Holiday in Cambridge - Day 4
Jul. 1st, 2006 07:51 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
wiseheartSorry I'm a little late. The heat wave finally broke for the weekend (as usual), so I used the time of grace to post Luthienn's B5 story to ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-community.gif)
hiddenrealms as well as Annúminas to the TFF archive - which was overdue. That meant I had 7 and 8 chapters respectively to hand-code, and that not only ate up two days but also ruined my poor eyes, too.
But now up to new adventures!
Our fourth day was probably the best of all. As before,![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
altariel1 fetched us from the B&B, and we went into town again - by bus again, as we were fairly beaten, understandably enough.
First we went to a stationary to buy some parcel tape, as I had to repair Mum's suitcase that hadn't survived the rough threatment on the plane and had now a long tear on one side. Then we went to Hotel Chocolate to buy some presents for our friends at home, so that they can envy us. *g* Mum also found a few more knick-knacks for herself, and Una brought me a copy of her DS9 novel, Hollow Men, which I didn't have yet. Well, my reading pleasure for the rest of the summer was certainly secured now. For me, DS9 is the ultimate Trek show - save TOS, of course, since you just can't beat the classics.
After some more walking around the town and seeing lots of more beautiful buildings, we went to eat pastries, since you just can't eat pizza or whatnot when you're in England. You have to eat pastries. So I made the acquaintance of traditional Cornish pastries and was well pleased by them. ;))
As it turned out, Una had indeed spoken with Alawa, who joined us during lunchtime, and we went punting. Now that was something I won't forget in my whole life!
In case you don't know, punts are flat-bottomed boats like Venetian gondolas, and are pushed forward with long poles by the punt pilot. So far, so good. But my sense of balance - or, better, the complete lack thereof - didn't make it easy to climb in, and poor Mum was even less limber, due to her age and her still stiff right arm (a remanining consequence of her having been muggled a year and a half ago). So we fell into the punt rather gracelessly and were spread all over its bottom like pedestrian frogs, as we say here in Hungary.
(Please don't ask why we say that, or what a pedestrian frog is. I really have no idea.)
Nevertheless, the boat ride was absolutely fantastic, the sight of the Backs gorgeous, and the punt pilot a really funny guy, who not only knew very well how to handle the pole (as we could see, it wasn't necessarily the case by all his colleagues) but also a lot of facts and anecdotes about the colleges we saw and about the history of Cambridge. We enjoyed it enormously, especially when the "pirates" came and fought their "deadly" sea battles with umbrellas (!) and fake plastic scimitars. It was simply hilarious.
Of course, afterwards came the arduous task to get out of the punt, which proved even more demanding than getting in. But we managed somehow, even though I had to clamber ashore on all fours, to the great amusement of the punt pilot. He also posed for Una, so that she could take pics of him, with or without the punt.
Afterwards, walking away on slightly trembling legs, we went to take a glimpse of St. John's College. As per usual, it was a gorgeous sight. We even could take a quick peek into the hall, through a partly open door, where tourists aren't allowed.
Having done the tourist thing, I realized that I still hadn't managed to get my obligatory pint of Guinness, which I simply must have when in Britain, so we went to the Eagle, one of the pubs in the city centre. There we talked about fandom and fanfics some more, whil Mum left us for a time to go window shopping. Poor thing, it couldn't be very exciting to listen to the three of us for hours.
When the noise and the smoke became too much, we decided to relocate, and after several aborted efforts to find a peaceful place, we ended up at Starbuck's on the first floor of Borders. Una's writing group was having their scheduled meeting there, so she could at least say Hallo to them, and we talked about fandoms and fanfic some more. I enjoyed it enormously, and Mum was being very patient...
When neither of us could hold out anymore, Alawa graciously fetched her car and ferried us over to our B&B. There we packed our stuff, as we were to leave relatively early in the next morning, and I wrapped Mum's suitcase with the tape over and over, until it looked like a mummy. We were deadly tired but very happy, we only regretted that our trip was almost over.
