Captains Currey Visit

Margo and Patraic spent three days with me while Danny was in DC. The weather was either rainy or rainy and cold, but we still managed to do everything on the 'must do' list I made. Friday was spent trying to fix the mess with their tickets. That took hours! We then spent the rest of the day downtown, in the market, and just walking. Here are some pictures from their visit.

Here are Margo and Patraic by the lock at the end of our street. Yes, we've lived here for over 2 months and it took Patraic to show me that the lock was actually there. Go figure!












Margo experienced cooking in my kitchen by making breakfast. She said it was like on a boat, so no big deal!












On Saturday, we made our way to the Botanical Gardens. I can only imagine what this place will look like in the spring.

Here is the second descendant of Newton's famous apple tree. This tree is much larger than the one outside Trinity College's gate (see the post "A Few Colleges").













This is a picture part of the lake.














Here are Margo and Patraic standing by the fountain. In the background are the very large glasshouses. The plants in there were wonderful. One whole glasshouse was devoted to the various kinds of orchids.












This is the winter garden. It was beautiful, even on this freezing day.














Margo and I are standing under a trellis made up of a jade plant. It was extraordinary to see how thick the growth was. It actually reached into the next glasshouse.



After the Botanical Gardens we went to the Fitzwilliam Museum. We were only able to see one floor before the museum closed. Still, they saw many famous paintings AND the original hand-written copy of Handel's Messiah!









On Sunday, after Mass, we had brunch at the Backstreet Brasserie. We went there on Thursday night (for the first time) and loved it so much, Margo wanted her birthday brunch there.













After brunch, since it wasn't raining and the sun was trying to shine, we decided to take a punt ride on the River Cam. The pictures below were taken from that tour.

This is Magdelane College (pronounce 'maudlin'). Alex, our guide, told us there are still some rooms in this college without electricity. Supposedly, the purpose is twofold: first, to remember when the college began and what life was like and second, to preserve some of the artwork that is there. It sounded very archaic to me.










This is a picture of St. John's College New Court from the Cam. It is affectionately called the Wedding Cake. The building is almost perfectly symmetrical.














This is the back of Kings College from the Cam.














Here is a picture of the Mathematical bridge. The story goes that when this bridge was originally built, no bolts were needed to keep it together. The bridge connects the old and new parts of Queen's College.










This beautiful bridge is connected to St. John's College. It is called the Bridge of Sighs.












For Margo's birthday dinner we went to a 'lovely' restaurant called La Mimosa along the River Cam.













Margo was treated to a flaming dessert -- a sparkler as a birthday candle.