A Nano-Break in the English Countryside

It did not escape our notice that we passed the two-year anniversary of our arrival in Cambridge last month. At the same time, it certainly wasn't as notable an occasion as last year's anniversary. We've become even more comfortable in our home on Paradise St and we continue to struggle to reconcile our desire to be home in America with friends and family and our gut that says "It's going too fast. We still have a lot to do here." How that war of emotions will play out remains a mystery to both of us, but it's one we'll have to figure out sooner rather than later.

The Stour River Valley

In the meantime, we're trying to make good on our vow to see more of England rather than gallivanting across Europe as we have in the past. To than end, we loaded up the car last weekend and drove...about 45 miles away. Whose bright idea was that? Well, before my wife throws something at me, let me quickly say it was a brilliant idea. KT and I were apart for Valentine's day so she plotted a weekend in the Suffolk countryside for us to escape our Cambridge metropolis (These one-night dashes from home are the trendy economical vacations dubbed nano-breaks, I'm told by the papers). The idea was to visit small villages, walk the countryside, see old churches, houses and castles, drink good beer in cute pubs, and have a nice dinner out. Our 30 hour adventure met all those goals. We had a great Saturday lunch at a pub that smokes its own cheese, fish, and meat, and ended the night at our hotel/restaurant that had great food and 30 wines by the glass--fortunately our room was a short walk away. KT has created a trip photoalbum with captions but above and below are a few of the pictures--she's getting good with her new camera!

Much of our trip was spent near the Stour River Valley, a place many call "Constable country" in honor of the famous British landscape painter John Constable. We started the day in Claire, where we found affectionate swans (top picture) and a bakery serving a caramel iced cake almost identical to my favorite cake from Sanders. Later that afternoon, just as the sun came out, we took a several mile walk along the river to Flatford mills (bridge in the middle picture above). Katie even snapped a picture (below left) from the same vantage point Constable used for his famous "Hay Wain" that is on view in the National Gallery in London. In another village, we found curiously sized doorways (below right)--hmm, perhaps where the hobbits live? Our final stop was in Lavenham, an adorable town best known for its many surviving half-timbered house (above right). We stopped at a local pub and read the Sunday papers as watched families finish their Sunday roasts--a very British afternoon and nice end to our nano-break.

A Ramblin'

The Ramblers are a national organization for walking. U.K. landowners by law have to provide walkers the right of passage across their land (there are a few exceptions), so there are a LOT of places to walk. There are local chapters all over that have organized walks every weekend.

Apparently, the Ramblers have gotten a reputation for being an organization for retirees (or pensioners, as the Brits say), so earlier this decade they started groups around the country for people in their 20s and 30s as a way to revitalize the organization. As it happens, there's one of these groups in Cambridge, called Walk Cambridge.

This weekend, we decided to try the group out by joining them for a walk about 45 minutes north of Cambridge. It was a 6-mile walk between the villages of Folksworth and Stilton, which is where Stilton cheese gets its name from but isn't where it's made. It was pleasant enough, but the real treat was the people -- everyone was *so* nice. I chatted with probably 8 different people along the way, none of them JT, because he was busy chatting, too. One of the original members of the group told us, "I'm not sure if we're a walking group that talks or a talking group that walks."

We walked through fields, mostly, saw the occasional cow, and only one flock of sheep. We stopped for lunch in a farmer's field next to a giant pile of manure. Fortunately the wind was (mostly) blowing the other way. We also came upon a couple of horses that came over and greeted us, and when I fed one of them my apple core, she decided she wanted to be a Rambler, too. She looked at us rather mournfully over the kissing gate when she realized we weren't going to stay and play with her.

The whole walk took us about 4 hours, plus we stopped at a pub for 20-30 minutes for a break. We walked through a lot of mud -- a LOT of mud. When we got back to the car we both took our boots off and put them in the trunk -- we didn't even want to get in the car with them on. My jeans were covered in mud, too -- I'm going to need a pair of gaiters if we keep this up.

We had a great time, and the walk served the dual purpose of providing a way for us to meet more people in the area that aren't work colleagues, and seeing more of the greater Cambridge area. I think we'll be back.

More photos here.

D-Day

Happy Belated 200th Mr. Darwin!

I've been debating whether to do this post. While Charles Darwin is one of the most influential scientists ever, he's also arguably one of the most controversial. His ideas on evolution, specifically that we descended from simpler creatures and that other primates trace their lineages back to a common ancestor with us, are well-accepted by the scientific community, but they are hard to embrace by those who believe in a largely literal reading of the Bible. This conflict makes me sad. The large majority of the world's religions, even most forms of Christianity, have come to terms with evolution, finding no conflict between it and faith in a God who created mankind. From my viewpoint, I find the idea that people trace back to single-cell creatures one of the greatest miracles of all.

