Act XVIII- There and back again

Hello all,

 I am writing this closing post for our England adventures from the comfort of my own home in Gettysburg. As you might surmise from this fact, we made it home safely (though some of us were a little worse for the wear- more on that later) but I thought you may want to hear about our last few magical days on our dream sabbatical.

Our last week in Cambridge was filled with cleaning and packing, the weighing of the worth of objects we collected and the continued usefulness of things we had brought with us. But there was also a bit of celebration with friends and some sad goodbyes salved with the exchange of email and social media contact information. Both of the boys' classes had term presentations meant to show parents what they had been studying for the last few months. The school is paperless so not much came home with the boys and I had to rely on their spotty memories to hear what they were actually learning about. The presentation was a nice little recap to fill in any of the gaps Leif and Klaus had left in their own re-tellings. Their school dance club also had a short recital and they regaled us parents with some avant-guard dance routines choreographed by the students themselves. Surprisingly one was of a highly stylized fight-scene.

 Our last cycle to school started out routine enough with me crossing my fingers over these final two rides, hoping to avoid any incident which would adversely affect my planned sale of said bicycle in a mere 24 hours.The push over the train bridge did feel especially difficult but I just chalked it up to an old ankle injury and kept going. But by the time we got through the last cattle grate in Coldhams Common it was clear that there was something wrong with the bike. I pulled over immediately to discover a completely flat front wheel. As we were close enough to the school to foot it the rest of the way I locked up the bike on a nearby rack and marched the boys the last few blocks. After dropping them at their classroom doors, I managed to push the bike the three mile walk to the nearest bakfiets cycle shop, further irritating my ankle but in the end successful. Jay and his crew fixed the flat in no time and gave the bike a good once-over so that I could present it to my buyer in good confidence. As long as nothing happened on the way home from school. <<nervous cringe>>

 After school the boys and I went for one last time to the football pitch with the little friend group that we have collected here. As always, bouts of football and football-related arguments were interspersed with snacks of every description, including a huge ziplock of leftover Hershey's Kisses that the boys gave out to their classes. All the kids and mums signed a card for us complete with addresses and we had a round of group photos before the sun set at 3:30. All sugared-up and sad we cycled home for the last time through Coldhams Commons, over the train bridge, through the Asda car-park, behind the B&M, up Vera's Way, through the neighborhood and back to home safe. Whew!

 That night we ate our last meal in Cambridge at the same place we had eaten our first- The Cambridge Blue. I will definitely miss this cozy pub, its excellent pies, and fabulous garden. Luckily I am one of the few American's who has a neighborhood pub situation (Though ABC can't really be described a cozy)but I think on,the whole more, Americans could use this type of establishment in their lives. It is stress relief and community building all in one:) 

  On Saturday we planned a leisurely move southward to London not setting any sort of time-table for ourselves so as to avoid any unnecessary stress. Since we lived in a furnished rental we were required to wash all of the linens before we left. That meant five loads of laundry were left hanging to dry all over the bathroom when we finally locked up the place. 

  A little after 9:00, Stuart, the kind gentleman from Peterborough who was buying my bike, arrived as planned. He took the bike for a spin, found it to be in the same condition as when he had first tried it and handed me a wad of cash totaling 900 Pounds. I was really sad to give the bike up but I know it would have been a terrible, possibly marriage-ending, struggle to get it home. Stuart, who had originally told me he was going to take it home on the train, took his leave with the plan of riding it all the way the Peterborough, a good hours drive from Cambridge by car. I have resisted trying to contact him to see if he made it alright but in my mind he did and it was a grand adventure filled with gnomes and fairies. 

 

Our train ride to London was uneventful but the weather was dark, cold and wet and so when we finally arrived in the city around 4:00 we just snuggled up and watched BBC at our Air B&B. You will be happy to know that we learned our lesson from last time and did not dare broach the Tube with our scads of luggage, instead opting for a sensible taxi ride. 

