Snow!

It has actually been snowing here, which seems to make people a bit giddy.  Although by snow I mean some squalls when you look out the window.  It hasn't been sticking which is too bad because I've seen pictures and it is lovely.  The most we've seen is some snow sticking to parked cars. As previously noted, it rarely gets below freezing here.  Despite this it does seem rather cold which is a bit puzzling.  Is it the wind?  Perhaps the damp?  We are not sure why but even if it hasn't rained, when we go out in the morning the streets are soaked.

On Friday we went to a string quartet at Emma.  Someone subsidized a free recital every term, and this time it was the Cavaleri Quartet playing the Mozart Quartet in D minor K. 421 followed by the Shostakovich Quartet in C minor, op. 110.  Despite being free and told to get there early as it fills up, it was rather empty.  We thoroughly enjoyed the program of two very different pieces.  We then went to the Chinese restaurant from the week before for dinner, but without our local host we didn't order as well.

On Thursday we went to the Microsoft Distinguished Lecture talk to hear Tony Hoare.  He is known for amazingly many things (he is a Sir after all) - including the Dining Philosophers problem which was influential in my choice to go into computer science.  Microsoft Research is in a fancy new building which is actually on the same street as our flat and reminded us of the new CS building at U of Edinburgh. After the talk there was a very good canape and drinks reception where Mark's inner grad student went crazy and free dinner was obtained.  The "canapes" were all sorts of Asian inspired hor d'oevres and were admittedly quite tasty as these things go.

Food and Drink

As previously noted, the local CAMRA chapter organized the 19th Annual Winter Ale Festival.  Unbeknownst to us, our university IDs gave us a 2 quid discount!  Brilliant!  And so, I started with a local BlackBar Porteur, which was described as a "Malty Session Porter".  Clearly I didn't understand.  I found it underwhelming.  Next up: Another local Mile Tree Brewery: I tried the Vanilla Stout.  Now, I'll admit, I'm not really a fan of vanilla stout so I thought I'd keep an open mind.  Nope, I still don't fancy vanilla stout.  Nicely made, but not my style.  Let's try again!  The pourer recommended I try the local Fellows Brewery "Old Fellow Double Stout".  And he was right.  It was "strong" (meaning high in alcohol) but also thick like motor oil.  Deep rich flavour.  It was delicious.  I finished off with (or, more properly speaking, I was finished off by...) another local: A chocolate orange stout from the Moonshine Brewery.  I found the orange flavour to be not as sharp as I expected.  Not bad.  But not as good as the double stout.

Diane had a non-local (meaning not in Cambridgeshire) "Dark Horse" from the Nene Valley Brewery.  And, to finish off, she had a cider made very locally by an apple farmer.

On to the the food escapade.  It's been years since we've had a really fine meal.  Pittsburgh is a nice place to live but the restaurant scene is 20 years behind.  So, when we met Howard and Lisa in London, we agreed to a meal like the olden (B.C. - Before Child) days.  I used the Michelin guide and looked for something close to the museum.  I found The Greenhouse Restaurant --- a Michelin **.  Howard approved, so I reserved.  When I called to confirm, they told me the dress code was "smart casual".  So, simply that meant no tie for me!  I also bypassed a jacket.

I could tell Howard really wanted to get the chef's menu, so that's what we did.  And, I have to admit, it was worth it.  We had an array of dishes, all of them utilizing light cookery.  Sauces were emulsions (and one with foam [how antiquated]) and reductions.  Almost no cream.  The breads were delicious and I still remember the seaweed butter.  The menu had a section for wines under 100 pounds and we chose a white and a red.  The sommelier was informed and helped us choose to match the dishes.  The overall service was attentive but not overwhelming.  We held the table for four hours and we didn't feel rushed or slowed down --- the pacing was just right.  It was a really nice meal.  I'm still thinking about the scallops and cucumber marinated in yuzu lemon.  And the dish with inter (black) truffles on the top with a base of warm egg yolk on the bottom.  And the venison with Tasmanian pepper with a red wine reduction?  When we finally left we were given a treat: madelines for breakfast.

Decent Chinese Food, and other things

One of my officemates - a grad student from Taiwan - organized an expedition to his favorite Chinese restaurant.  Mark and I had done our own Chinese restaurant exploring back in May but were disappointed with our choices.  This meal, in contrast, was great and we will definitely be returning.

