Act II- New Routines

 This week saw the Andresen/Buehrer clan slowly expanding our explored-territory bubble in Cambridge. This is still a little tricky considering that we don't have a bike for the kids and I, yet but that didn't stop us from setting out on Saturday for a three-mile trek to Grantchester, an adorable little town, featured in the BBC series of the same name. Other destinations have included the public library, the Sedgwick Museum, the beautiful St. John's College gardens, and the venerable King's College.

  First to Grantchester: For those of you who are not
PBS-sponsored-BBC-program junkies like Kurt and I, the show Grantchester features a rather handsome vicar ("dishy" as one reviewer described him) Sydney Chambers, who helps the local detective inspector solve crimes in the picturesque town of Grantchester. The show is actually filmed in the town and so when it landed that we were going to be living in Cambridge, Grantchester rose to the top our tourist destinations. Though I had my reservations about forcing the kids to hike so far (I was hoping we would buy a bakfiets that morning but alas no) everyone made it through with only a modicum of complaint thanks to the help of a strategically placed playground at Lammas Land park. This park has a fantastic variety of playground equipment and a modest paddling pool that looked quite popular with the recent high temperatures (side note- there is a heat wave in the UK right now with most areas in the mid-80s and not having seen any rain since May).
  From Lammas Land we strolled through Grantchester Meadows, a pleasant stretch of pasture butted up against the river Cam, where seemingly every young couple with a black dog goes on Saturday morning to play fetch, having the animal repeatedly launch itself into the river in pursuit of a tennis ball. Seriously we saw no less than three separate couples doing this.
  In Grantchester itself, feeling slightly dehydrated (the water in Cambridge tastes musty even straight out of the tap and so we haven't been drinking nearly enough) we headed straight for The Orchard Tea Garden, a tangible version of all my Anglo dreams. This pleasant space is descriptively named- it is an apple orchard littered with deck chairs and tables that can be rearranged as needed in search of better shade and company, serviced by a lovely tea house offering scones, sandwiches and, of course, tea. We ordered a smattering of each and several bottles of sparkling juice. The kids loved it, drinking way more tea than we expected and lounging like 1920s lethargic millionaires minus the cigarettes.
  Our thirst and hunger slatted, we walked a few paces to the Church of St. Andrew and St. Mary where many a scene from Grantchester was filmed. Considering this, I was expecting rather restricted access to the place to mitigate the damage from throngs of tourists. Apparently I have over-estimated the show's popularity as this was most certainly not a concern to the current parish staff. There was a quaint sign inviting visitors into the church with nary a word of prevention regarding the 12th century building or its grounds.

  On the way home from Grantchester we went back through Lammas Park where a smattering of bouncy castles had been erected in the interim to be enjoyed for a small fee. The boys bounced for the next couple hours while Kurt and I dozed under a nearby tree. Perfect!
 Saturday evening I accepted an invitation from Melanie (Professor Keyser's wife- refer to last blog post) to go see a garden performance of Taming of the Shrew, part of the Cambridge Shakespeare festival. Despite the play's problematic themes when viewed through our current cultural norms, I, of course, said yes. The festival, which runs several plays throughout the town, spans majority of the month of July. I had read about it in our tour book but figured we wouldn't be able to find a babysitter that quickly after arriving so I written it off as an impossibility. Thus I was thrilled when Melanie suggested it. The venue, St. John's Scholars Garden, was father into the city than I had yet ventured and, even though my ankles ached from the walk to Grantchester, I set out on foot with Google's navigational help. Unfortunately I did not realize how fast Google navigation would eat up my battery life and only halfway there I was forced to turn it off so that I would have enough power to display my e-ticket at the door. This worry on my mind I don't think I properly enjoyed the beauty of Cambridge on a mid-summer's night walk, instead trying to guess at which of my fellow pedestrians were heading to the same event. Following a group carrying camp chairs proved a fruitful supposition as was obeying a hastily scrawled "To the River" written in chalk on one of the intricate stone walls of some hallowed institution. At last arriving with 2% battery life I met up with Melanie and we enjoyed the show, watching among the other picnicking theatre-goers with cups of mulled wine. 
 