 

 By Sunday morning the weather had cleared up and we took a stroll though some of the famous streets of the city starting at the grand Westminster Abbey and Houses of Parliament. We had toured this area on our first trip to England in 2013 so we didn't really trouble ourselves to try to get into any of the buildings but just tried to jog the boy's memories with the sight of things. Big Ben was not as helpful in this as I would have expected since he was absolutely covered in scaffolding.  Probably didn't matter though- Leif and Klaus couldn't remember anything. 

 We walked down to Trafalgar Square and then down the Strand to the original Twinings Tea shop. Unfortunately the shop was not quite as charming as I had expected and was fairly crowded for a Sunday morning. We bought a few teas and then promptly hopped back on the Tube (which was Klaus' favorite London activity anyway) and headed for the five floors of Hamley's Toy Store. Even without the impending Christmas holiday I think this amazing store would have been just as packed. It was a child's wonderland filled with every toy imaginable and very enthusiastic and encouraging staff willing to push parents into spending all sorts of money there. We let the kids pick out small items reminding them that they would be required to carry whatever it was home as mommy and daddy's bags could not hold anything else. 

 

After a quick lunch in Leicester Square, we headed to the London Coliseum for a heralded production of the Nutcracker. It was really spectacular scenically and costume-wise. There were a few choices that seemed kind of silly (the Nutcracker toy looked like a bulky robot) and the dancers seemed to be missing some of the beats in the music but they were gorgeous and graceful and I have been having dreams about dancing on point ever since. Our entertainment budget gave us seats in the top-most balcony which, upon first arrival, felt like we could topple down to the seats 50-feet below with the slightest misstep but once you got used to it the view was incredible. 

  As we had an early start in the morning, after the ballet we took one last Tube ride home, though we got to hear the bells of St. Martin-in-the-Fields play us out as we walked to the station.  

  Monday morning, our airport cab arrive at 6:30 as scheduled for our 11:30 flight. Now you might think that this 5 hour allotment seems a bit excessive even for an international flight but in this case my obsessive worry about the unexpected was totally justified. Our cabbie, Gregori, was able to fit all our luggage into the BMW SUV he was driving just fine but when it came time to close the boot, the latch would not latch. For a good 15 minutes Gregori tried slamming the door with increasing strength and frustration. While I twiddled my thumbs and Kurt apologized for having previously mocked my over-preparedness, Gregori called his employer and ordered us another car. Amazingly another taxi showed up within minutes and we arrived at the airport only thirty minutes after expected. 

  Having smallish children we were conducted to British Airways' special Children and Disabled

Check-in lanes where the boys were showered with books and crayons and our definitely over-weight luggage was accepted with helpful smiles. Security was no worse than expected and left us plenty of time for a last Full-English Breakfast at a airport diner, a turn through the Harry Potter store where we used up our cash, and even a small tumble for the kids in the Mr. Adventure playground. I would highly recommend both Heathrow and British Airways for traveling with kids. They were happy as clams for the entire trip home. 

 Kurt on the other hand was not (although this was no fault of the airline). After breakfast we had both felt a little queasy but chalked it up to both the quantity and quality of the food we had just eaten. But while my bad feelings subsided leaving me to enjoy all the food and treats passed out by the friendly airline staff, Kurt's condition became increasingly distressing to the point where he had the unfortunate experience of trying to vomit in a tiny airplane bathroom. He was no better when we actually landed and nearly passed out while going through customs. It was a pretty poor end for his amazing sabbatical but I think even with that he won't ever regret the experience. 

 Next sabbatical is in seven years this time. Where shall we go then?  

  

Act XVII- Quick! Do all the things you have been meaning to do!

