Day Out Grantchester

I'm still crazy about the location for our rental here in Cambridge, partly because of its proximity to so many places. In less than a mile in one direction, I'm in the center of the old Cambridge downtown, with its beautiful colleges, buildings and shops - handy and charming! In less than a mile in another direction, I'm at an American-style big box store strip mall. Not at all charming, but sometimes quite handy! And then in less than a mile two other directions, I'm in meadows with grazing cows and sheep, river paths and beautiful countryside. Very, very charming!

It's about a two mile bike ride from our home to the village of Grantchester. I enjoyed it so much the other week with my girls, that we went again today so Mike could see it too.

Grantchester is a cute little village with country homes and of course, an old church complete with aging cemetery.

Along the way from Cambridge to Grantchester, we passed an assortment of wildlife, including ponies, swans, ducks, sheep and cows.

It's such a beautiful bike path and countryside. You can also sometimes see the River Cam, with the occasional punt or canoe passing by.

Besides that the ride and town are nice all on their own, this outing has the extra bonus of having The Orchard Tea Gardens at the end. Isn't it a lovely place to hang out on a summer afternoon? You can see us enjoying a healthy snack of Pringles, cake and Diet Coke, but it also has more traditional English choices like scones, cream tea, and soup. As a side note, the garden was a gathering spot for a famous group of friends, including Maynard Keynes, Virginia Woolf and E.M. Forster.

The girls were a little bit tired on the way back, perhaps one girl more than the other, but we had plenty of time for rest breaks. Little layabouts in the sun - isn't that what summer is for?