Woke up around 7:30 am (stayed up WAY too late watching Midsomer Murder…ridiculous; have told Robert that “NO TV goes on until we are finished blogging for the day!”) to a truly lovely, blue sky and sunshine-y day! Additionally, the weather is actually lovely and mild, and, while I don’t think it has gotten up to 70 degrees, I was at least out of my heavy coat for extended periods of time today! Wow! A first, I think, since we’ve been here!
As it’s Sunday, many things aren’t open, but the Cambridge Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology does happen to be, so we thought we would drive in to Milton’s wonderful Park & Ride, bus into Cambridge, go to the Museum, which opens at noon, and then have a big Sunday lunch at a good restaurant in town. First, though, I did our last load of laundry – using up our very last detergent pod – I actually guessed wisely in purchasing pods in Orkney and it has worked out perfectly. We don’t really need any more clean clothes, as we have plenty to get us home, but it’s always nice to have spares “just in case!” Put everything out on the drying rack, and off we went into town. Truly, that Park and Ride service is so incredibly convenient! Nice to know it goes 7 days a week!
About 45 minutes later, there we were in Cambridge – with cricket being played on the beautiful green lawns, the Ferris wheel going in the background – looked to be a lovely view, but as I’m not the biggest Ferris wheel fan, I did decline the opportunity to ride on this one! The walk to the museum was even shorter than that to the FitzWilliam; only about 10 minutes from the bus stop, and we were at the museum.
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| Part of the road construction entering Cambridge |
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| Loved the roses! |
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| Beautiful museum area |
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| Inside museum looking down from 3rd to 2nd floor |
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| Yemeni artifacts |
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| Benin mask |
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| Thought this was an interesting description |
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| Egyptian Shabti |
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| Think these were Mayan |
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| A bit of Egypt here... |
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| A Mayan cast next to it... |
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| And don't forget the Inuit totem |
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| Neolithic Chinese, I think... |
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| Roman glass |
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| Hmmm... |
Truthfully, it’s rather disappointing for a place with the reputation of Cambridge University, especially with one with such a prestigious archaeology program. It is much more anthropological than archaeological – and the majority of the cases and displays are very reminiscent of the Petrie Museum in London – old wooden cases with locks on them. In this case, there were quite literally labeled cardboard boxes on some of the shelves, so we’re assuming that they contained items that could have been on display. It looked like there were a few new galleries that were under construction and there were docents available – I’m thinking from the two schools – but the collections were rather a hodgepodge of “stuff” poorly labeled, rather thrown together and not at all impressive. It didn’t take us long to go through things, and then we decided we’d head to our luncheon destination.
This was a place called Parker’s Tavern, and was just about a 5 minute walk down the street. And, I am SOhappy to report, it was truly lovely! It is a combination tavern (restaurant)/hotel, and I am sure, if the hotel is anything at all like the restaurant, that it is a truly lovely place to stay! We were seated in their main dining room, in a lovely corner table. Plenty of space for us and we have a great view out on to Parker’s Piece, a stunning green space! As the day was so lovely, there was families and people everywhere! Picnics, people sunning and playing games; lots of families and children running about; fabulous to sit and watch!
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| Lovely Parker's Tavern |
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| R's tempura cauliflower |
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| My strawberry gazpacho |
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| R's trout |
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| My roast beef with Yorkshire pudding |
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| ...and accompaniments! |
For starters, I ordered their strawberry gazpacho soup, which was a wonderful combination of tomato and strawberry, beautifully presented with pansies on top. Robert ordered their cauliflower tempura, which was crisply fried and presented in a ginger, soy sauce that was slightly spicy and delicious. For mains, R ordered trout. It was presented on a bed of greens and small roasted potatoes. He loved it! Ordered the traditional English “Roast Lunch.” This consisted of roast beef (cooked perfectly; nicely pink!); Yorkshire pudding, gravy, roast potatoes, cheesy cauliflower, and three perfectly cooked veggies – green beans, parsnips and carrots. Wow! Way too much food to eat, actually, so R had to give me a hand! We also each had a glass of wonderful New Zealand Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc to wash it down. The dessert menu looked wonderful, but honestly, neither of us had any more room to spare, so very regretfully had to decline … whew! Finally, waddled out of the dining room very, very happy campers!
From there, we strolled slowly past the cricket match and around the corner and back to the bus station, where only a few minutes wait brought our good old PR5 double-decker bus to the stop! A not-so-quick bus ride (due to Sunday traffic) back to the parking lot, and then about half-an-hour return trip to Wicken Fen, and we are now back at our apartment and, with the exception of my blue jeans, everything is dry and ready to be repacked into suitcases!
Our plan for tomorrow is up and out before 10, and then probably to Ely Cathedral, which isn’t too far away. From Ely, then, directly to Heathrow, to drop our luggage at the hotel, and then drop the car off by 2. Uber back to the hotel, where we’ll be for the night, in preparation for an early departure Tuesday morning!
So! More later!
Much love,
m
xxx
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