Botantic Garden

On Saturday we visited the University of Cambridge Botantic Garden. It was a beautiful day and the Garden was highly recommended to us by Doris Keefer who came from Ashland Seminary in Spring 2007. We enjoyed walking through the large (40 acres) complex and seeing some interesting things. We hope you enjoy seeing some of our pictures. (Click on a picture to enlarge it.)

Our camera's timer helped us get a picture of us together.

The large fountain in the center of the complex.

It is hard to believe this was taken in England with the tall bamboo.

We saw palm trees and bushes too.

We think this looks like a large rhubarb plant. It was probably about 6 ft high.

Botanic Garden - Unique Features

We saw some pretty cool things at the Botanic Garden. Here are some of our favorite pictures:

This bird had lots of colors: gray, brown, black and a unique red & yellow beak!

This tree was large and the one branch was very long and hung quite low.

A "Bird of Paradise" flower.

Another unique tree...it is very tall and has an interesting branch too.

These are flowers (not a group of little birds!) that hung down off the plant and had bright red leaves with yellow and green tips.

Botanic Garden - Insects

John also took some amazing photos of insects that we thought you may enjoy seeing.

A bee just after getting the pollen for making honey.

A butterfly taking a break on a black-eyed susan.

A dragonfly resting its wings.

Another bee looking for pollen on these unique flowers.

One more bee on a pretty purple flower.

Grantchester Village

On Sunday we walked about 2 miles to the quaint village of Grantchester. It is a small village with some interesting characteristics. We found thatched houses and a neat church. We also saw the Byron Lodge B&B!

We initially went on the walk to visit "The Orchard." This is an outside tea room frequented by some famous people, among them were the poet, Rupert Brooke and author Virginia Woolf. It is very quaint and old fashion with the lounge-type chairs and small tables under a grove of trees. It was a warm, sunny day when we were there so it was crowded and somewhat lost its quaintness. We also decided not to spend nearly $15 for two scones & two cups of tea. Perhaps another day...

Unfortunately, we didn't take any pictures at The Orchard. There are some great pictures and some interesting historical tidbits on their website at: http://www.orchard-grantchester.com/

Below are some pictures we did taken in Grantchester.

A smaller terrace house with a thatched roof.

A closer view of another house with a thatched roof...notice how the thatch hangs over the top of the window.

The Red Lion Pub, which also has a thatched roof.

Here is one of the signs for the Byron Lodge B&B. It has a thatched roof as well.

The Byron Lodge B&B in Grantchester.

Grantchester Church

We also spent some time in the Church of St. Andrew & St. Mary. The oldest part of the church is the chancel from the 14th century. The nave & the tower date to the 15th century. It was a beautiful church and we were able to view it all alone. The doors were open and we were the only ones visiting it at that time.

View looking towards the front of the church.

View to the back of the church, with the organ pipes above.

View to the back looking to the south side that was added in the 1870's.

Close-up of organ pipes.

The Font (Baptistery), which is believed to be built by Normans.

Walking Tour & King's College

This past weekend, the weather was gorgeous! We spent nearly all day on Saturday and Sunday outside. It was sunny and warm...just perfect. Sunday after church we purchased tickets for a walking tour and also a punting tour/ride. We wanted to share some of our pictures with you.

Our walking tour, which was two hours long, was great. Our tour guide, Stephen, was excellent...knowledgeable yet humorous. Our first stop was King's College, at which we spent about an hour or more.

The "Fellows" building at King's College

Close-up of the fountain in front of the Fellows building, which is in the courtyard of King's College.

This is the main entrance into King's College. It is across the courtyard, opposite the Fellows Building.

Close-up of the artwork and clock above the main entrance.

Our tour guide took our picture in front of the Fellows Building & Fountain.

King's College Chapel

Next we saw the famous King's College Chapel. Unfortunately, they are doing some work on one portion of the outside of the building, which didn't make for a perfect "Kodak Moment."

The outside of the Chapel.

The inside of the Chapel, looking towards "the screen," which separates this section from the "choir" section.

A view of the walls and ceiling...all the upper walls are stained glass windows.

Here is a view of the "choir" section, looking towards the "screen."

This is a famous painting by Ruben that is nearly 400 years old and was donated to the Chapel in the 60's.

Trinity College

Next we went to Trinity College. We did not get to go inside the college, but still got some great pictures.

Here is the walkway to one of Trinity College's entrances.

Wren Library at Trinity College, which holds the "Winnie the Pooh" manuscript.

The next three pictures are of the inside courtyard at Trinity College. Although we didn't go inside, we were able to take some pictures from a roped off entrance area. An interesting face is that in the movie "Chariots of Fire," they run the courtyard of Trinity College, trying to "beat the clock." Unfortunately, the movie was filmed in Oxford, not Cambridge.

Other Sights in Cambridge

During our walking tour we also saw some other interesting things & buildings.

This is a set of stone steps that were used to get into carriage during the Victorian period, probably about 150 years old!

This was the last stop on the tour. Our guide told us students climbed this building at night to get back into their rooms after curfew, hopefully without being caught. He showed us pictures...one student was in his bare feet!

The next three pictures are of the same building. We saw this building the first day we walked into Cambridge. Since it wasn't part of the tour, we don't know what the building actually is, but is sure has some amazing statues built into the corners and a nice carving above the door.

Punting on the Cam

Punting on the River Cam is very popular, especially on a beautiful day like it was on Saturday. Here are some pictures of punting. The first one was taken from a bridge during our walking tour and the rest are pictures we took from the boat during our ride on the Cam!

View of punting from one of the bridges that cross the River Cam.

Here we are at the start of our trip...a little close since John took it.

This is St. John's College, part of the University of Cambridge.

Close-up of St. John's College.

One of the bridges on the tour, which I believe is called "The Sigh Bridge."