Last part, with our dramatic trip home, coming up soon.
hiddenrealms as well as Annúminas to the TFF archive - which was overdue. That meant I had 7 and 8 chapters respectively to hand-code, and that not only ate up two days but also ruined my poor eyes, too.But now up to new adventures!
Our fourth day was probably the best of all. As before,
altariel1 fetched us from the B&B, and we went into town again - by bus again, as we were fairly beaten, understandably enough.First we went to a stationary to buy some parcel tape, as I had to repair Mum's suitcase that hadn't survived the rough threatment on the plane and had now a long tear on one side. Then we went to Hotel Chocolate to buy some presents for our friends at home, so that they can envy us. *g* Mum also found a few more knick-knacks for herself, and Una brought me a copy of her DS9 novel, Hollow Men, which I didn't have yet. Well, my reading pleasure for the rest of the summer was certainly secured now. For me, DS9 is the ultimate Trek show - save TOS, of course, since you just can't beat the classics.
After some more walking around the town and seeing lots of more beautiful buildings, we went to eat pastries, since you just can't eat pizza or whatnot when you're in England. You have to eat pastries. So I made the acquaintance of traditional Cornish pastries and was well pleased by them. ;))
As it turned out, Una had indeed spoken with Alawa, who joined us during lunchtime, and we went punting. Now that was something I won't forget in my whole life!
In case you don't know, punts are flat-bottomed boats like Venetian gondolas, and are pushed forward with long poles by the punt pilot. So far, so good. But my sense of balance - or, better, the complete lack thereof - didn't make it easy to climb in, and poor Mum was even less limber, due to her age and her still stiff right arm (a remanining consequence of her having been muggled a year and a half ago). So we fell into the punt rather gracelessly and were spread all over its bottom like pedestrian frogs, as we say here in Hungary.
(Please don't ask why we say that, or what a pedestrian frog is. I really have no idea.)
Nevertheless, the boat ride was absolutely fantastic, the sight of the Backs gorgeous, and the punt pilot a really funny guy, who not only knew very well how to handle the pole (as we could see, it wasn't necessarily the case by all his colleagues) but also a lot of facts and anecdotes about the colleges we saw and about the history of Cambridge. We enjoyed it enormously, especially when the "pirates" came and fought their "deadly" sea battles with umbrellas (!) and fake plastic scimitars. It was simply hilarious.
Of course, afterwards came the arduous task to get out of the punt, which proved even more demanding than getting in. But we managed somehow, even though I had to clamber ashore on all fours, to the great amusement of the punt pilot. He also posed for Una, so that she could take pics of him, with or without the punt.
Afterwards, walking away on slightly trembling legs, we went to take a glimpse of St. John's College. As per usual, it was a gorgeous sight. We even could take a quick peek into the hall, through a partly open door, where tourists aren't allowed.
Having done the tourist thing, I realized that I still hadn't managed to get my obligatory pint of Guinness, which I simply must have when in Britain, so we went to the Eagle, one of the pubs in the city centre. There we talked about fandom and fanfics some more, whil Mum left us for a time to go window shopping. Poor thing, it couldn't be very exciting to listen to the three of us for hours.
When the noise and the smoke became too much, we decided to relocate, and after several aborted efforts to find a peaceful place, we ended up at Starbuck's on the first floor of Borders. Una's writing group was having their scheduled meeting there, so she could at least say Hallo to them, and we talked about fandoms and fanfic some more. I enjoyed it enormously, and Mum was being very patient...
When neither of us could hold out anymore, Alawa graciously fetched her car and ferried us over to our B&B. There we packed our stuff, as we were to leave relatively early in the next morning, and I wrapped Mum's suitcase with the tape over and over, until it looked like a mummy. We were deadly tired but very happy, we only regretted that our trip was almost over.
Last part, with our dramatic trip home, coming up soon.
