Cambridge

Nov 2, 2008
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We’re just back from a weekend in Cambridge. AC’s colleague’s parents offered us the use of their flat for the weekend while they were away. Flat does not do it justice. It was a three-story house–enormous– with large and winding carpeted stairs, which prompted Sam to remark again that “England has a lot of stairs.”

Highlights:

  1. Walking along the river Cam and watching the swans and mallards socialize with one another.

  2. Wandering around Trinity college. I think I now understand what Thomas Jefferson was getting at when he designed the lawn at UVA. The college was grand, cold, stark, grey– except for splashes of red leaves snaking across the buildings. It felt like we were wandering around a castle, or a cathedral. And indeed, as I remarked to AC, at times it felt like we were treading on holy ground. Academic holy ground. It’s not only church-goers who have their religion.

  3. The Christopher Wren library. Sam and I made a brief visit there. I was allowed to take Sam up into the library only because I promised the docent that she “would be good.” The docent then addressed Sam and said, “Can you be good?” Sam nodded solemnly and said, “Yes.” The docent made her decision then. “If she can understand my question and reply then I do believe she can be good.” So up we went.

It’s been a while since I’ve been around old and rare books. The smell hit me like incense in a church, evoking sudden reverence (I am not immune to religious sensitivity). And it was a thrill to show my daughter a Shakespeare first folio, a medieval Book of Hours, several medieval era Bibles and psalters, and a 9th century poem written in the shape of a cross. Sam wasn’t terribly impressed with these, though she did recognize the picture of Shakespeare on the frontispiece of the folio thanks to her William Shakespeare doll (!)

  1. Dinner at “Pizza Express”– a restaurant housed in what used to be a 19th-century Turkish Bath. Later it became a Gentleman’s Club, and now it serves pizza. The pizza was tasty, but the decor was stunning.

  2. Listening to Sam “play” the piano back at our hosts’ house. She sang while she played. Apparently it was a song about bears.

For the record, Sam was an excellent little traveler, even when we were trudging in the rain in the dark (she sang a song about darkness then). This is good news to us because in two weeks we’ll be spending a long weekend in Paris.

Pictures coming soon!