready to go out for a really nice dinner for our second anniversary. We're going to the Loch Fyne restaurant, which looked really good when we found it online. They catch the fish in Loch Fyne in Scotland and send them to their restaurants that they have all over Britain. We walked by the restaurant while we were poking around today, and it looks really nice.
Hope all is well with everyone. We should have pretty regular and reliable internet access from here on out. Hope you enjoy.
One last thing. We were dehydrating this afternoon (the weather finally felt a little like home), so when we stopped at the TI (Tourist Information) we bought some Gatorade. On the bottle, they had a little synopsis of where and why Gatorade came from. It was nice that while sitting in the middle of a University responsible for the likes of Newton and Darwin that a little slice of the University of Florida made an appearance. Its Great to be a Florida Gator!
Cheers for now!
-Cary
HAPPY ANNIVERSARY JAMEY AND BETH!
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Janice