Julie & Sammy Visit from Belgium

Julie and her boyfriend Sammy came from Belgium to spend a few days with us in Cambridge. It was great to see her again after four years. Even though the weather on Tuesday didn't cooperate with us, we still had a very nice time. Here are some pictures from their visit.

Danny went to the train station to meet them (while Deb cooked dinner). This picture is of Danny and Sammy on the way home from the train station.













Here's a very nice picture of Julie and Sammy. Tres photogénique!











Tuesday was drizzly, rainy, cold, etc., but still we visted most of the important tourist attractions: St. John's, Trinity (including the Wren Library), the Backs, King's College Chapel, the marketplace, and some others.

We went to the gardens at Peterhouse since the daffodil garden was in full bloom. Look how gorgeous the flowers are!












Even in the rain the flowers were spectacular.













Peterhouse was the first college at Cambridge. Here, Sammy shows how low the doors are. Were people that much shorter in the 14th century?














After spending a full day out in the wet weather, we came home to relax before dinner.

Danny taught Sammy how to play Go on the computer. . .













. . . while Julie worked on Sudoku.













Dinner was at the Eagle Pub, the most well known pub in Cambridge, said to be the pub where Watson and Crick discovered the double helix form of DNA, and serving patrons since the 1500s!











Since Wednesday's weather was much nicer, we decided to take a hike to the nearby village of Grantchester. It's about a 2.5 mile walk from our house.

To get to Grantchester, you follow the River Cam south out of Cambridge. Here's a great view of what the fens surrounding Cambridge look like.













The walk along the river ends at this cute beer garden/pub called The Green Man.













This lovely thatched roof house gives a taste of the charm of Grantchester.












We ate lunch at The Orchard Tea Rooms, where Virginia Woolf, Bertrand Russell, Ludwig Wittgenstein, and the rest of the Grantchester group often met in the 1910s. You can take your meal in the orchard if you wish.













We can't wait to return in another few weeks when the trees are in full bloom. We'll have to bring our kids here.













Here we are in one of the tea rooms.













Julie and Sammy also enjoyed the tea room.














Here's another picture of the beautiful orchard.













On our way back to Cambridge we spotted these grand weeping willows just starting to bloom over the Cam in Newnham.












We stopped in at Queen's College on our way back through the city since none of us had ever entered its gates.

Here is the front gate, looking from the back gate of Kings College.













This is the courtyard to Queens College.













This clock/calendar is mounted on the wall in the yard at Queens College.

















Another successful excursion. And au revoir to our Belgian friends. A bientôt!