Crew

Wednesday's big event: biking to crew practice in the early morning hours to watch Eli row! Rowing is quite the sport around here - each of the individual colleges has a team; so it's like intramural basketball or something at home, at least in that it's much more widely available and more participated in - maybe a bit more committment required since it involves a lot more practice and early mornings (cold, dark, bad weather) and much harder work - but can you imagine intramural rowing? Yikes. So the Cam is quite narrow through most of the course - in some stretches not even wide enough to turn the boat! - which makes for chaos at times when somebody stops, or wants to pass, or catches a crab mid-stream. (Rowers, picture the chaos at the start or the docks of the Head of the Charles - that's daily life around here.) And the coaches ride bikes up & down the path beside the river (some with bullhorns, some just yell).

It was so dark and cloudy that I didn't get many good pictures, but I did have a funny exchange with Eli's coach - after several times of me stopping my bike to take pictures of Eli's boat, he called out to the guys as they went past "Row pretty for the lady! Must be for a magazine or something!" - and when I laughed and told him I was Eli's sister, he turned back to the boat and said "Oh! Eli, row pretty for your sister!" Eli was thoroughly embarrassed I'm sure!

Rowers - this is to give you an idea of the narrowness of the river - and the crowd - and the coaches biking up & down the path on the bank!

Cambridge

After spending most of the day yesterday resting and recovering both from travelling and the past two weeks of work (I slept in, read my book, napped, etc....), today was the day to get out and see Cambridge! (Eli was busy with classes, etc., and unfortunately couldn't join me.) I was so thankful to see the sun shining when I woke up - apparently most of the English winter is cold and cloudy/rainy, and sunshine is a rare treat. It didn't last all day but at least it didn't rain! (And while cloudy weather limits what one can do with lighting for photographic purposes, I had a few shots that turned out alright....)

I spent the morning wandering through some of the "colleges" at Cambridge and enjoying the beautiful green lawns and old architecture. (Cambridge is organized into residential "colleges" - King's College, St. John's college, etc. - Churchill College in Eli's case - that are separate from the academic departments.) I was pretty sure I was an uninvited guest in some cases, as the colleges are closed to visitors (or even charge admission!) for some parts of the day, but I decided that as long as I acted like I knew where I was going, and didn't dilly-dally taking too many pictures, everyone would just think I was a student!

Trinity College Bridge over the Cam:


Then I headed to the Cambridge Botanical Gardens. I knew there wouldn't be much blooming in the middle of winter, but it was still a nice walk.

Snowdrops:


in the Winter Garden:


Orchids in the "hothouse:"


I also stopped by the local art museum, and then headed for a bookstore/cafe for afternoon tea and a croissant, and relaxed with a copy of Jane Eyre (feeling very British by this time!). Altogether a very pleasant day which I may repeat parts of (especially the afternoon tea part!) tomorrow!

In England!

Surprise! I'm currently in Cambridge, England, visiting my brother Eli, who is here studying for a master's degree this year..... As of this time last week I though I was spending my vacation at home working on re-organizing and painting our study, but Matt found a great deal on a plane ticket, so on Tuesday we decided I would leave for England on Saturday, and here I am!

I arrived in Cambridge at about 9:30 yesterday (Sunday) morning, and after making the 30 minute walk from the bus stop to Eli's flat, we headed to 11:30 church. Eli goes to a great Church of England church (reformed, great preaching) in a beautiful old building with stained glass windows and wood pews..... and a modern praise band with piano, drums, guitar, 2 electric guitars, a flute, and an old overhead projector for the words!

I crashed pretty hard after church though and slept through both lunch and Sunday evening service, but woke up for dinner and the NFL football party. Eli had organized a group to get together and watch the games (at 8pm/11:30pm local time), and brought real American snacks (real Lays, Oreos, Planters peanuts, etc).... a huge hit! (Apparently the British version of potato chips aren't quite the same.) We enjoyed watching the game (I think most of the guys watched both games, though I headed back to bed after the Patriots won) and explaining some of the finer points of American football to the Brits.... like the blitz with an extra pass rusher (to which one of the Brits asked, "and where does the extra chap come from?"). It was great.