Cambridge is unnaturally flat...
I am back! And this is a good thing. Cambridge was lovely, absolutely great, but I do so like being home. Especially as yes, Cambridge is freakishly flat and it is odd. Malvern is obviously hilly, due to well-known Malvern Hills, and Durham is also very hilly, and so it was rather odd to walk everywhere on the flat. Except for up to Ellie's room, which appears to be on the top floor, but it is good, for it is near the roof!
Yes, Cambridge excitement starts here... Roof! Dinner on the roof! Ahem. Ellie's building does indeed have a flat roof, on which you can sit - and since it was a hot day when I arrived (despite grey wetness at Durham in the morning), by evening the stones of the roof were still nicely warm to sit on while eating dinner.
I had a nice train journey down, listening to Loups-Garoux, which turned out to actually be a little disappointing. Woe. I like my DW (audios, at least) mysterious and clever, and this really had a slightly confusing non-plot sort of thing. And dubiousness, too. Strangely, despite the fact that I believe in God, I don't like it when SciFi uses God/supernatural forces as a deus ex machina for getting rid of unwanted problems. And in Loups-Garoux, there was fairly heavy use of this. Also, the way the damned American girl said 'loups-garoux' made me want to hit her, argh.
Amy and Ellie had been punting, so met me a little late, and we bought food at M&S and had a picnic at the station, as there wasn't time to go anywhere between my train arriving and Amy's leaving. 'Twas nice, though; nice weather (if perhaps a little too hot and melty), and nice company obviously. *g*
Once Amy had gone, we took a bus into the centre and left my stuff in Ellie's rooms. I am incredibly envious; Ellie has a set, which means she actually has a bedroom not much smaller than my own, but also a tiny corridor leading to a little lounge area. Wonderful. And it has character, too; wooden flooring, and wonderful huge windows that I envy muchly in view of my own corner window which opens about 3 inches if you're lucky. But no matter.
Ellie and I went sight-seeing and shopping, and wondered around a few of the colleges, and returned for dinner on the roof, and then went out for the evening with some of her Asnac (Anglo-Saxon, Norse and Celtic - it's the course she's doing) friends; we sat out on the backs with a couple of bottles of wine, and chatted until we were thrown out by the porter at about 11pm, whereupon we returned to the bar, and stayed in there until about 1am. It was nice, and relaxed. There was a lot of Asnac talk which I didn't really understand, but it was interesting nevertheless.
Tuesday we slept in a bit, and then went out for picnic and punting with a couple of Ellie's friends. Punting is ace, and I want to do it again. I also want to see how on earth it is possible at Oxford, given that they punt from the other end (ahem, silly people, it doesn't make physical sense, but there we go. Cambridge can't talk, they have their 'May Ball' in June), and just generally to compare Oxford, especially as I've never been there. However, I shall hopefully visit in the summer, as Tessa lives there (or nearby), and it's only just down the trainline from Malvern. Anyway, punting: much, much fun; it took a little while to get used to, but I managed bridges fine and also manoeuveured safely around some other punts, so I think I was doing ok. (Ahem, unlike the guy who punted straight into the back of us and seemed suprised. I don't think he was paying any attention at all to what was in front of him.) I didn't realise how tiring it is trying to balance, though (although that did get better as it went on), or how wet you get even if you don't fall in. I had a nice wet patch on the side of my jeans from punt pole drippage.
I punted the whole way back to John's (Ellie's college), and then dashed off to meet hathy_col, which was fab. We wandered into town and sat on the wall outside King's, and had a good long chat, before wondering off vaguely in the direction we came in the hope that we were heading back to John's and Jesus. 'Twas good.
Argh. Suddenly hit by the tiredness, oh yes. Walking back at half one in the morning, and then up until midnight the next night, after a week of tiredness; not the cleverest idea ever. Oops.
Where was I? Ah yes, Tuesday afternoon. Nice chatting to hathy_col, and then back to Ellie's room for chatting and cerebral vegetating and shower before formal. Ah yes, shower. Amusing memory, because I had just got back to Ellie's room, dripping wet and wrapped in towel, when my dad phoned me. Amuses me greatly, in fact, because you see my parents had forgotten I was going to Cambridge. I'd e-mailed my sister, and had asked her to remind them, but obviously she forgot too, so I amusedly informed dad that I was approximately 300 miles further south than he'd thought. *g*
Formal Hall at John's was good; much more posh than our formal; amazingly posh food, possibly to the point of extremism - nobody really like the chilled soup; I can't remember what it was, but it was generally agreed to taste only of green, or possibly grass. Main course was nice though, and dessert was lovely, and unlike our formals it was all served very genteely and without simply throwing plates of food down in front of us, as I'm accustomed to. (I stayed off the wine, or relatively so, at least, because I've realised my bad weekend may have been rather related to my alcohol consumption on Thursday night. I know I still didn't have an excessive amount by many people's standards, but it was more than I usually have, and I think it's rather too coincidental that I then had a return to the rubbishness of last year for a few days, especially given I know my mum is careful to stick to just a couple of glasses of wine because it depresses her.)