Today marks the start of our last week here in Cambridge. By this time next week we will be making our way through London morning traffic to Heathrow while I check that we still have our passports for the thirtieth time since we got in the cab.
 The last two weeks have been a blur of Christmas Fayres, legistical planning on how to use up the random assortment of food in the pantry and the culling of items that we have amassed in our time here. I think we will be in good shape though I still find myself looking at the boys clothes for the smallest reasons to leave something behind. One inch too short- you are out of here trousers!
  Christmas Fayres are a huge thing in England. Every church, school, and organization seems to hold one. The shops on the main road near us put on one of the biggest in town and, even though traffic in Cambridge is already terrible, they close down this major thoroughfare for a whole day to hold it. The Mill Road Fayre as it is know is held every year on the first Saturday of December. Since the 1st of December was a Saturday this

year we did not have to wait long for this amalgam of food, music, and crafts. Our first stop was the pub a few doors down, the Cambridge Blue, where Father Christmas and his reindeer (complete with a set of elves constantly cleaning their droppings) seemed to be enjoying the back garden as much as we do. While Kurt and I sipped on mulled wine, the boys each took a turn chatting with Santa who rather cleverly did not actually ask the kids what they wanted (I suppose to help out those parents whose children were planning to ask for ponies and the like- well played Santa!). The boys did not seem to notice as they were each handed a wrapped present at the end of their chat. And these were not just cheap plastic crap but substantial toys from a real toy store. Klaus got a construction vehicle set and Leif got a paint-your-own wooden nesting dolls kit. Thanks Cambridge Blue!
 

From there we walked through the sea of people on the Mill Road gathering the free mince pies that were offered to us every few feet. I (everyone else quickly bailed)attended a tour of the Mill Road Cemetery, a huge over-grown place that takes up a sizable chunk of the land behind the shops and houses on the road. The graves there are mostly from the 1800s and are in various states of decay making it a rather spooky and fascinating spot. The cemetery is shared by several parishes and it is clear that some have more time to spend maintaining their areas than others. Our tour guide was a kind but soft-spoken woman who, along with six other "elderly residents", is attempting to compile a listing and map of all the grave plots as the records were not well-kept. Seems that there is no one of wide-spread fame buried there but she had some interesting stories about local celebrities.     
 

Our trek through the crowd on Mill Road led us to the "North Pole" on Parker's piece. Much like the other fairs that we have experienced at Parker's this one was fun but expensive and it took all our parenting prowess to keep the boys happy when it was time to go. We eschewed the tiny and crowded ice skating rink in favor of the carnival rides. The boys chose to ride the kiddie coaster and to take a stumble through the fun house.  Our graceful exit was eased by a bucket of candy floss and a giant tree shaped lollipop emblazoned with the boys favorite quote from Home Alone "Merry Christmas, you filthy animal."

 

 On Thursday the boys school held its own modest Christmas Fayre. Each
grade level was selling crafts that they made to raise money for class supplies. We bought some hot chocolate reindeer from Year 4 and an ornament from Year 2 (Klaus would not tell me which one he made so I just picked one at random. He was rather cagey about it which makes me think there was some incident involved in the Year 2 ornament factory. Maybe I will get the story out of him someday) Father Christmas made an appearance as did a local author and some players from Cambridge United. The boys were excited to buy the author's book and get it signed right there. Thanks to my librarian mother I have a collection of books signed by the author from my own youth so I was thrilled to keep up the tradition with my kids. After some cookie decorating and fooseball with the football players we trekked home to get a good night's sleep before our planned adventure on Friday.

 In one of my earlier posts I wrote about how parents are required to not only take their children to school here but also to walk them to the classroom door. For me this and the awesome park on the way to school has provided me with a couple opportunities to make some friends with some of the other parents. I have been lucky enough to find a great crowd and though our children only get along moderately well as sometimes happens, we mums have enjoyed a bit of social time on the sidelines of the football pitch. Very sweetly these mums organized a little going-away-outing for us at a local venue called Clip and Climb. This clever little place sports no less than twenty different climbing walls of various skill levels, all safe thanks to their easy clip system. The boys had such a great time that we actually went back yesterday. I can see hours at the climbing wall in the Gettysburg gym in our near future.

