You may have noticed that I've not posted for quite a while. That's because MOM AND KIM WERE VISITING!!! We had a fantastic time together last week, and I'm just now coming down off the high and recovered enough sleep to attempt to write a sensible blog entry. So here we go.
In previous entries I'd written how excited I was to have Kim coming for a visit. I didn't mention Mom because that was a big secret - apparently known by a good number of you but completely unbeknownst to me. To all of you: thank-you for keeping the secret! I can't begin to describe how it felt to be hugging Kim in the airport and have Mom step out from behind her. I was like, Am I dreaming??!!
Luckily I was wide awake and the four of us drove from Manchester, where Mom and Kim flew into, to the village of Kinnerley where my great-aunt and great-uncle, Iris and Jos, live. As always, they were utterly welcoming and it was wonderful to see the rest of the family as well. Each time I get to spend time with my English relatives I am again aware of how lucky I am to have met them, and have them as family. Although...I've heard the old wive's tale about at least one person in a family being a bit nuts, and the more totally non-nuts family I meet, the less hopeful I am of meeting "the one who is nuts" and more concerned that it seems to be narrowing down the pool to me....
But I digress (don't crazy people always do that??). After a great night in Kinnerley, we set out for Cambridge by a very higgledy-piggledy route: southeast through Stratford-Upon-Avon (home of Shakespeare), across to Warwick (and its castle), and finally across the midlands back to home. We actually didn't stop in at Stratford because it was raining, and skipped Warwick Castle due to its exhorbitant - even by British standards - entrance fee, but we drove around in the first instance and peeked over the wall in the second enough to count as having been there. You'll get to see photos from the trip in a future blog entry. We rolled into Cambridge in time to go for a nice curry dinner and a stroll about the town before the sun set.
Over the next few days we took the opportunity to see almost all that Cambridge has to offer: art galleries, colleges, churches and chapels, shopping, the river, and much more. We were spoiled with wonderful weather and a visit by none other than Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip. Phil is the chancellor of the university so is in town faily often, but Liz hadn't been here for a few years. Mom, Kim and I actually did the whole "wait behind the barricade forever" thing, and we were rewarded with the royals getting out of their car almost right in front of us as they headed off to an engagement. The Prince looked like he does in photos, the Queen looked...like a lemon meringue. A short lemon meringue, in her yellow dress and white hair. But she seemed very gracious and waved to all of us in the crowd, getting sunburned while we waited.
Experiencing the retail side of Cambridge as a shopper instead of a salesperson was interesting, and slightly scary - kept getting shopgirl/grunt flashbacks. The stores were just as crowded as I remembered, and the clothes just as overpriced. However, it was very reassuring that customers were just as rude to me, their fellow customer, as they had been when I was serving them. The question must be asked, "what is so difficult about saying 'excuse me' instead of bashing into the back of an unsuspecting person when you want through?".
A highlight of the week, for me, was our trip to the neighbouring village of Grantchester for lunch and cream tea at The Orchard. The description of The Orchard as an old apple orchard with a restaurant in one corner isn't really sufficient to get across the charm of the place...add tables scattered beneath the trees, lounger chairs and birds that fly down to the tables to eat scone crumbs directly off one's plate, and you'd start to get the picture. For geeky historical/academic context, Virginia Woolf, Sylvia Plath and friends used to regularly meet there to take tea and write their amazing prose and poetry. We walked to Grantchester through a series of meadows/cow pastures along the River Cam, and enjoyed a leisurely lunch under the trees. There really is something magical about working up an appetite through exercise, and then enjoying a lovely outdoor meal.
Towards the end of the week we headed down to London and took the city by storm. In less than a full day we were able to check out the British Museum, shopping on Oxford Street, Parliament and Big Ben, a scenic river cruise up the Thames, Tower Bridge and the Tower of London. I am pleased to report that I am starting to get a bit of an idea of how to find my way around at least some parts of London, and am getting to be a pro at the Tube. Whereas I used to see a full-ish train and think "let's wait for the next one", now I just push my way in.
After spending the night in London, we set back off for Manchester and enjoyed a rather scenic train journey up north. We had arrived at the part of the week that we'd all been dreading - saying goodbye. It is so much harder when I know that it will be months until I see a person again! But we persevered, even though I wanted to confiscate Kim and Mom's return plane tickets, and they made it home safely. As I write this, I am tucked away in Cambride, Mom is in Gibsons and Kim in Edmonton.
While I am glum that they are gone, I am so grateful for the time I had with Mom and Kim. The four of us had a terrific visit and saw a lot of great things. I feel as though our new house has been baptised by a family visit - a major step towards making it home. And I'm already looking foward to the next visit!
