Living in the Secret Garden

A few more photos to describe where we lived while we were in Cambridge:

Included croquet on the green - our resident doctorate student (formerly from BYU) managed a spectacular comeback and gave all of us "colonists" a bit of humble pie - but we weren't too bad for beginners :)

The Hidden "O" Staircase where our rooms were tucked away.

The white tents which replaced our dining hall while it was under construction - very nice for summer weather - but I'm glad they didn't replace it during the winter!!

The organ in our private chapel (shared by about 300 students and faculty. We loved visiting at night.

Above: Chapel. Below: Library.

Sorry to just give you a peek of the incredible-ness that is Cambridge!

Would you like any Grey Poupon?

So here is our last run of England posts before I race to catch up with all that has happened since we've been home. This is a quick photo tour of some of the awesome formal hall dinners and delicious cream teas we attended while at Cambridge.

Cream tea:

You show up and stuff your face with fancy sandwiches, cream cakes, other cakes, and of course scones (with or without raisins) covered in raspberry jam and clotted (sweetened) cream. With some peppermint tea on the side. Can you ask for anything better than that?

Formal Hall:

Dressed to the nines (or whatever you brought in your suitcase - thanks, Mikelle!) you enjoy a relaxing evening on the lawn (usually reserved for faculty only but sometimes they make exceptions...) for drinks (orange juice for the Mormons, wine for everyone else) and stimulating intelligent conversation (not always the easiest thing, but we tried) before the servants usher into the grand hall where, after standing at the ring (or "bang" or "gong") of a gong we listen to a prayer in Latin and are served a many-coursed meal with lots of utensils and - you guessed it - free wine for everyone (I learned to really like bubbly water). Again, stimulating conversation is a must, all the while trying not to drip caviar, honeycomb cream, and other delicacies on me or my husband. Ah, the posh life.

(This is butter)

We sure loved our time here!!!!

Punting

Punting = a relaxed, romantic, meandering float down the River Cam behind the Colleges at Cambridge meant to open your mind and enlighten your intellect.

And it is also a lot of fun!

Dustin was a natural - he did a great job punting me around. Nice break for me!!!

It was nice to have our friends Jordan and Katie come along as well.

I didn't do too badly... I only ran into the side of the Cam once :)

Aah... I love Cambridge. We LIVED here! There is nowhere else in the world quite like this.

So. much. HOMEWORK!

So, if you Skyped with us you know that we spent lots and lots and LOTS of time in the libraries at Cambridge - we know them really well by now. These first ones are of Pembroke - the library by our room. It is quaint and very comfortable to be in.



The next ones are King's College Library. It is a bit bigger and had computers inside the library so we spent a lot of time here. We pulled a couple all-nighters here and then had to wake up the night porters to unock the main gate for us to go home. Good times.

The Cupboard Under the Stairs

You heard right. We live under the stairs. We have a lovely little window looking out into the hallway. Here's a view of the stairs from INSIDE our house. This is our ceiling: It's not as bad as it sounds (sounds kinda like *clunk, clunk). Sure, you have college kids going up and down like the Dursleys till all hours, but it is exactly what we are used to living in.

Complete with a spacious kitchen...

And the all-new 'double-double' bed! Life couldn't get much better than this!