On Saturday, realizing keenly that our time here is short I forced the family to cross off another visit on my list and after two train rides and a stint on the the tube we arrived a Hampton Court Palace in Surrey. Hampton Court was Henry VIII's main residence for much of his reign and

Klaus turning the spit in Henry VIII's kitchen

was a wonder of Tudor architecture in its day. The original structure is made mostly of red brick which was a brand new building material at that time. Construction was originally begun by Cardinal Wolsey, Henry's Lord Chancellor and chief adviser. Unfortunately for Wolsey he hit the spot on the nose with his plans for Hampton Court and Henry liked it so much that he cleverly stole it from the man while the cardinal floundered in his attempts to get Henry's marriage to Catherine of Aragon annulled. Later royal residents of the palace included William III and Mary II and several of the Georges. William and Mary, ruling in the late 1600s desired a home more in keeping with their modern tastes and so they commissioned the famous Sir Christopher Wren of St. Pauls fame to remodel the palace in the Baroque style. The two monarchs died before all the plans were complete which has left Hampton Court looking like two different palaces that have been awkwardly glued together. This is not to say that the place is not gorgeous but it is a little disjointed.

Boys playing the part of the angels
 

 
There was a Christmas Fayre happening at Hampton Court as well which added a little extra fun activity-wise but meant we did not see as much of the palace as we might have on another day. We toured mostly the Tudor part which was what I was most interested in anyway getting to eat lunch in Elizabeth I's privvy kitchen and to walk the floor in Henry VIII's feasting hall. At our goading the boys participated in a "Christmas Through the Ages" presentation by some costumed Victorian characters who were attempting to compile a Nativity scene comprised of elements from the Tudor, Georgian, and Victorian Era. The boys were cast as angels and dutifully flapped their wings when instructed. Later they were able to make Christmas scented sachets and listen to a few carols as they echoed around the palaces courtyards. Perfect day in England.

 

On Sunday, before our second trip to the Clip and Climb and our last afternoon at the Center for Computing History, we finally took a tour of the lab that Kurt has spent most of his days in. I know I tend to look down on the cold starkness of modern architecture but I really did like the Maxwell building. Its tall windows and lovely view made all the difference and I think if I was a scientist I would find it a rather inspiring place to work. Seems like it has done the same for Kurt and I think it is safe to say that he is pretty thrilled with how he has been able to spend this sabbatical- not only having a great time at formal dinners but also getting some real science done with a few papers in the works and a ton of new connections. I think it is going to be bittersweet for him to leave.

Act XVI- Teapots Make Excellent Gravy Boats

I skipped my last few weeks of blog posts due to the relative banality of the weeks' activities (a couple formal college dinners and an amazing Christmas fair- crazy that these have become nothing to write home about:)

