Turns out that our first weekend was long due to a Monday bank holiday. And the arrival rain turned into partly sunny weather in the 60s. Although it seems chilly, the plants are a bit ahead of Pittsburgh as the tulips are at their end while lilacs are already in full bloom.
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| Grantchester Meadows Walk on the River Cam |
On Saturday we took over a 5.4+ mile walk to
Orchard Tea Garden in Grantchester. The walk has paths through both meadows and by the river. Grantchester itself is a very cute little village with a nice church. Even though it is so close to Cambridge, we felt like we had escaped the big city and entered another world.
In the evening we went to the
Festival of the Voice gala concert (which we had seen on a poster) at Trinity College Chapel. Little did we know that the Hilliard Ensemble was retiring and feted by three other ensembles. Instead of ice cream during the interval as in Scotland, here our tickets got us wine. But still no free programs!
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| Walking through the park to Ely Cathedral |
On Sunday we took a short train ride to
Ely to see the
Cathedral, which is one of the nicest we've seen. Beautiful stained glass, interesting octagonal tower, and very well signed throughout. Whilst there we observed a special pet service. We also went into the
Stained Glass Museum which was well worth the admission. The town was also holding its annual Eel Festival, but that was disappointing. Instead we had tea at the Samovar Tea House. We returned to the Cathedral for Evensong services complete with boy's choir, then walked by the river before returning to Cambridge.
On Monday we went to two gardens open for charity via the
National Garden Scheme. The first garden (
Upwater Lodge) was amazing. The Wisteria-covered house was built by the owner's grandfather over 100 years ago and fronted onto a brook and the river, had a sheep herd, a lawn tennis court, vineyard, and many many gardens - meadows, vegetable, perennials. The next house was more normal, and we also had a yummy Delia Smith homemade date/ricotta/hazelnut cake with tea in the garden chatting with locals. Walked back via the river where a cow seemed to have gotten stuck in the water.
