Cambridge 2010: Three Months On The Trot

Check out the fun trivia question on the left-hand column. Guess your answer and make sure to check back on the February 1st blog entry for the revealing of the correct answer!


I got up this morning at 7am. I tried to toss through it, but I couldn't...so I just got up and got dressed to head out to breakfast.

Here, we order off of a menu and we are served for breakfast. I had a fried egg, grilled mushrooms, baked beans(my parents must be shocked at those two words), bacon (like Canadian), and whole wheat toast. Then they brought coffee to me.

They brought out a serving of kippers for everyone to try. Kippers is a type of bony smoked fish. It's really really good! I loved the flavor, but I felt that it was a touch too salty. The bones are not noticeable at all. I know "bones" and "not noticeable" is contradictory, but really...trust me, I never noticed.

We had a meeting shortly after in the annex. Andy handed out our money allotment for the week (in UK currency of course) and talked about the itinerary for the day. We set off to meet Janet at the bridge over the Cam (Cam is the name of a river). Here's the tour in short...

After the tour, we were given maps and the opportunity to explore Cambridge on our own. I walked around solo in the market. They had albums, jewelry, flowers, lots of fruit and vegetables, and even an open-air fish market. I have never seen one of those in real life, so I looked at all the crazy fish lying there with sharp teeth and beady eyes. The man attending the booth probably wondered what an American girl was finding so interesting in fish.

The group decided to go to The Eagle, a famous pub in Cambridge. There is a window in the top floor that must never be shut, it's even written into the agreement, because it is a memorial to a lady who was burned to death while sleeping when a candle tipped over onto her bedding. It was at The Eagle where Crick and Watson announced they had found "the secret of life," which was DNA. Here was also where airmen from both the US and UK forces burned their names and dates into the wall. This picture is the burning right above where I was sitting.



I had the fish and chips for 6 and something pounds (which equaled to $11.50). It was an entire fish minus the head and tail (and bones) battered and fried. Chips do not mean the same thing here as it does in the US. Chips are what we call french fries. Crisps are what we call chips.



I left there to go to Marks & Spencer's (a grocery store) to pick up some stuff to make sandwiches with so I wouldn't have to keep spending all my money at the pubs. While roaming through the store, I found something that made me a tad homesick...Alf cookies!



I found a loaf of bread, then asked a lady where I could find the deli meat. She was so nice! She helped me find the meat and cheese I wanted without complaining or grumbling at all. Instead, she was genuinely HAPPY to help me! She even went to the counter with me to checkout my stuff since she was giving me a special deal on the meat. So helpful! I made sure to say thanks like a billion times for her help.

I left there and took a look at my map of Cambridge. I thought I knew where I was on the map, and I found the road I would be going to, but I walked into the tourist building just to make sure. The lady drew me a little line on my map leading me to my road and I was on my way. I stopped a couple of places along the way to check out the shops. I stopped in a stationery place and, OF COURSE, a chocolate place. The chocolates looked amazing and I wanted to buy some so badly, but I thought I should save my money in case I needed it for something more of an emergency than chocolate. I must go wash out my mouth now. I mean seriously, look at the color of this blog background.

Right outside of the chocolate place was my first sighting of rising bollards! Since parts of Cambridge is very pedestrian friendly, some streets have these metal poles that shoot up from the ground unless the vehicle is an authorized bus or taxi.



I finally found my way back to the bed & breakfast. I put my groceries in the mini-fridge in the annex and went upstairs since my iPod died right as I went to text dad. I hooked up lappy and charged the iPod. I've been stuck to the lappy every since. I took naps and such while typing this journal, but I'm so glad I finally got this little bugger finished.

Cheerio poppets!