 Earlier in the week Kurt earned his Cambridge ID which allows him and a guest to tour the individual colleges for free during normal tour hours. The impressive King's College Chapel had caught our eye on a previous excursion and so we decided to invoke our privilege at its grounds first. The college itself consists of only a handful of buildings , two large lawns, and the 577-year- old chapel which dwarfs everything near it. This 289-foot-long structure was first funded by Henry VI and was continued by the Yorkist kings and later the Tudors. It sports enormous stained glass windows along its length and a beautiful fan-vaulted ceiling that looked so formidable it was hard to believe that its modest buttressing, could hold it up. Kurt pointed this out as we walked in and I must admit I was somewhat nervous the whole time we were in there. As impressive and enormous as the stained glass was on its own, even more so was the fact that they had all been removed and stored during WWII so as to keep them safe from the bombs of the Blitz. Well done, nameless British heroes! I guess you are probably named somewhere but not on anything that they pass out to the tourists.
 From the Chapel we walked the grounds a bit, watching the traffic jam of punts in the River Cam and promising the kids our own punting experience on a future weekend outside of tourist season.
  Other adventures of the week included a visit to the public library, the Sedgwick museum, and the Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology. First the former- while the Cambridge Public Library Central Branch sports some impressive check-in/check-out technology and very friendly staff I was surprised at the state of the children's book section. I think Gettysburg sports a bigger selection and better organizational skills. Several of the shelves seemed rather randomly stocked with little adherence to the established last name of the author ordering system. Perhaps it is more the clientele's fault than the library's but it only made me more proud of G-Burg.

  The Sedgwick Museum houses and displays Cambridge's geologic collection. It is a fun walk into past museum design with thousands of artifacts arranged in wood and glass cabinets. There are a few interactive computer displays (including a test of your Darwinian knowledge which the boys and I scored pretty low on) but for the most part it is fossils, rocks, and gems with, often, handwritten display cards. It is free and small which is perfect for the short attention spans of my kids. As always the gems and gift shop was their favorite part. 

  Right across the courtyard from the Sedgwick and also free is the Cambridge Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology. With a bit more of a modern display style than the Sedgwick this modestly sized museum has a great collection and beautiful setting. I especially enjoyed the ground floor exhibit which displays old artifacts found in and around Cambridge starting with the ancient Britons and heading through the Roman period to arrive at the early days of the university. Have you ever head of a bed burial? Apparently early Anglo Saxons would often bury high status women in open wooden beds rather than coffins. One was found near here in Trumpington (yes I know) in 2011 that held a 16-year-old girl with a few ornate grave goods including at beautiful gold and garnet broach.

 Tomorrow the boys and I are going to Uber out to another bike shop in hopes of buying a bakfiets. Wish us luck and tune in to hear about our adventure next week.


 


 

Act 1- Entrances

  By now most of you know where we are and what we are up to but, for those you that don't, I have fired up my haphazard blogging skills again to record Kurt's second professorial sabbatical, this time in England. Yes, we have finally fulfilled a dream for both of us and are fortunate enough to get to live and work in Cambridge, England for the better part of the next five months!
  Unlike our Netherlands adventure I did not do much language prep for this trip aside from chuckling though "British English A to Zed." The visa process was pretty smooth thanks to the gathered experience of many other Gettysburg professors and hopefully we will be able to enroll the kids in school here once we get more settled. The rental process was not quite as easy but, to make a long story short, we basically had to bribe a local landlord by offering him $300 pound per month over the rental price. The apartment is fantastic though with two bed rooms, a little garden, and friendly neighbors, located within walking distance of the city center, no less than three Asian grocers, and an antique store that sells art nouveau tiles (my most desired collectible- I have already bought two).
  The trip here went off without a hitch. Thanks to Kurt's mom for getting us to the airport with plenty of time to spare and thank you to the forgiving London Tube passengers who at least looked askance of our overly enthusiastic use of public transport. Just for future reference for any of you planning similar journeys: six suitcases and two car seats is probably too much luggage for a tube ride.
  Since we arrived on Wednesday and could not get into our apartment until Saturday we spent a few days in London right off the bat. Kurt found a mini hotel room in Canning Town where the boys and I immediately crashed while he watched England's sad loss to Croatia in the hotel lobby with only a warm beer to console him.
  Thursday we struck out for Windsor not to see the famed castle of the same name but to create an immediate positive association with England for the boys by taking them to Legoland! Initial thoughts about the park were that it was a little run-down but the rides and games were so fun that we were quickly able to look past any of the faded plastic and torn awnings. Our taxi driver from the station to Legoland told us that the sight of the current park used to be a zoo and that his father was one of the zoo-keepers so he had actually grown up there. He sounded somewhat sad about the demise of the zoo but as with all the people we have met so far he was super kind to us. The boys turned out to be the perfect age for the park. I think much older kids would be a bit bored with it. The biggest ride is a coaster called The Dragon which (despite Klaus' claims to the contrary) is just one step up from those collapsible coasters that travel to your typical county fair. After the park closed at 5 (somewhat early for our taste) we ate dinner at a cute little pub in the shadow of the Windsor Castle passing by many a gift shop still trying to hock royal wedding souvenirs.
 

