Road Trip!

Mike is heading to Munich for the day tomorrow so we figured this would be a good opportunity to take a road trip for a couple of days. We tossed around a bunch of ideas but settled on Cambridge and Oxford.

The drive to Cambridge was longer than expected so, after turning North as we approached London, Lynette started looking for an interesting town to explore along the way. We ended up in St. Albens - perfect for wandering around and getting the legs working again but definitely not a destination (at least not today). Soon after hitting the road again our oil light came on. Now, Lynette is a woman of many skills I am discovering. She advised me to pull over right away because you don't mess around with oil problems so we found a gas station and pulled in. To my delight, they were also offering hand car washes on the spot so we had the car washed, bought a liter of oil and were on our way again.

We arrived in Cambridge around 4 pm and it was hopping! It was tight navigating through the center of town on the very narrow roads but we managed to find a car park and began to look around. It did occur to us at that point that we had not yet booked a room to stay. Of course, we walked straight to the best hotel in the center of town only to find out that they were fully booked as were the next 15 (give or take) hotels that we tried. Just as we were about to head for the surrounding countryside to seek shelter we discovered a Best Western that was well located and actually had ONE room left - we were living right and the folks at ICMC will be happy to know that we are supporting the client whenever possible.

Now that our lodging was secure, we could focus on getting our bearings and taking in this beautiful University town. We found that all of the colleges were closed to visitors due to special events and exam schedules but we were able to view the architecture from the streets as we wandered around. Soon we began to spot young people dressed in formal attire everywhere we went. Most appeared to be high school aged and we later discovered that the colleges, equivalent to our high school juniors and seniors, were having graduation celebrations. We found a lovely spot for dinner, overlooking a plaza by the river, that appeared to be a meeting place for at least some of these events, so it was perfect for people watching and the food was delicious too.

The next morning we decided that our main mission in Cambridge was to buy a sweatshirt before leaving town - mission accomplished! Next stop was a town nearby called Saffron Walden, known for a splendid country house called Audley End House. This Jacobean House was once the largest house in England with gardens designed by Capability Brown. It was an interesting tour and the grounds were beautiful, complete with immaculately restored Jacobean stables and an organic working kitchen garden.

On the way back towards home we made a stop in Oxford. I had been there with Megan a year and a half earlier during the winter break but it looks completely different in the summer when it is full of people. We enjoyed looking at the beautiful University buildings, walking on the grounds near Christ Church and poking in the shops but the very best thing of this day was the perfect English cream tea and delicious scones with raspberry jam we enjoyed at the Vaults and Garden Coffee Shop on the lawn outside St. Mary the Virgin Church. Lynette is determined to find the best scones in England and so far this is the leader.

Tomorrow is Lynette's last full day in England and we are headed to Bath...stay tuned!