Mark pondering the strong beers

Dialogue Systems Group Dinner at Seven Days

The next evening we went to the Cambridge Winter Ale Festival, where we even got a discount with our university IDs.  I am not particularly a beer drinker but do like British styles so had a half-pint (Imperial sized though!) followed by a cider.  I tried the Perry (pear cider) but preferred the apple.  Mark went overboard and regretted it the next morning.

Neeps, haggis, and tatties for Burns Night

Sunday was Burns night and being in the UK we could actually eat the real haggis with all the banned (in the US) ingredients.  Macsween haggis seems to be imported in mass from Scotland so that's what we had, along with neeps and tatties and Scottish beer with a whisky brewing aspect.

Today the Emma historian took me on an hour history tour of Emmanuel College.  I learned it was founded by Puritans, the very same ones who then moved to the new world.  Hence Cambridge Massachusetts, duh!  John Harvard was amongst them.  There have been lots of pretty impressive faculty in the last 500 years, including the mathematician who invented logarithms to base 10.

The other day whilst walking home we heard the distinctive sounds of what we now know (due to the guild-member in the family) to be change ringing.  Here is a short excerpt from the Catholic Church.

Another time there was a funeral at the church.  Maybe I am not very observant in the US, but the hearse seemed quite different - there were huge windows in which to display the casket to the outside.

And finally, while talking about safety, Mark forget to mention the weekly fire alarm testing at 9:30 am or so every Wednesday in the flat.

I take it all back.

In a post from May, I wrote that I thought the anti-smoking campaign had succeeded.  I take it back.  In fact, a fair number of people still smoke.  I am constantly dodging smoke when I walk around town.  And, while we're at it, there is also an anti-alcoholism campaign.  Bottles of beer now declare how many portions are contained and how many you are allowed per day.  And obesity, well, the U.K. physicians have their hands full, let me just say that.

But there's one other postulate I'd like to write about: The culture of safety.  In the U.K., all sockets are switched.  Furthermore, the plugs are designed so you insert the ground led first.  And furthermore, it's difficult to put a screwdriver into a socket.  You can't say that about U.S. sockets.  It should be noted that the U.K. has 220 Volts and that is quite capable of killing you just like that.  But I would like to suggest that we get our notions of protecting the public good from the British.  So, when we put up rails to prevent people from cooking themselves in Yellowstone, I suspect that the British authorities would approve.

And a final word about bicycles.  They are everywhere.  When I cross the street, I find myself swiveling my head back and forth --- so much so I am reminded of the English Beat song Rotating Head (which is really about avoiding being shot in London).

London Calling

Tea Department at Fornum and Mason

More friends from NJ (Howard and Lisa) inspired us to finally take the train to London.  It is actually quite easy and similar to getting from NJ to NYC.  Our flat is a 10 minute walk to the train station. From there an express train is under an hour to King's Cross, and from there we can transfer to the tube.

We had bought advance tickets to see Rubens and his Legacy at the Royal Academy of Arts (the first day of the latest "blockbuster").  Luckily the crowds were not horrific and the exhibit was not exhaustingly long.  It turns out that there is a lot more to Rubens than just Rubenesque women.

Since we got to the Academy early we had a little time to explore Piccadilly Street (in the ritzy Mayfair neighborhood, where we in fact passed "The Ritz").  We first discovered Hatchard's Booksellers which reminded us of the former Rizzoli Bookstore in Manhattan (interesting selection of books and a beautiful space).   Right next door was Fortnum and Mason. I have never been in such an elegant department store, not even in Manhattan.  It was like stepping into the original Selfridge's from the recent BBC show.  We focused on the famous food hall and purchased some tea.

The real point of our trip, however, was to eat our Michelin 2* dinner at The Greenhouse. It has been years since we have been at a restaurant of that caliber and we thoroughly enjoyed every minute of our 4 hours there.  The food was French-inspired but very light (as these things go), with layered creations mixing many flavours and textures.  It was wonderful having a chance to catch up with Howard and Lisa as well as to revive our past eating days.

Panto thoughts

When we were in Edinburgh, the head of the senior school strongly advised us to take in a "Panto" (short for pantomine).  A Panto obeys the following conventions (stolen shamelessly from wikipedia):

• A cross dressing female plays the principal male role
• A cross dressing male plays the principle aged female role
• Considerable double entendre (and hopefully above the school age audience)
• Audience participation throughout (booing the villain is high on the list)
• Use of familiar tunes, in this particular case principally pop tunes
• A slapstick comedy (in this case, a laundry with slippery soap)

As you might guess, there is nothing like this in the U.S.  This panto had the following mish-mash theme: take Alladin, put it in Beijing and then add a bit of politically incorrect humor.  One son was named Alladin (the cross dressed female).  The other was named "Wishy-Washee".  And the cross-dressed male was the Widow Tranky (I think so she could rhyme with other peculiarly british words like "manky").  And, as you might have guessed, the theme was a chinese laundry.

