This has become the Chronicles of K and B's Weekend Adventures it seems.
The week after the Cambridge trip was pretty nondescript, except for that Friday. On Friday I got together with Elizabeth, my mom's, cousin's, husband's, mother. : D Got that? We'll just call it a "distant relation".
I met Elizabeth by the Sportspark, and she drove us back to her house. We drank tea and talked the afternoon away. She is a lovely lady, very well spoken and incredibly nice. She seemed to take a liking to me too, and we agreed to meet again before she departed for South Africa in early April.
On that Saturday I headed to the Norfolk seaside with a group of other international students. DOS had organized another exciting trip for us; a boat ride to a colony of seals, and an outing to Felbrigg Hall, a National Trust estate. I'm glad I decided to wear my down jacket (however marshmallow-like I may look in it) there was a crisp breeze as we skimmed along the surface of the water. I was amazed all 50 of us fit in this small boat, it was full, but not too uncomfortable. I came prepared with both my camera and binoculars. While I snapped pics of the seals I let the girl next to me steal a glance through my binocs, share the wealth, right?
The seals didn't move much, but you could hear them (and thankfully not smell them).
Yeah, I let Bambi hop up to the seat so she could see the seals too. : ) She showed interest, but wasn't excited enough to take a dive overboard.
Next we went to Felbrigg Hall.
There was some construction in progress, but the house still looked pretty grand.
Here are some pictures from various rooms inside. I particularly liked the library (always wanted a room with books lining the walls like Spinner's End...or the lib in Beauty and the Beast...) and the bedrooms (not sure why, but I love bedrooms, could do with the love of my own bed and the posh curtains around the beds in these old houses).
Not sure how that's a "man trap" but it's funny anyway.
We had a lot of time to kill, so we walked around the grounds. One of the first things we came across was this enormous tree. It was one of the widest trees I've ever seen, like the Redwoods in Cali. I loved how the trunk twisted, will be sure to include trees like this in future drawings.
I wonder how old that tree is? I'm guessing 200+ years (I'm no expert by any means...)
There were some garden areas, a greenhouse, and a path through a wooded are which was like a big loop. While walking along it, I could imagine coming down the same path on horseback, which was probably done many a time in years past.
There was also a gift shop. While I was absentmindedly glancing at things (necklaces, postcard, stuff I had no intention of buying) a friend of mine exclaimed there were sand critters in the corner. I went over to investigate and found a little red sand filled dragon. Sold. There was also a shiny seahorse. Why not? Little dragon needs a friend. There was also a little stuffed owl I picked up, he would be a nice companion for my larger stuffed white owl I got at Infinitus. Hedwig and Pig. : ) My friend also pointed out a purple apron which had "Her Ladyship" written on it. Since I've been doing a lot of cooking I thought an apron would be nice to have...and where else would I find such a nice one? I left pleased with my purchases, nevertheless feeling a bit guilty about the money I spent. Ah well, think of it this way, I reminded myself, most people my age spend that amount of money going out drinking over a weekend. In the long run I'm saving a lot of dough not doing that sort of thing...more money for the things that really matter in life...like sand critters.
Outrageous! It's been like 3 weeks since a new post! I almost want to send myself annoying e-mails telling myself to post more.
As the title states...a lot of activity has been going on. So much so that I'm writing a few separate posts to cover it all.
I went to Cambridge with Sophie a few Fridays back. When we arrived we met Linda and walked around the city a bit. They wanted to show me the best chocolate shops Cam had to offer, we stopped at 2 this time around and I picked up a few treats. Most unusual was the chocolate pasta. I'd never seen it before, so naturally I had to buy some.
Before it got dark, we visited Emmanuel College. There was a pretty courtyard on the inside, but I learned you cannot walk on the perfectly manicured grass unless you're a Fellow of the college.
While we were walking around Sophie and I switched mobility aids. I propelled myself in here new spiffy wheelchair (which has lights on the wheels) and she handled Bambi. She said walking with Bambi helped her maintain her balance. Meanwhile I was getting an upper body strength workout from pushing myself in her chair. You really don't know how much the sidewalk slants until you're sitting in a wheelchair.
Dinner was at a very small restaurant. I'll admit when we found the place I was thinking "We're eating here?" Looks can be deceiving though, and when the food came my prejudices were proved false. There were 10+ of us and we pretty much took up half the place, we had some good food, good conversation, and left feeling happy as clams. Sophie and I stayed at Sophie's HS friend VK's house the duration of our stay and I found her couch to be an excellent bed (especially after action packed days).
On the Saturday we went to see some boat races. The spot we were watching from was pretty out of the way, so it was a long walk over, but when we finally got there Bambi got to have a little down time and I whipped out the camera.
The smaller dog is a guide dog in training, a lab/golden cross named Becky. Bambi played with her for a little while until she had to leave, then Bam entertained herself by running all over the lawn at top speed to expel some pent up energy (I'm guessing).
A got some good pictures of the boats going by, here are a couple nice ones.
That is one thoroughly wet dog! Sophie, Tom, and I went to a cafe next to warm up a little, then got a taxi back into the center of Cambridge. We walked for a bit and then traded Sophie for Linda. Linda, Tom and I took a walk around a few of the colleges. Now that I look back at the pictures, I see just how much detail these buildings have...amazing!
By this point our little party is considerably cold, so we decided to go to a service being held in King's Chapel to warm up. I dozed off every time we sat down (you know how you're constantly standing up and sitting down in church? Yeah...) and towards the end I wasn't even standing up anymore. I was impressed with the ceiling in this place...then again most ceilings with fancy designs stand out to me.
When the service let out we met up with Sophie again and Linda's friend Maria Taresa from Italy. We went to an Italian restaurant for dinner, and I had some of the best ravioli I've ever had there. Spinach and goat cheese ravioli in a butter sauce with pine nuts. Can you say yum? : )
By the time we got back to V's I can barely move anymore, and once I plopped down on the couch I didn't move for the rest of the night.
Actually I did get up a couple times because Bambi was whining quite audibly at times during the night. She was in the kitchen and we were in the living room, so there was only a door between us, but whining is so out of character for her I had to check up on her.
The next day was Sunday, and V is a choral scholar at Caius College. S and I speed walked (and I'm not kidding, we moved super fast) over there and attended the service. Afterwards we got to accompany her to brunch (which was free : D) in the Caius dining room. This was the most Great Hall-esque room I have ever been in. I was soaking it in: 4 long tables (complete with benches) with one at the front, just like in the HP books/movies.
Best. Brunch. Ever.
At Hogwarts...ahem...Cambridge.
I consider that a very exciting start to the day (considering I'm an absolute nutter for Harry Potter). I got some pics of the college as we left. I particularly like the one of Bambi and I standing in the archway.
S, Tom and I then went to the market and looked at some cute things. I didn't buy anything, but it was fun to look.
We stopped in at another chocolate shop, and I purchased a little bit of delicious chocolate fudge.
The afternoon activity we planned was to take out a punt and go on a boat ride on the river Cam. Tom and Paul did a good job propelling the boat through the water, it was quite an enjoyable boat ride. Bambi seemed to like it too.
I'll summarize the rest because I'm getting tired. Afterwards Linda, Tom and I got dinner at a restaurant called Tatties and we stayed til they closed. Then we went to a performance by V and a few friends. Short, but sweet. On the way out I stepped on the grass in the courtyard. I'm such a rebel.
The next morning S and I got up at 5 to get a 6 o'clock train. The conductor put us in 1st class, how nice : D) I fell asleep on the train, 5 o'clock and I do not get along.