  Since we catered to the boys' interests on Thursday we thought they could stand a few activities of our choosing on Friday. First up was William the Conqueror's fortress, the Tower of London, a spot I had wanted to see on our last trip to London but that had gotten trimmed from the schedule. We arrived at opening and, on the advice of the guides, went straight to see the crown jewels before the line got too long. The jewels were of course fascinating and beautiful but also gaudy and unbelievable. Monarchy in this day and age is a funny thing, feeling almost anachronistic but also comforting in its constancy.
  After the jewels we enjoyed a tower tour by Yeoman Warder Mark Anderson who was clearly used to dealing with crowds comprised mostly of American tourists. His stories were graphically informative (maybe too much at times) and chock full of humor. After the tour we briefly looked through the White Tour (the oldest structure of the fortress) trying to get the boys interested in the armor collection that is housed there but they quickly tired of it so we headed across Tower Bridge to find some lunch near our next destination, Shakespeare's Globe Theater.

We had bought our tickets before leaving the states knowing full-well that it would be a gamble with the youngest members of our party especially since we were only willing to shell out for groundling tickets. But having chosen a career in theatre I am desperate for my kids to have some experience and appreciation for it. I fell in love with Shakespeare when I was in kindergarten thanks to a artist in residence at my brother's school and so I turn up my nose at the idea that the kids are too young for it. Our choices of play were Hamlet or A Winters Tale. Hoping that maybe the action of the former would grab the kids attention we settled on that one (despite is 3-hour run-time) and crossed our fingers. While it was not a perfect experience, it went as well as we could have expected. We found spots at the back of the groundling pit where the boys could stand on the ledge and look over our heads but still not block the view of those who paid for seats. We happen to luck out and end up in some of the only shade in the theatre which kept our beers colder for much more time than our fellow patrons in the stands. They were squirmy for sure after only an hour, but Leif and Klaus made it to the end of the show with no tears and lots of extorted snacks. The production itself was pretty good though both Kurt and I felt there were some questionable costume and directing choices including a strange full-cast dance number at the end.
 

On Saturday we left London, Klaus in tears over the loss of the Underground in his daily life, and headed to Cambridge. After another harrowing suitcase encumbered walk we made it from the train station to 108 Gwydir Street only to find that, unlike most of the houses on the street, it has no front door. To get into the flat we have a skeleton key which unlocks a communal passage between our house and the next and then we must go around the back of the house to find the door in. While this inconvenience is fine in general it will make it hard to know when someone is at the front door and also for the post to leave us packages (UPS left a cryptic note the other day saying they left something for us at the neighbor's but since we don't know any of the neighbors we have yet to figure out where the package is). Like our house in the Netherlands there is only one bathroom, a narrow kitchen, and a somewhat tricky central staircase so everything feels familiar. After unpacking a little we headed two doors down to The Cambridge Blue, a nice pub with award winning pies, hand-drawn ale, and a fabulous back garden. We miss Gettysburg but this is a pretty nice substitute.
  On Sunday, Kurt's new research colleague and the reason we are here, Professor Ulrich Keyser, invited us over for dinner at his beautiful house in Cambourne, a newly constructed village outside of Cambridge. Professor Keyser and his wife Melanie made us feel right at home with a delicious dinner, pleasant conversation, and even a lift to and from their place. The boys are definitely in awe of their teenage son, Thalus, who played football and video games with them. Despite Leif soaking a few paper towels with an oddly massive bloody nose it was a great evening and we hope we can return the invitation to the Keyser family sometime.
  Monday Kurt started work without much ceremony but was able to meet up with us at the end of the day to check out the local pool which, like all of Cambridge, is amazing. Not only is there a fun zero entry pool for little ones complete with bubble pool and slides but there are two huge waterslides (called 'flumes' here) similar to something that you would find at a Great Wolf Lodge. Klaus was literally jumping for joy and we spent two full hours climbing the tall set of metal stairs to the top of the slides and zipping down to the bottom on big blue tubes. As soon as we get a bank account we will be spending lots of time here I am sure.
 

In other news Leif lost his third tooth making him look more like the goofy kid that he is. We left a note for the Tooth Fairy requesting that she pay for the tooth in British Pounds to which she kindly agreed, leaving 5 quid under his pillow that night.

We are still looking for a bicycle that can accommodate the kids and I. The salesman at the bike shop was so un-pushy I wondered if he actually wanted to sell me anything. He kindly offered to look around for used/rental options for me. I convinced Kurt that we did not need a car claiming that I could not switch my brain around enough to drive on the left properly but I failed to realize is that with a bike I will have to do the same thing. Gulp. 
  Today is Klaus' birthday and though we already threw him a party in the states we are trying our best to make it special for him. Kurt ran out yesterday and bought him a few goofy items from a Danish toy store and Klaus picked out a football shaped cake. His request for a hot dog dinner might fall a little short of expectation but it will be good for him to work on his food-related flexibility.
 That is all for now. You are all caught up with our adventures. Until next week! Cheers!