There were a quite a number of amazing costumes including one where the Widow Tranky appears in a washing machine motif with a washing powder (that's detergent in American-speak) hat.  And, of course, the whole confused adventure ends with the cross-dressing girl (boy) getting the non-cross-dressing girl.

One aspect to consider is that this production was entirely local to Cambridge.  The storyline was written expressly for Cambridge.  Even a few of the jokes were Cambridge specific (one praised Oxford for example --- when the audience didn't react, the performer exclaimed "Get with it Cambridge!").  And although the set was rather simple, the costumes were not.

It's not clear where the Panto fits in the British psyche, but it's clear that it exerts a powerful hold on the culture.  It does seem that this style of theatre must date back to Shakespeare and his use of clowns -- if not before.  So, if you find yourself in Britain around Christmas-time, look for a panto.  It will prove an interesting insight.

More Emma

My dinner last week was preceded by a lecture sponsored by the Emmanuel Politics and Economics Society.  The speaker was Charles Clarke on "How politics needs to change."  I had attended since the talk sounded interesting and it was conveniently right before dinner as Clarke would be attending High Table.  I had no idea until someone told me a few days later that Clarke was a former Home Secretary (a big deal cabinet position) for Tony Blair.  Well, at least I figured out that Clarke was of a liberal bent from his remarks.  The lecture was held in the modern Queen's Building (architect's blurb).

Family Sunday Lunch

On Sunday I took Mark to the Family Sunday Lunch.  Rather than using the normal dining area, this was held in the partially medieval Old Library.

This week we also took advantage of one of the perks of being a Fellow - our own wine concierge. Fellows receive  a quarterly wine ordering list ("at favourable pricing") and associated tasting notes from the faculty wine steward. Chargeable to either my personal or entertainment account, and delivered right to my college mailbox. We just placed our first order (the cheapest bottles of white and red, and a port).  We tried the port and it was delicious, way better than what we normally drink at home.

The Rest of the Week

Winter Jasmine

Geranium

Snowdrops

It is amazing how many things are in bloom here, although this weekend we are under a "cold weather alert" (level 3!).  This seems to just mean it might get below freezing.

We have a very nice walk to the Engineering Building through a pretty residential neighborhood.  Although someone told us that our flat is in a bohemian area, it seems to get pretty ritzy a block or two away. Here is a house for sale for over 2 million US $.  Most houses have nice front gardens as shown in the photos above.  It is a bit of a treacherous walk though as the pavement (sidewalks) are sloped and very slippery when wet which is most of the time.  And the street lighting is really poor for our walk home in the dark.  Even at midday the sun never really gets high in the sky.

I went to the cinema to see The Imitation Game.  Turing in fact was a student at Cambridge.  At least in the theatre I went to, you buy a ticket with an assigned seat.  The pre-movie trailers and ads were quite different than at home.

Today we went to see a free organ recital by Jack Spencer, with a program that was unusual and varied and which we both enjoyed:

Litaize - Épiphanie
Karg-Elert - Wie schön leuchtet der Morgenstern (No. 64, Op. 65)
Buxtehude - Wie schön leuchtet der Morgenstern (BuxWV 223)
Messiaen - Desseins éternels, Les mages (Nos. 3 and 8 from La Nativité du Seigneur)
Dubois - Marche des Rois Mages
Reger - Fugue from Fantasia and Fugue on the Choral ‘Wie schön leucht’ uns der Morgenstern’ (No. 1, Op. 40).

The Chapel

The Organ

The concert was held in  Queens' College Chapel, which also gave us an excuse to see that College.  Mark had the excellent idea that we should attempt to visit all 29 colleges of Cambridge University in our 3 months here. Queens is quite lovely and spans the river.  The Cloister Court has a really old timbered building (the oldest building on the river), and Mark found that he has a namesake (a Sanskrit expert it turns out).

After the concert we went to the Fitzwilliam Museum to see Silent Partners - a show about mannequins that is about to end.

High Table Expeditions

In addition to the free flat provided by my hosting college in Cambridge University (Emmanuel - founded in 1584!), I also am entitled to daily free lunch and dinner if I so desire.  I tried out both this week.  The meals are about a twenty minute walk each way from either my office or our flat. Everything in fact seems to be about a 20-30 minute walk to everything else in Cambridge.  Fellows (faculty) sit at High Table in The Hall (the horizontal table in the pictures when you click on the link).  Just like Hogwarts.

