Welcome to Cambridge
Tuesday 07/24/2007 1:15 PM (In the United Kingdom: 6:15 PM)
I stayed out of the library today -- instead, I did my laundry and headed up to Old Spitalfields Market to pick up some fancy chocolates as a token of thanks for the folks who are giving me a place to stay in Cambridge (more on that in a few minutes). Spitalfields is the open market I visited on Sunday but didn't take pictures of. Here's one to give you a sense of what it's like, even though the center of it is under construction right now and it wasn't nearly as busy as it was on Sunday:
Then I got on the train to Cambridge this afternoon, which was a pretty pleasant trip. I took some pictures of the countryside between London and here and then decided that those pictures would get boring awfully quickly, but here are a couple anyway:
See what I mean? It's pretty, but you might already be yawning ... rest assured that the photos I haven't included from the train ride were more of the same. It's nice, though, to get out of the city. Milne has several essays about going to the country for the weekend, and I think I understand a little better why now. I didn't realize how loud and roaring London was until I stepped out of the train station here. I mean, Cambridge has quite a lot going on, and from what I can tell, it's hardly sleepy, but it's certainly not the constant bustle of London -- which feels like a real treat.
When I told my Otterbein friend, Melissa, that I was coming to the UK this summer, she told me about her college friend, Emily, who lives here in Cambridge. I introduced myself to Emily via email, and she offered to let me stay with her family. Melissa referred to Emily's place as a modern-day castle; Emily said it was "a lot of fun to live in this house." When she sent me directions a week ago, she suggested I tell the cab driver that it's "the big house at the end of the road," because they don't have a gate with a house number yet. Surprisingly, he knew exactly which place I meant.
I was hoping for a room, but I've ended up with a 2-bedroom suite. Here are some photos, though I don't think they do it justice. This would be my bedroom (it's roomier than it looks in this photo):
And the kitchen:
And the loft above the kitchen:
And, the best part, the bathroom:
That's right: ja-cuzzi, with disco lights!
I think I'm going to like it here. Tomorrow I walk to Trinity College to look at Milne's manuscript and drafts of Winnie-the-Pooh, but tonight, I'm just going to relax. Oh, I almost forgot: here are some photos of the view from my balcony ...
I certainly owe you one, Melissa: thanks for the hook up!
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