 This last week however was pretty stellar owing to our Thanksgiving visit from my brother-in-law Lars and his wife, Sam. Our guests arrived late on Wednesday so Thursday saw our first adventures with these two. Lars and Sam are avid-museum goers making them very easy to entertain in Cambridge and we were pretty excited to show them as many of the town's offerings as we could fit in. Since Lars has a degree in archaeology and is currently working as a geo-physicist, I suggested that maybe the Sedgwick Muesum of Earth Science and The Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology might be good places to start (Also they are located just across one beautiful courtyard from each other). We ended up spending so much time at the Sedgwick that we had to bail on the MAA in favor of lunch (which my stomach had been needling me very insistently about). Kurt, who had given a talk that morning to his research group, met up with us at The Senate, a lovely restaurant near King's College which sported a great picture window and mulled wine. Afterwards, Kurt took our guests on a few college tours while I went to pick up the kids from school (surprisingly the boys had made no fuss about having to go to school on Thanksgiving.) 
 We all met back up as the sun set at 4:00 (!) to prepare the last of our British Thanksgiving. The menu was a pared down version of what we have come to enjoy but we got most everyone's favorites in the mix. The 4-7 person turkey was probably a bit much (Sam and I are vegetarians and Klaus prefers the Quorn roast) but as Britain supplies such small turkeys I felt that we didn't really have an excuse to upend tradition.
   We did make one major alteration however to honor the host country which has been so kind to us- move over pumpkin pie, it is time for plum pudding! We bought the 1kg massive pudding at the Christmas Fair in Ely which was selling them as part of a fundraiser for their children's choir. After a near-hour in a double boiler we served the classic British Christmas dessert with some vanilla ice cream (not typical I think but close enough to the other cream-based accompaniment options listed on the web.) I think everyone enjoyed it (although no one went back for seconds and there is still a lot left) but I couldn't help feeling bad for all those little Victorian boys and girls who had this to look forward to all year. In a ranking of world desserts I don't know that this would make the top ten. Sorry, Britain.
 

On Friday, since the kids had school, we enjoyed a fabulous breakfast at the cafe down the street and then Kurt and the rest went to Ely to take the cathedral's magical tower tour and to visit the Peacock Tea Room. Sounded like they all had a great time although the tour guide was a bit less of a character and the weather was a bit grey. That night we ate at the pub across the street, the Cambridge Blue, so that Lars and Sam might enjoy another of the food options our street alone offers. Unfortunately it is now too cold to sit in the beer garden but the inside was cozy and the pies, as always, were great.  After dinner Kurt and Lars headed off to a gin tasting at the Cambridge Gin Laboratory (an early Christmas present from their mum) and Sam, the kids, and I went home to snuggle on the couch and watch Mary Poppins in preparation for our planned day-trip to London. To my delight the boys loved it (they are a little hit or miss sometimes with live-action) and it was fun to watch it now with my better understanding of history (the suffragette song was totally lost on me as a kid).
 

 On Saturday the whole crew engaged in as much museuming as we could fit in: First off all the gentlemen spent a few hours at the Center for Computing history while Sam and I headed to the Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology with plans to all meet at the Fitzwilliam Art and Antiquities Museum in the afternoon. In compliance with my mother-in-law's directions (who very sweetly wanted to give Sam and I a similar treat to balance out the guy's gin tasting) after our glorious uninterrupted perusal of the MAA's exhibits, Sam and I headed to the lovely cafe at the Fitzwilliam for lunch and dessert. Just as we finished up, the Andresen boys arrived and we closed out the museum, enjoying most especially their collection of armor and their incredibly ornate entrance hall. Unfortunately their British art collection was inexplicably closed with no indication of when it would again be open to the public.
  Sunday, we cycled quickly through everyone's luke-warm showers (water-tank is a bit small here) and then hopped the next train for London with a few breakfast sandwiches. We arrived at King's Cross Station around 10:30 and though we had very little hope we went to check out the picture station at Platform 9 3/4. As expected the queue was long and moving very slowly so we did our best to stage our own Harry Potter photos:

 
  After that we took the tube (Klaus' old train affinity coming out in full force again) to the Museum of London. London, like D.C. has a ton of fabulous and free museums. This one our guide book had touted as "very interactive" though not very informative but, now having seen it, I feel like that was a gross miss-characterization. The exhibits and collections on display were great and we learned a lot. For instance now I know what the long tail on medieval liripipe hoods was for- it was a built-in scarf! Brilliant! I have plans to start this as a fashion trend again advertising it as a scarf for forgetful people.
  Having run out the lunch timer, we didn't get to spend as much time I would have liked in some of the latter sections of the museum but I think everyone got a good dose of London history.