You don't need to make a reservation for lunch. You just show up and then either use the salad bar or choose from two or three hot entries.  The "butler" and his staff basically have huge trays of the hot food ready, and after you tell them which thing you want they bring you a tray and you serve yourself.  They also bring by a tray of cooked vegetables. I had soup followed by mackerel/vegetables.  Then there is dessert, I had some chocolate mousse thing.  Then you walk upstairs to get coffee/tea and read the newspaper, or you take your drink to another room if you wish to chat with someone.

Dinner requires a reservation by the morning of and is much more formal (jacket and tie) and time-consuming (two hours or so).  While lunch seems to be highly attended, dinner is not.  Fellows again sit at High Table but now wear their black academic gowns.  However, even though a visiting fellow, I don't get a gown. The presiding fellow (the most senior person) opens with a Latin Benediction (all stand).  Then you have the meal off of a set menu (see photo). When everyone is done you have the closing Benediction (all stand).  Then we move to the parlour, a very nice room with a roaring fire, with chairs placed around the fire in a semi-circle.  There seems to be some sort of seating protocol for who sits in at least some of the chairs.  The presiding fellow (the "Master" that particular evening) is in the center chair and always gets served first.  There was fruit, chocolates, port, and claret.  The most junior fellow apparently was in charge of refilling people's glasses.  I still haven't figured it all out.  For example, it is not clear to me if spouses are really welcome.  And even if they are,  only my meals are covered and it is not cheap.  There are special events though, we are going to the "Family Lunch" tomorrow.

Even though I ended up meeting The Master at my Wednesday dinner, my host had previously arranged to introduce me to her on Friday.  We went over to her very nice house that is provided by Emmanuel and had a cup of tea and chatted. The current master is Dame Fiona Reynolds, who previously ran the National Trust and is very charming. 

Food provisioning

Suffice to say that food in Britain is not food in France.  However, like the U.S., there has been a movement here for fresh and organic food for quite some time.  Therefore, you can easily find decent vegetables at the farmer's market in the centre of Cambridge.  The potatoes in particular look very tasty.  Chard is very cheap (a huge bunch for 1.20 quid).  With the weather being as warm as it is, I'm already looking forward to the first tender asparagus of the season.

Although Britain is an island and not that far from the sea, it's surprisingly difficult to find fresh seafood.  The fish monger at the market (not cheap) is easily one of the most taciturn sellers I've ever dealt with.  But when he has fresh fish, it is fresh.  I bought a kilo of mussels the other day for 3 pound something.  They were small, but plump and very delicious.  His scallops didn't look so hot but their price (some 28 quid a kilo) prevented me from buy a few.  Maybe some other time.

British cheeses are different from their French and Italian cousins.  I would say they tend to be firmer and the flavor is distinctly different --- I seem to lack the adjectives for a description.  I buy my cheese from the market's cheese monger-ess (who has an uncle in upstate NY).  One cheese is lightly covered with hops and invites the consumption of beer.

And that leaves meat: our local butcher has quite a selection, although we haven't been in a carnivorous mood.  I did buy a goose breast and it was superb.  The selection of game is extraordinary along with a huge selection of venison and lamb.

Finally, let me mention bread: You can expect to find scones everywhere all of varying quality.  The bread baker at the farmer's market has reasonably nice bread but his scones are not only expensive but also not as tasty.  I'd like to find a real artisan baker, but I haven't found one yet.  The Sunday market (the most local market) has a stall devoted to a local cake baker.  Her carrot cake with a creme cheese frosting could have been found in the US.  And, alas and alack, there are no bagels here.  What purports to be a bagel looks like a very foul imitation.

New Jersey on the Cam

We have not even been here a week and have already met up with people from the states - John and and his daughter Elly - who we knew from NJ and Bell Labs.  John is in fact now a U of Chicago professor and our host when we do fall dropoff.  John had previously done a sabbatical  in Cambridge (at Microsoft).  We met him at the Maypole, his old local when he lived here.  Later we were joined by Tim (another former Bell Labs person) and his family; Tim is now CS faculty at Cambridge and Fellow at Kings.   A fun time.  Felt like Pittsburgh seeing the pub serve chips with the lasagne :-) Except we had just walked to the Sunday market and back when we got John's email about meeting up, so had to walk right back and beyond to get to the pub (over 2 extra miles!). 

