Sept 25...en route to Cambridge

On the way to Cambridge we went to the Ickworth Mansion as they have a National Trust shop, and it was time to do a bit of shopping. The house was closed (we wouldn't have had time to visit it anyway) but very monstrous!  The shop was very good and I bought two mohair "throws". They are really lovely, one mauve and one a very soft pink. That was their full range--they should help to keep us warm in front of the telly as well as giving us a nice momento of our trip to Norfolk.

By early afternoon we had arrived in Cambridge. After dropping off the car we trudged down the road to our hotel. When we had recovered we went for a walk around the old city.....all extremely old and plenty of famous colleges one after the other. The city is quite small (smaller than Oxford) and can be seen in a day if one wishes. Ross would have liked to look inside Kings College chapel...but it was closed ....a team of film makers were there making a film about Stephen Hawking. On one side of the city the colleges have all these beautiful manicured lawns stretching down to the river where guys operate punts for tourists. It's all very picturesque! 

There are lawns and greens everywhere named after Jesus. There's Christ's Pieces, Jesus' Green, Jesus Way etc. but if you think Jesus is going to pay for you to use the public toilets, think again...his benevolence does not stretch that far (we did, however, find one exception). 20 or 30 p for a pee or a pooh!  Truthfully speaking we think it's a disgrace that people should have to pay to use public toilets...it's such an elementary need...can't the government pay for that out of all the taxes they collect!!  Also while we're at it....some escalators/lifts wouldn't hurt in the train stations. Even a station like Victoria in London has none of these "modern" inventions and it is a main station. They're lucky to get the tourists they get. How do old people, or the infirmed get up and down the stairs...it's all archaic beyond description. 

David contented himself with the purchase of some lovely chocolates from Thorntons--a famous manufacturer of English chocolates (milk caramel and dark apricot)--Ross loved the apricot ones but we were incredibly restrained and only had two chocolates each...this was our afternoon tea.

One thing in Cambridge--you see plenty of people dressed in that stereotypical English fashion...fawn trousers, shirt and tie (sometimes a very colourful one) and possibly a hat thrown in. Everyone looks terribly well-behaved and civilised...it's very pleasant if not a little rarified. The lawns are also very well behaved..all mown in straight lines of equal width and not a blade of grass out of place...Que Dieu nous en garde!!!!  God forbid!! Les pelouses anglaises....il n'y a pas à dire....elles sont magnifiques! English lawns..there's no denying it..they're magnificent! Coming to Cambridge reminded us of the film "Dead Poet's Society"....there's a formality about which is distinctive.

We left Cambridge the next day and caught a bus back to London. The bus fare was incredibly cheap...a mere £7.50 each as opposed to the train fare of £22 per person. Train travel in the UK is incredibly expensive and to get a good deal you have to book well ahead. Although the trains are very good and fast many English people find flying to be cheaper than train travel. The skill of the bus drivers in negotiating the crowded London streets is amazing. They are able to squeeze their buses through the the tightest of spots and not scratch the bus at all. Whatever they are paid they deserve more!!