  After a nice Turkish meze lunch we walked to Leadenhall Market, a beautifully preserved covered Victorian Market. Unfortunately all the shops were closed by the time we got there, but the ornate buildings were still sparkling with festive Christmas lights and we could pretend we were street urchins admiring the window displays but with no real prospects of ever owning the goods inside them.
  To appease the kids our next shopping experience was a little more modern as we headed off to the London Lego Store. As with all Lego attractions we were delighted with the company's ingenuity and artistry, enjoying a kid size London Tube car with Shakespeare and a Queen's guard as fellow passengers and a Harry Potter Sorting Hat Chair.

 Once we purchased our small lego sets (our suitcases are going to be ridiculously heavy) it was unfortunately time to say good-bye to Lars and Sam. Luckily it is that great time of year when we will get to see them again in under a month and at that point our U.K. adventure will be at an end as well.

 

Act XV- Alfonso-Reinbold visit Cambridge Edition and some holidays

Grandpa Harry Potter and Blonde Ron Weasley
with "large" pumpkins

October is the start of my favourite quarter of year: three months of low-angle sunshine all with fun holidays at the end of the month. Halloween in Britain, the land where many of our American-o-ween traditions were derived, felt very familiar and satisfied my seasonal need. I say this having spent a very dull Halloween in the Netherlands on our last sabbatical (Sorry Netherlands. I don't mean to bad-mouth you. Different strokes for different folks of course but Halloween is just very important to me. I am a costumer for goodness sake.) and fearing that England might not take up the holiday with the same zest that I am used to. In truth they are a bit calmer about it- no one decorates nearly as much and the costume selection seems to be limited to only scary things like skeletons and vampires. But there were carving pumpkins in the grocery stores (coming in surprisingly uniform sizes of "small" and "large"), roving bands of trick-or-treaters, and candy candy candy. Just like in the states, trick or treat began around 6 pm and participating houses were asked to indicate their participation with an exterior visual (in this case some sort of carved vegetable/candle combination). A lopsided ratio of houses not participating to houses participating was off-set by the fact that our neighborhood was built very densely with little to no space separating long strings of houses. In short, the boys collected healthy sacks of candy and we got to glimpse the vast spectrum of our neighbors. Since we do not have a front door I left our offerings in a bowl on the window ledge with a note that attempted to appeal to the good-will of the trick-or-treaters, requesting that they take only one piece. Not sure if it worked as the bowl was empty by the time we even started out upon our own collection. Oh well.

You can't take pictures at the pool so here is
a stock photo from the website

  Friday saw a reprise of our adventures in the UK with our friends Joe and Jenna and their kiddies, Isaac and Eleanor. In August they showed us around their digs in St. Andrews, Scotland and now we were to get the chance to reciprocate in Cambridge. Arriving just as our boys got home from school, we took our guests to Parkside Pools so that they might enjoy the thrill of its flumes. Unfortunately we could not convince Eleanor to try the slides but I think the rest of group enjoyed them (seems the original luster of this Cambridge feature is even dimming for my kids, who on our first encounter had spent two straight hours climbing the stairs and riding the slides and this time were content with just 4 rounds. Time to go home?) 

  On Saturday, after a delicious brunch at Hot Numbers, a perfect cafe at the end of our street, we trekked downtown to the river with a sack full of cans of Pimms. Since there were too many of us to rent one of the small punts of our previous river adventures we opted for a private punting tour on one of the guided boats. The padded and blanketed seats of our spacious punt and the complimentary hot water bottles were a luxurious upgrade (reflected in the price) from our prior Scudamore rentals. Our guide, a plucky Cambridgian whose father is a professor of biology, was, however, a significant step down from our customary punter (Kurt). It was not that she was not super-friendly, or knowledgeable, or a good presenter- she was all of those in spades. But her skills at maneuvering the boat left a bit to be desired. Now it could just be

Pole rescue. 

that this punt was nearly twice the width of the self-hire punts and therefore harder to control but she seemed to be zigzagging across the river, while most of her fellow guides kept their boats on a rather straighter trajectory. At one point she even lost the pole to a particularly mushy part of the river bed and another punting party had to come to our rescue. We, of course, tried our best to make her feel better about this as it really was not a concern for us who were having a great time on our leisurely ride but I'm not sure her pride was sufficiently patched by the end. It really is a ridiculous way to move through the water- the poor guides are set up for failure by decades of tradition.