Mill Road

The Lounge

The Lounge

Here are some pictures of our flat.  Mark is at our dining room table in the lounge.  Note old fashioned tv and guest mattress.  The picture window/door opens to stairs (remember we are in the basement) up to the garden (backyard) which looks a bit forsaken.  The next photo is the rest of the lounge.  Then there is the kitchen, the washing machine was tested this morning and works (although there was no documentation so we had to find the instructions on the web).  Note the small fridge on the right.  To enter the flat, you go in through a gate on the side of the house to our door, then once inside down the stairs to the main hallway (the door at the end of the hall in the photo is the kitchen). The other end of the hall leads to the bathroom, which as you can see contains our dryers (sic).  There is a teeny shower on the right.  Finally, the last photo shows the bedroom; the picture window/door opens to stairs which lead to the front "yard" (basically a driveway). The window is visible from the street so not very private to leave the curtain open. 

Kitchen

Entrance

We just got back from exploring our neighborhood, which is Mill Road.  There are lots of independent shops, including many small ethnic restaurants, two Asian markets,  wine stores, a decent small grocery store, a butcher, charity shops, and of course pubs.  At the butcher we just scored our haggis (imported from Scotland) for Burns Night and also bought goose breast for tonight and sausage for the future.  Lots of game meat in our future seems likely.  Around the corner, on my way to the Uni, I pass by a handmade jewelry studio everyday which I will definitely patronize if Mark doesn't pursue my birthday present hint.

Bathroom

Bedroom

We're back

Welcome champagne (the real thing!)

Club Class

Mark on aisle, Diane by window

Sunday, January 4: After being bummed about the fact that our flight was late, we were happily surprised to be called up to the counter to be given a mysterious upgrade (Happy Christmas she said) to club class.  After a quick web search, we were even more excited when it seemed that club class was British Airways speak for business class with seats that turned into flat beds.  As can been seen from the photo, it was awesome.  So much room, a good night's sleep, French champagne and cocktails and good wine and decent food (well, the breakfast did remind me of coach).  We were actually disappointed that our flight was an hour shorter than scheduled due to strong tailwinds!

Monday: Our car service was there to take us to Cambridge to pick up the key to our mystery flat.  Let's just say the upgrade in the air was balanced by the downgrade in the flat, which reminds us of dorm housing.  When we were here in May we were in a professionally serviced flat that was practically brand new.  This flat is in a house owned by Emmanuel College ("Emma") of Cambridge University and my fellowship comes with free use of the flat.  You get what you pay for. The majority of the house is graduate student housing with rooms and shared facilities.  We are in our own self-contained basement flat on the lowest level.  We have a kitchen (washer but no dryer,  no dishwasher, half-size fridge), "lounge" (living room with a small table to eat on, and a twin mattress stored along the wall in case of guests), bedroom, and bathroom.  Pretty basic and thin walls (the person above the lounge loves to sing) and the walls/ceilings show prior water issues just like home.  In another reminder of home, it is good we are not big tv watchers.  Some previous visitor apparently bought a non-flat screen television and an antenna, although we can't seem get any broadcast signal.  There is a DVD player that sort of works although the color is way off.  But the heat works and the shower has hot water and good pressure and the wireless internet works well.  And the location isn't bad, about a 20 minute walk to either my office in Engineering or the heart of town, and even closer to the train to London.  Like everywhere in the UK,  we are also close to many pubs, one of which we tried for dinner (The Cambridge Blue).

To purchase at the Panto

Tuesday-Friday:  Still getting our bearings. Although the Lent term started on Monday, the undergraduates haven't shown up yet so the town is still quiet.  It gets dark here early and has been largely raining (although being on an island it is extremely changeable by the minute), but it sure beats the Polar Vortex.  Friday was 55 degrees.  And it feels like spring.  The snowdrops are blooming, other bulb greenery is out, and the open-air market has forced as well as cut bulbs.  On Wednesday we went to see a "panto" (Aladdin), a holiday art form that we had been introduced to in Edinburgh when Noah's school went on their annual expedition.  We also tried out a vegetarian restaurant near the theatre (The Rainbow Cafe).  British pantomines are quite bizarre things (cross-dressing "dame" with amazing costumes, slapstick, innuendo, audience participation) but with ancient roots, Wikipedia has a great article.  Just like in Scotland, they sell ice cream in the the theatre during the interval, and you don't get any sort of free program. Before the Panto I joined the public library and took out Season 5 of Downton Abbey on DVD.  Although it just started broadcasting in the US (so we will miss it by the time we get back), it was shown in the UK last year. We watched episode 1 tonight.