Despite the divisiveness of the topic, I felt the need to write this entry, primarily because we can't escape Darwin-mania here in Cambridge,where the man was a student. Just this week Prince Philip came to town to unveil a new Darwin statue and a few weeks ago Cambridge University had an amazing light show that featured Darwin (see the picture above of Darwin and the tree of life). My intern on Monday also visited the newly restored Down House, Darwin's home that some want to be a World Heritage site.

But the real reason for this post is I wanted to share the amazing evening I had Monday night listening to Baba Brinkman, a Canadian hip-hop artist who is doing rap songs about evolution.I went in skeptical but left his show hugely impressed. If you follow the link, you can read my review of the show and can also see lyrics, listen to,or watch videos of songs with titles such as Natural Selection. Even if you don't like rap, take a look--he's worth it. But if you don't like evolution, be warned that Baba doesn't take it easy on creationism or intelligent design.

--JT

Snowy February

We've had bad luck seeing snow in Cambridge. It snowed days before our initial arrival here, but was of course long gone by the time we got here. then, last year, the same snow that covered us in the Lake District covered Cambridge -- so we missed it. We get the odd flurry, but the weather is generally too mild for snow. Well, the what started as a blustery snow storm yesterday settled into a constant snowfall over night, and lovely snow showers throughout the day today. The nice, fluffy snow stuck, and was enough to close schools and even shut down most mass transit in London. It's just gorgeous.

Red What?

We're in London this week--yes, all week. We rented a posh apartment and are both working and playing. It's a nice change from the quick trips down from Cambridge and the dash to catch a train home at night. We'll update you more later but I just wanted to jot a quick note about a tidbit from our Sunday stroll among various markets. We stopped in a pub for an afternoon pint when I was taken aback by the T-shirt worn by the college-age bartender. It was Detroit Red Wings Stanly Cup championship shirt from the 90s. "I didn't expect to find a Wings fan here," I remarked. He looked puzzled so I pointed at the shirt and said "the hockey team. "Oh, that's funny. I had no clue who this was. I just bought the shirt someplace," he replied.

That's not the only time we've seen something American worn or said without the Brits having a clue what they're doing. Just yesterday the Guardian had an article lamenting the use of the baseball cliche "step up to the plate" by English politicians. Here's part of Duncan Campbell's rant: "This is what is so disturbing about "stepping up to the plate". Have the people who use it ever seen a baseball game? What's so great about stepping up to the plate anyway? You just put one foot in front of the other."

That's all for now--the inauguration is about to start and Obama is stepping up to the plate.

--JT

Business is tough

The [recession/economic downturn/global financial crisis/gloom and doom phrase of your choice] has definitely hit in England, with today's lead story being a proposal to nationalize the entire banking system to stimulate credit. On the high street (a phrase that can both generically refer to the main business/retail industries, and also to High Street, which is what the main street in most towns, villages, and cities is called), several big chains have gone out of business or into administration (basically the equivalent of bankruptcy) -- Woolworths, Zavvi (music store), Whittard of Chelsea (tea shop), Olan Mills, Pier (UK equivalent to Pier One), and Waterford Wedgwood, among others.

Some of those stores have Cambridge branches that are now closed. We live near Cambridge's first shopping mall. A shiny new mall has opened in the city centre, and the stores in the old mall and in the pedestrian streets around it are struggling, and independents are shutting down, too. I try when I can to use the small grocers and butchers instead of the posh and expensive Marks & Spencer food shop in the mall; now the M&S is closing.

Some aspects of Cambridge are business as usual. Last week the new term started, and the city centre was full of fresh young faces, suitcase in tow, college scarf wrapped around their necks. The open-air market was bustling with parents in town to drop of their kids. In my day job, we note that this is the time to take that class you've been meaning to take, improve your skills in the work you're doing now, take stock of all the jobs you're qualified to do but maybe haven't considered. Meanwhile, JT and I remain grateful for our jobs and our situation. And occasionally discuss whether our ability to order take-out is a transferrable skill.

10,044 miles later ...

No, that's not our mileage for 2008. That's the tally for our two-week Christmas/New Year's trip to Detroit, San Antonio, and Washington. We had fantastic visits with family and friends at each stop. We truly relaxed -- which made starting back to work this week all the more difficult. Apologies for the silence -- we do hope to keep the blog current and lively as we enter our (gasp) third year in England. Just as soon as I get over this jet lag.