  After punting, Kurt was able to take the whole party minus one (me) into Kings College grounds with the help of his college ID. Apparently the kids enjoyed the grandeur of the chapel but were more awed by the roomba-style lawn mower that was meticulously manicuring the college grass. For their good behavior we let the kids pick out some sweets at the Olde Sweet Shoppe across the street.
  From there it was lazy lunch at the Eagle Pub (made lazier by the long wait for the food- we let the kids eat their candy first as a result) and then the company split so that the kids could go play soccer on Parker's Piece and Jenna and I could check out another pub, the Pickerel Inn, where CS Lewis apparently spent some time. On the way to said pub we passed the famous Round Church, and Jenna being a professor of religion and I being a lover of old architecture, were naturally drawn in to check it out. This was actually
my second visit to the place but my first kid-free one so I reveled in the uninterrupted reading of the church's informational exhibits. The Nave of the Round Church,as one might guess from the name, is rounded, an
a-typical design for the Norman era in which it was built (most churches of this time were build in a cross-shape) but one that was inspired by the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem. That structure was built by Emperor Constantine on what was believed to be Jesus's empty tomb. Clearly the Cambridge church was meant to celebrate the Resurrection of the Christ and while its shape has changed a bit from its first days and services are no longer held there, it still serves as a shrine to the history of Christian faith in the city. Jenna and I spent so much time in the church that we used up our kid-free time and forfeited our venture to the Pickerel.

Street performer who plays a guitar in a public trash bin

  At home the kids tumbled around the house and yard while we grown-ups enjoyed a few drinks and
some catching up. The 8 to 1 bathroom ratio turned out to not be a problem for anyone but me who had children disturb her private time on no less than two occasions despite my attempts to dissuade entrance when I heard little feet plodding towards the bathroom (there is no lock on the bathroom door by the way). The sleeping arrangements too worked out just fine though as expected the kids took a bit of extra time falling asleep.
 

On Sunday, before the Reinbold-Alfonso's flight home, we managed to squeeze in brunch at Pembroke College, a visit to the Center for Computing history, and a quick football match at our favorite pitch. The plan was nearly derailed by my second flat tire of our stay here but luckily my smart husband had put on a gel filled tube the first time it happened so that I was at least able to limp the bike to the bike shop to get it repaired. Come on, bakfiets! Just a few more weeks.


   On Monday arrive another popular British Holiday (that is strangely not noted on my National

Geographic Calendar of England)- Guy Fawkes Night. Guy Fawkes was a seventeenth century English Catholic at a time when Elizabeth I's successor James I was solidifying England's identity as a Protestant nation. Fawkes and a group of associates hoped to push their religious and political ideas though a terror campaign that would culminate in the destruction of the Parliament building with the help of several barrels of gunpowder.  Before they could enact the plot, the conspirators were discovered on November 5th 1604, arrested, and later executed. To celebrate this triumph of justice

over terrorism, the English now celebrate the 5th of November as "Guy Fawkes Night" with large bonfires and fireworks. Cambridge even throws in a whole carnival to the affair, taking over the normally peaceful Midsummer Common with tons of rides and food vendors. Unfortunately the 5th fell on a Monday this year but luckily, unlike Gettysburg and its 11:00 Fourth of July show, Cambridge starts the fireworks display at 7 so we were able to take the kids to experience the truly epic show and ride a carnival ride or two without getting home much after bed-time.
"Remember remember the fifth of November, the gunpowder treason and plot. I see not reason why the gunpowder treason should ever be forgot."