Cambridge and London (Part Two)

We got a hold of Uncle Ian and decided to meet him in Cambridge for lunch on Monday. Aunt Claire was not working so she went with us, driving us in to town. For those of you who don't know my eccentric family, Uncle Ian is a fellow at Cambridge Universtiy. He invented some math formula that turned out to have incredible results when applied to economics. Just think A Beautiful Mind. No joke. The guy, however, is TOO smart. For example, he never learned to drive because he just couldn't keep his mind on something so mundane. He also tends to not think about such mundane things as changing the sweater vest he just dripped lunch on. That said, he was looking really well when we met him (Dad). He actually was wearing both a undershirt AND a collared shirt (and even a sweater vest!) with his tweed jacket.

So we met up with him and had a brief tour of Trinity College. He showed us the library, designed by a man whose name escapes me. He was known for his woodwork, so the shelves have intricately carved end pieces. From there we took a tour of the lunch hall where we then ate WITH THE FELLOWS! This is like, Harry Potter style, one big raised table for fellows/professors and all the students at lower tables. Plus, we got better food. I watched as students would look up, see Gwen and I, and ask their neighbor who we were. From there, we walked over to the King's College Chapel (more like a Cathedral and partially donated by Henry VIII). He then took us to Our Lady St.Mary's Church and even climbed the 125 steps to the top with us. For a guy pushing 86, that's impressive. We then walked past this really interesting clock which used concentric rings of LED's to display the time on the way back to the car. Claudia and I had a ride that evening again.

On Tuesday, Gwen and I decided to do London again. Aunt Claire drove us to the station this time so we didn't have to get up at 6am to catch the train with Uncle John. We took the tube to Westminster Abbey first. Obviously, we got some great views of Parliament and Big Ben too, since it's right there. We then spent a good couple hours in the Abbey. It was really so amazingly beautiful. They didn't allow pictures, so you'll have to take my word for it. They also have some of the best preserved examples of medieval mosaic floors in the world. From there, we had the obligatory pub lunch before rushing over to Buckingham Palace and then back to the tube so we could catch the 4:10 train back to Audley End and meet Aunt Claire as she picked up the kids. Once again, I went and rode Pollyanna for Claudia who had piano.

I'll post about Norfolk at a later date. Clearly, we are now back in the United States. I'll see if I can't get Gwen to do a "wrap up post" too so we have some closure on here.