English hospitality

After having done some exercise, house keeping and breakfasting, we left our wonderful spot at the Karma Eco Camp to head over to Ely, just some 20km down the road.

Ely used to be one of the largest Opium producing centers in the UK in the middle ages.
Today it is more known for itˋs grand Cathedral from the 12th Century. The town has been a pilgrimage site since around 670, when Etheldreda, daughter of the King of East Anglia founded a nunnery here. Never mind that she had been married twice by that time, she was still canonized after her death. 

My human went to check out the Cathedral, the town and the waterways. Which is where she met Wendy. This young 82-year-old lady was out walking her dog and after some talk about the weather invited her back to her home for a cup of tea. After confirming that she was actually serious, quite so, they walked a few minutes to her cottage where indeed they had tea - and cake.

A knitted cap for the letter box for the Queen's Platinum jubilee

Wendy, what a gem

Wendy has worked as a teacher in international schools in Indonesia, the States and Russia, where she was contacted by the KGB on various ocassions and subsequently interrogated when she got back home to England.

As one can imagine, she had plenty of interesting stories to tell, which she shared freely while they sat behind her cottage in a beautiful garden, sharing a pot of tea. 

So far, England has been a real treat!

The next morning we drove to Cambridge. I still wonder how a city full of students is also so full of cars! Bicycles, too, of course, but there was not a parking spot to be found I could have fit in. The Park&Ride lots all had a height barrier which half of me wouldn't have fit underneath. Time was getting short because my human had booked a walking tour at 11am, so in the end we just pulled up outside a large shopping center and she took the bike into the city, arriving just in time for the tour.

The mathematical bridge. Contraty to legend, Newten didn't have anything to do with it.

King's College Chapel, if you can still call this a chapel

The round church

King's college

The Backs

The Corpus Clock, unveiled by Stephen Hawking in 2008, really cool (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corpus_Clock)

Which, how could it be different, was hosted by a German lady.
Cambridge is definitely worth a visit, lots of nice, old buildings and full of history. The first college was founded here in 1209 by students from Oxford, fleeing violent political conflicts.
Students only study here for 24 weeks a year, 3 times 8 weeks, seems kind of ridiculous to me. But the list of Nobel Prize winners and other famous people having studied here seems to proof them right.

There are cows all over the place, just roaming around

Unfortunately right now they are writing exams, so all the colleges are closed to visitor and therefor can't be visited. There was conflicting information about this online, so we thought we would just try. At least my human had a look into King's College Chapel, even if she had to attend the Evensong to to so. But with a choir known the world over, apparently, it wasn't actually half bad. 

After the tour we had switched places, finding one at the end of a dead-end street, in front of a rowing club. Here we spent a very quiet night.

Like the colleges, the Polar Museum, which my human really had wanted to see, was also closed. But at least the Botanical Garden was open, a small consolidation, but better than nothing.

After having afternoon tea in a very nice apple orchard some 5km down the road in Grantchester, we actually went to see a mechanic. I had developed a little metallic rattling sound somewhere, so we wanted to get that checked out. 

After having been sent away by two garages which couldn't accommodate a big boy like me, I was finally looked over at the third place. They took me for a spin to hear the noise, put me up on a lifting ramp, spent at least half an hour checking me through. And found nothing. I am totally roadworthy, they said. Good to know. We will keep an ear on that noise, tough. And for all that, they charged us exactly nothing. Because "we didn't really do anything. My daughter is on Interrail in Europe right now, and I hope someone would help her out if she needs it, so it's all good.", says the owner of the business.
I repeat myself, England is a treat!

After spending the night in a small town along the way, we drove on the Rutland Water. It's a large reservoir surrounded by green hills and plenty of sheep. There are a few campsites along the shore and we stopped at just the right one.

Jane and Frank

Not five minutes after arriving we had coffee with Jane and Frank, one two and one four legged, both very nice and engaging. Three hours later, my human took the bike for a spin around the lake, some 40 kilometers of up and down along the shore.

The weather was nice and sunny and after returning from the ride, we enjoyed some peaceful time reading in the sun.

The morning came up somewhat grey and rainy. That didn't stop my human from taking Frank for a walk, though.

When they got back we moved down the road to spend the day wondering around Leicester, or Lester, as it is actually pronounced. Can't say that there was all that much there to see, but the Dinosaurs at the museum were quite impressive.

Sir David Attenborough memorial wall

To spend the night we moved on a bit towards Nottingham, parking up behind a pub some 15 km outside of the city. Which is where we met the next wonderful pair of people. The couple in the van two spots over offered us a drink right on arrival, and we had a great couple of hours chatting away with them before making dinner. 

It might be luck, but so far we only have met super friendly English people. Keep them coming!