After hall, we went to John's bar, which is rather lovely (although of course not as wondrous as the Undie *g*). I chatted a lot to one of Ellie's friends, Yaz (lovely lovely person), and then we all played Scrabble, in which, true to form, I lost. I am going to blame it on the fact that I was playing with two arts students, and I am nominally a scientist, but the truth is I always somehow manages to be 30 or 40 points behind by the 3rd or 4th go. *sigh* I am not meant for Scrabble, obviously, but it's a laugh anyway.
We got to bed at about midnight, and despite this Ellie and I decided to go to breakfast. I was curious about their breakfast, and it was rather nice. Then we had the whole morning to wander around town - we did a little bit of shopping again; I was looking for hats but the only one I found which fit my big head and had just the right amount of flop was thirty quid, so, um, no. I did, however, but a Russian grammar guide in Borders, so yay me - and then we visited King's college chapel. It's rather an iconic part of Cambridge, and having not been there before I thought I couldn't miss it out this time. It is rather impressive; rather large for a chapel, I thought, but then again that is just me; I tend to picture chapels as small buildings - our own chapels here are prime examples - whereas King's is actually closer to the size of a cathedral. Slightly weird, I found. But it's amazingly ornate, and has a wonderful exhibition down one side explaining the building of the chapel and some of the history of the time. I've seen it now, at least, and that's something to say. Also, it was terribly interesting to look down the list of organ scholars and organists and see not only James Lancelot, who is now organist and choir master of Durham Cathedral, but also quite a few well-known names whose settings we've sung at evensong (Darke, for instance, and Willcocks and such).
After that, we returned to have lunch and pick up my stuff, and went off back to the train station, and I have successfully made it home. I was taken for a tourist at the station, I think, as I couldn't work out how to get to the other side of the station to get into town (I've only been on the 'going south' side of the station! I don't know how you get over/under the track!), but never mind. I caught the beloved P&R bus with all my stuff (amazing how much stuff is necessary for just 3 days), and am now happily ensconced in my room once more, and probably going out to the Undie tonight, to see Tessa and people and watch TV in the JCR.
And now I shall go, for I haven't yet had dinner and have to leave soonish probably, but I just wanted to say I have had a great few days in Cambridge; a wonderful and much needed break from Durham and all its people (much though I love and did miss them), and I feel much refreshed. And my English is going weird now, so I am off to catch-up on flist if I have time before leaving for the Undie, and cook myself some nice pasta and cheese sauce. A bientot, mes amis.
Yes, Cambridge excitement starts here... Roof! Dinner on the roof! Ahem. Ellie's building does indeed have a flat roof, on which you can sit - and since it was a hot day when I arrived (despite grey wetness at Durham in the morning), by evening the stones of the roof were still nicely warm to sit on while eating dinner.
I had a nice train journey down, listening to Loups-Garoux, which turned out to actually be a little disappointing. Woe. I like my DW (audios, at least) mysterious and clever, and this really had a slightly confusing non-plot sort of thing. And dubiousness, too. Strangely, despite the fact that I believe in God, I don't like it when SciFi uses God/supernatural forces as a deus ex machina for getting rid of unwanted problems. And in Loups-Garoux, there was fairly heavy use of this. Also, the way the damned American girl said 'loups-garoux' made me want to hit her, argh.
Amy and Ellie had been punting, so met me a little late, and we bought food at M&S and had a picnic at the station, as there wasn't time to go anywhere between my train arriving and Amy's leaving. 'Twas nice, though; nice weather (if perhaps a little too hot and melty), and nice company obviously. *g*
Once Amy had gone, we took a bus into the centre and left my stuff in Ellie's rooms. I am incredibly envious; Ellie has a set, which means she actually has a bedroom not much smaller than my own, but also a tiny corridor leading to a little lounge area. Wonderful. And it has character, too; wooden flooring, and wonderful huge windows that I envy muchly in view of my own corner window which opens about 3 inches if you're lucky. But no matter.
Ellie and I went sight-seeing and shopping, and wondered around a few of the colleges, and returned for dinner on the roof, and then went out for the evening with some of her Asnac (Anglo-Saxon, Norse and Celtic - it's the course she's doing) friends; we sat out on the backs with a couple of bottles of wine, and chatted until we were thrown out by the porter at about 11pm, whereupon we returned to the bar, and stayed in there until about 1am. It was nice, and relaxed. There was a lot of Asnac talk which I didn't really understand, but it was interesting nevertheless.
