CAMBRIDGE UK, 2017

In mid October 2017 Mike and I had the happy task of heading to Cambridge, UK to help our son Isaac and his wife Tara celebrate Isaac's graduation. Our best value flights were on Icelandair which included a stormy layover in Keflavík.

We arrived in the UK the same day they did, Isaac from Kenya and Tara from Seattle. Mike and I settled into our lovely  Room Duckworth at Cambridge Serviced Rooms and hit the ground running with a nice pub dinner out at The Free Press Pub.

Over the next few days we spent time exploring Cambridge

including visits to Isaac's Judge Business School where we met his advisors

a wonderful, mystical evening Choral Compline in the King’s College Chapel, 

had several additional nice meals out (like this brunch at Fitzbillies)

and got our first peek at Isaac’s published PhD dissertation.

We made the lovely walk along the River Cam to the historic Orchard Tea Garden for scones.

On Saturday we joined Isaac and Tara and some of their fellow Cambridge Gates Scholars for breakfast at Michaelhouse, then headed to the Senate House for Isaac’s (and Ben's and Victor’s) congregation.

No photos are allowed in the Senate House so here’s one I found online from an important state event.

After graduation we had a wonderful formal lunch in the Harry Potteresque King’s College dining hall.

After, Isaac and I enjoyed some gelato from Aromi while we walked around King’s, listened to choir practice at the door to the chapel,

then enjoyed a long, chatty evening with friends at Cambridge Brewhouse.

The next day we enjoyed the full version of Evensong Service in the chapel with stellar seats in the choir section thanks to Isaac, then hugged Isaac and Tara and the friends goodbye and sent them off to dinner in a hilariously appropriate cab.

We had 3 full days left in Cambridge. We enjoyed 3 stellar museums - the Fitzwilliam (which included a wonderful Degas temporary exhibit, no photos allowed), 

the Whipple Museum of the History of Science, 

and the Scott Polar Research Institute Museum.

We climbed to the top of Great St. Mary's Church for the views all around

and explored the market, shopping for a wonderful series of home-prepared meals in the shared kitchen at Cambridge Serviced Rooms.

We spent hours wandering around the grounds and greenhouses of the Cambridge University Botanic Garden

and took a double decker bus to the Gog Magog Hills and the Wandlebury Country Park which provided beautiful hiking trails, the circular ditch that marks the perimeter of an Iron Age fort, and restored buildings dating back more than 600 years.

To our joy, dear friend and fellow Oregonian Jennifer Walter was in the UK at the same time and joined us in Cambridge for our sunniest day - further explorations around Cambridge and King’s, a lovely punting tour along the backs of the colleges,

and fish and chips at the iconic pub, The Eagle.

Then the next morning we were off to Iceland! You can click HERE to see collections of additional photos of this happy time in Cambridge. HAPPY TRAILS!