Cambridge Snapshot

Since my last post summer has finally arrived here in Cambridge. Now it's so hot that everyone is seeking shade, both man...

and beast.

At last, this Wednesday the kids had their last day of school before summer vacation. A few days before their last day though, the "get ready for back to school" ads went up. That's not right.

This store window makes me smile, because apparently the folks at Ted Baker and I are going to very different barbecues.

The food truck trend has hit Cambridge. Mike and I went to the Friday gathering and were both very impressed with our meals. Look how cute their trucks are too! I was too full to try the gelato this time, but notice the oh-so-English flavors.

By mid-July the university students are clearing out of town, only to be replaced by hoards of study abroad and tourist groups. 

The summer flowers are all abloom. 

The houses are thick with ivy. 

July marks the beginning of Cambridge's Shakespeare festival. Mike, Camille and I went to see A Midsummer Night's Dream the other night. We had a great time. It was well-acted, funny and presented in a beautiful garden on a warm summer night to boot.

And that's about all that's going on here at present. Just enjoying the long, lazy days and counting down to summer trips and visitors!

This English Summer

Last summer people continually informed me that the summer weather we were having was amazingly good. It was good they informed me, because coming straight from San Diego, I might not have realized our luck if they hadn't pointed it out. It wasn't that there weren't a lot of good days - there were. It just wasn't day after day of dependable warmth and sunshine like I've grown to expect from a summer.

Well, this year, I'm starting to see what they meant with all that praise. So far, we've had 12 days of rain since the official start of summer. Yes, I did actually take the time to look that up. It feels like it's rained harder and more frequently this summer than it did all spring.

My kids are less than impressed with their summer so far (I did tell them to look grumpy in these photos though, before you become too worried about them). But in the spirit of always looking on the bright side of life, here's my list of ways I'm appreciating our English summer:

* The weather is often so bad, it's comically bad. We do get some laughs in, out and about in the torrential downpours.

* I've noticed that no green spaces around here - gardens, parks, sports fields - have watering systems. My backyard doesn't even have a water spigot, like it never even occurred to anyone that one might need to water out there. Yet everything is as green as can be.

* I enjoy things like hot baths, hot chocolate, reading curled up under a blanket and watching movies. Here you don't need to wait until fall for such pleasures.

* If we were moving to England permanently, here might be the time I would start to panic. But knowing we'll be back in perpetually sunny California in only four months, I can chalk it up to part of my cultural experience. Got to get as much 'weather' in while we can.

* The sunny, warm days we do have feel like gifts from above. You just look around in amazement, and continually comment on the sun, on how summery it is. Who would think you'd get such a day in July?

And there's always a chance the good weather is just holding off until the kids are out of school in a week and a half. Right?

Tour Fever

The Tour de France came through Cambridge yesterday. As my husband is a huge fan, he was beyond excited.

The start was a couple of blocks from our house, so we were able to pop over early to check everything out. I am not a Tour fan. In fact, I like to tease my husband about enjoying the world's most boring sport. But the day was still so exciting! What a fair weather fan I am. Something about the beautiful day, months of anticipation across the city, and seeing an event live all made for such a fun day.

The anticipation in Cambridge has been huge, and the city was all decked out for the occasion. Look - someone hand-knitted little Tour jerseys for the bunting.

It was odd seeing and hearing all the French. The French signs, French operators, French market stalls, and even French police all transformed the area.

We were busy staking out our spots by the time the VIPs arrived, but Mike did enjoy seeing their chairs.

The starting line, hours ahead of the action.

Some of the many vehicles that drive before and after the cyclists.

We lined up quite early - how many chances will we get to see the Tour live? Luckily, there was a rather bizarre parade to keep us entertained pre-race.

 Some of Camille's friends joined us to help pass the waiting time.

We got our spots a little earlier than we needed to, but we didn't want to be stuck in the back, not seeing anything.