Tuesday we slept in a bit, and then went out for picnic and punting with a couple of Ellie's friends. Punting is ace, and I want to do it again. I also want to see how on earth it is possible at Oxford, given that they punt from the other end (ahem, silly people, it doesn't make physical sense, but there we go. Cambridge can't talk, they have their 'May Ball' in June), and just generally to compare Oxford, especially as I've never been there. However, I shall hopefully visit in the summer, as Tessa lives there (or nearby), and it's only just down the trainline from Malvern. Anyway, punting: much, much fun; it took a little while to get used to, but I managed bridges fine and also manoeuveured safely around some other punts, so I think I was doing ok. (Ahem, unlike the guy who punted straight into the back of us and seemed suprised. I don't think he was paying any attention at all to what was in front of him.) I didn't realise how tiring it is trying to balance, though (although that did get better as it went on), or how wet you get even if you don't fall in. I had a nice wet patch on the side of my jeans from punt pole drippage.
I punted the whole way back to John's (Ellie's college), and then dashed off to meet hathy_col, which was fab. We wandered into town and sat on the wall outside King's, and had a good long chat, before wondering off vaguely in the direction we came in the hope that we were heading back to John's and Jesus. 'Twas good.
Argh. Suddenly hit by the tiredness, oh yes. Walking back at half one in the morning, and then up until midnight the next night, after a week of tiredness; not the cleverest idea ever. Oops.
Where was I? Ah yes, Tuesday afternoon. Nice chatting to hathy_col, and then back to Ellie's room for chatting and cerebral vegetating and shower before formal. Ah yes, shower. Amusing memory, because I had just got back to Ellie's room, dripping wet and wrapped in towel, when my dad phoned me. Amuses me greatly, in fact, because you see my parents had forgotten I was going to Cambridge. I'd e-mailed my sister, and had asked her to remind them, but obviously she forgot too, so I amusedly informed dad that I was approximately 300 miles further south than he'd thought. *g*
Formal Hall at John's was good; much more posh than our formal; amazingly posh food, possibly to the point of extremism - nobody really like the chilled soup; I can't remember what it was, but it was generally agreed to taste only of green, or possibly grass. Main course was nice though, and dessert was lovely, and unlike our formals it was all served very genteely and without simply throwing plates of food down in front of us, as I'm accustomed to. (I stayed off the wine, or relatively so, at least, because I've realised my bad weekend may have been rather related to my alcohol consumption on Thursday night. I know I still didn't have an excessive amount by many people's standards, but it was more than I usually have, and I think it's rather too coincidental that I then had a return to the rubbishness of last year for a few days, especially given I know my mum is careful to stick to just a couple of glasses of wine because it depresses her.)
After hall, we went to John's bar, which is rather lovely (although of course not as wondrous as the Undie *g*). I chatted a lot to one of Ellie's friends, Yaz (lovely lovely person), and then we all played Scrabble, in which, true to form, I lost. I am going to blame it on the fact that I was playing with two arts students, and I am nominally a scientist, but the truth is I always somehow manages to be 30 or 40 points behind by the 3rd or 4th go. *sigh* I am not meant for Scrabble, obviously, but it's a laugh anyway.
We got to bed at about midnight, and despite this Ellie and I decided to go to breakfast. I was curious about their breakfast, and it was rather nice. Then we had the whole morning to wander around town - we did a little bit of shopping again; I was looking for hats but the only one I found which fit my big head and had just the right amount of flop was thirty quid, so, um, no. I did, however, but a Russian grammar guide in Borders, so yay me - and then we visited King's college chapel. It's rather an iconic part of Cambridge, and having not been there before I thought I couldn't miss it out this time. It is rather impressive; rather large for a chapel, I thought, but then again that is just me; I tend to picture chapels as small buildings - our own chapels here are prime examples - whereas King's is actually closer to the size of a cathedral. Slightly weird, I found. But it's amazingly ornate, and has a wonderful exhibition down one side explaining the building of the chapel and some of the history of the time. I've seen it now, at least, and that's something to say. Also, it was terribly interesting to look down the list of organ scholars and organists and see not only James Lancelot, who is now organist and choir master of Durham Cathedral, but also quite a few well-known names whose settings we've sung at evensong (Darke, for instance, and Willcocks and such).
After that, we returned to have lunch and pick up my stuff, and went off back to the train station, and I have successfully made it home. I was taken for a tourist at the station, I think, as I couldn't work out how to get to the other side of the station to get into town (I've only been on the 'going south' side of the station! I don't know how you get over/under the track!), but never mind. I caught the beloved P&R bus with all my stuff (amazing how much stuff is necessary for just 3 days), and am now happily ensconced in my room once more, and probably going out to the Undie tonight, to see Tessa and people and watch TV in the JCR.
And now I shall go, for I haven't yet had dinner and have to leave soonish probably, but I just wanted to say I have had a great few days in Cambridge; a wonderful and much needed break from Durham and all its people (much though I love and did miss them), and I feel much refreshed. And my English is going weird now, so I am off to catch-up on flist if I have time before leaving for the Undie, and cook myself some nice pasta and cheese sauce. A bientot, mes amis.