Cambridge

Last January my youngest sister, Miffy, applied to a summer program at Cambridge University. When I told Mark about it, knowing it has been a life-long dream of mine to go to England, he said, "If she gets in, I'll send you over there." Fortunately (and not surprisingly), Miffy got accepted and at the end of August, my older sister, Jennifer, and I went over ot pick her up and travel around a bit. It was a trip of a lifetime and so wonderful to spend time with two dear sisters!

I've been wanting to post some of the pics since I returned and will have to do it piecemeal whenever I have time. Of course, no one really loves travel pics and commentary as much as those who took the trip, so if there are any who still read this blog :), please bear with me.

We arrived on a gloriously gloomy morning (I love the rain!) and I was captivated by the accent, the quirky signs, the helpfulness of all those we met, and the mere fact that I was at last in England!

Jennifer and I miraculously met up in the airport after arriving 30 minutes apart, made our way to Kings Cross Station (hello Platform 9 3/4!), and transferred to a Cambridge-bound train to meet up with Miffy.

She welcomed us at the train station with breakfast pastries in hand and we were off to Kings College Cambridge (Miffy's assigned college for the duration of her program). The ornate entrace to Kings College, Cambridge

A forbidden picture of inside Kings Library

Inside the amazing and imposing Kings College Chapel

Sampling fish and chips at the Eagle Pub where the discovery of DNA was announced. Being such an over-the-top Anglophile, I was sure that even though I have heard much about how bad English food is, I would like it. Um, not so much.

Giddy arrival at Kings College.

The grand and majestic Kings Chapel

The delightful morning drizzle turned into a perfectly sunny, breezy, day. Here we are posing with the Bridge of Sighs in the background -- a view Queen Victoria dubbed the most beautiful in Cambridge.

At the entrance to Trinity College. We spent the early afternoon touring some of the other colleges that are part of Cambridge -- all were beautiful with perfectly-manicured lawns. There was a quiet calmness around the entire university that made it seem as if we had stepped into another time. Trinity is considered the most elite and we enjoyed seeing the treasures on display in the library -- a lock of Sir Isaac Newton's hair, a first folio edition of Shakespeare's work, original manuscript notebooks and sketches for Winnie-the-Pooh . . .

"Reading" in the Kings Library

Cam-bridge

An afternoon punt on the River Cam. Miffy checked out a Kings punt and gave us a lesson. We had so much fun!

I deftly steered straight into a willow

A view of Kings Chapel from the river bank

That evening, was the last formal hall of Miffy's program and since some of the students had already left, we were able to sneak in. It was magical -- one could almost imagine being at Hogwarts :) -- with only candlelight on the tables and the echoing Latin blessing on the food sung a capella from the balcony.