While I held our spots, Mike checked out some of the official sign-in process.

Mike tells me this person with a chalkboard has something important to do with the race. 

The spectators were everywhere.

And here they come!

Here's our shot of the leaders. Green jersey: best sprinter. Yellow jersey: overall leader. Polka dot jersey: king of the mountain. White jersey: best young rider. Mike tells me they lead out slow at the beginning of the race.

More riders. You can see someone from Team Sky in the dark jersey with sky blue stripes around the sleeves in the back. As Englishman and last year's winner Froome leads that team, they are of course the local favorite.

 How did this guy, one block into the race, already get way back here?

 Followed by the back-up bikes.

And the shows over. We had such a grand time seeing part of this year's Tour de France.

Norfolk Sunshine

"Climb the mountains and get their good tidings. Nature's peace will flow into you as sunshine flows into trees. The winds will blow their own freshness into you, and the storms their energy, while cares will drop away from you like the leaves of Autumn.” John Muir

I'm not sure where I read or heard that quote recently, but it was on my mind Friday on a beautiful outing with Mike. We had one of those peaceful kinds of days out in nature that lighten your cares and make the whole world feel lighter. 

Mike's company has had a stellar year, so they gave their employees the best of rewards: an extra week of paid vacation this summer. Mike decided to use his for days off here and there, whenever the mood strikes and the weather is clear. For his first bonus day we dropped the kids off at school and went a little north to Castle Acre, site of a medieval monastic priory. 

One of those things that has probably been obvious to everyone, but I'd never really considered, is that one of the reasons they tore down the cathedrals and priories at the Dissolution was to ensure that there wouldn't be anything of value to give back, should the political winds change again.

It seems like such a waste, yet I think I like wandering around in the open air around ruins more than I do inside cathedrals. 

My other little learning moment was finding that chevron has been a popular design since the Middle Ages!

Can you smell the old, old stone mixed with earth?

I just love spiral stone staircases, especially when they're so steep they are a little bit scary.

We had to give up the cozy, quaint tea room for a nice outdoor table in the summer sunshine.

We had a little more time, so on the way home impulsively stopped by Grime's Graves, another English Heritage site. We knew nothing about it, yet found the name intriguing. You can't tell from our picture that the site is open grasslands with a pocked appearance - little collapsed mounds dot the fields. Besides a very small visitor's center, there's nothing to see but open sky, grassy fields, sheep and distant trees. It's such a peaceful place to wander.

The area was mined for flint, dating back 5,000 years. You can climb a ladder down 30 feet into one of the mines. I sure wouldn't have wanted to be a miner back before electricity and modern enforcements. 

There's nothing like a day out in nature for a good reminder of loving where you're at. 

July is for Shopping

When I lived in France 15 or so years ago it was a hard-fast rule that nothing could be on sale unless it was January or July. England is not quite as strict is that, but definitely not like America with the Two-Days Only Super Sales at least twice a month. Most of the sales are concentrated into January and July. So lately, I've been doing some shopping and looking to find if there's anything particularly English to see.

Are there big displays of electric kettles in America? I've known people in America with an electric kettle, but it's my impression that it is by no means a standard appliance. Here it definitely is.

I think there's more space allotted to textiles in department stores in the UK. 

The Tour de France is coming through Cambridge on Monday, so many, many stores have a bicycle decorating theme right now. 

High-waisted, 80s wash, skinny jeans will forever remind me of English teenage girls, even more than black tights and skirts. Are they popular in American right now too?

Festivals are a big summer tradition in England, so many stores and magazines have displays or articles about dressing in festival wear. 

Something else that will always remind me of Cambridge are vinyl records. I was surprised seeing how many stores and how much space was devoted to them when I first moved here.

I also think the English are a little freer with their "loves" and "darlings" and "kiss kisses" with strangers and everyday people that you meet. I kind of like being called "love" and "darlin'" when I'm out shopping. That's all for now. Kiss kiss.