Things we like 2/ Imperial War Museum

Things we like about Cambridge 2

 

 

English butter

       Marks&Spencers Strawberry milk 



Sky that changes moment to moment (provided one is looking out from somewhere warm and dry! In this case our kitchen window)

Monday 30 April
After a few days of miserable weather, we finally got
to have a lovely few hour of sunshine yesterday afternoon and this morning.It's 4pm now and it's already clouded over and chilly again. Sigh...
The boys and I explored one of the nearby colleges this morning - there's always surprises inside: secret gardens and ponds and then the buildings full of student rooms and seminar rooms and cafes, all hidden and higgedly piggedly. We finished writing postcards too and will find a postbox soon to send them off. I attended a meeting with other families and Clare Hall about how to include families more. The boys managed to stay quiet for 40 minutes and then we had to cut loose.



Imperial War Museum

Spitfire

Yesterday was a miserable wet day so we hopped
on a bus and headed out to the Imperial War Musuem (about 20 mins away out in the countryside).

It is housed in 7 hangers (a couple of them enormous)

at the Duxford airfield.  It was very cool - Brendon and Finn

listened in on a tour about the Battle of Britian, which had its

own hangar. The building was impressive enough - a huge wooden structure (see below) built back in 1917-18. Add to that Hurricanes and Spitfires and an original Messerschitt that crashlanded into an English field, and you get the picture.

There's also an American Air Museum (26,000 US airforce personnel lost their lives in Europe) that is chock full of other amazing aircraft, and in the main hanger, along with masses of interactive stuff for kids there is a Concorde - yep, a real one that you can walk inside. I've always thought the Concorde was supercool and it was great to see the rows of seats (28 passengers only!) and all the red carpet perks flying supersonic entitled you to.

Amazing aircraft and great interactive displays about how flying works but also rather chilling to think how much death and destruction was caused by these machines.

Attention!! In the American Air Museum



Hangar housing the Battle of Britian exhibition





Beautiful Emmanuel College

This is a grand college. I had a game of squash there on Thursday. The court had a reverse cycle heater on the wall which meant the ball was super bouncy (which I loved after playing largely on freezing cold courts here).

An outing to Grantchester and one of the many great buildings here

Something for cricket fans

This blog is very funny and silly. Worth listening to given his silliness: http://blogs.espncricinfo.com/andyzaltzman/archives/2012/03/the_moonlanding_milestone.php

Classic Zaltzman (words of wisdom):

Just as facing Xavier Doherty in Brisbane, or Mishra and Raina at The Oval, was not ideal preparation for encountering Pakistan’s crafty tweakmen in the Gulf, so seeing off Lakmal and Prasad in Colombo, statistically one of cricket history’s least penetrating new-ball attacks (their career figures suggesting they offered the incision of an ice scalpel in a sub-Saharan operating theatre), will not have honed England ideally for the South African pace and swing barrage. As preparation for that task, it was about as appropriate as Neil Armstrong training for his rocket trip to the moon by hanging a cantaloupe melon from his bedroom ceiling, saying “5-4-3-2-1-blast-off” and throwing a dart at it.

Boys at school, mother on the loose

Boys at school
The two lads offically started their two days of school a week this morning. Finn had a trial day last week and although it seemed to go well he couldn't be persuaded to go again the next day (lots of anxiety about Sean being safe and cold feet at the newness of it all).
               We did tell him however that he had to give it a proper two-week trial from today. The school itself seems wonderful - I was super impressed when I went with the lads last week and of course Sean's eyes nearly popped out of his head when he saw all the toys! It's in a glorious old Victorian house owned by the council and right in the middle of a quintessential English park. The headmistress Hilary Sturdy is amazing - both passionate and compassionate - and it was she who suggested that because we are only here for such a short amount of time, we might like to come part time. They are very flexible and laid back but at the same time, get great results from the kids.
               Today didn't start so well for Finn but we'd done some detective thinking on his anxiety about Sean yesterday and that really seemed to help. It also helped that we had said the two-week trial was not negotiable. I agreed though that rather than catching the shuttle bus, he could come with me and Sean on the regular bus (I was taking Sean as I wanted to be there with him at his first drop off)

Here they are at the bus stop (does anyone have any idea how hard it is to get a photo of the two of them without Sean pulling a face and Finn cracking a great big fake smile?!). They love sitting up the top of the double decker bus right at the front. The good news for me is that after schlepping into town to catch the bus in the cold misty drizzle, they both agree that taking the little shuttle bus from just around the corner is a much better idea!
Thankfully once at school, Finn didn't hang around to see Sean into his room but instead headed straight up to his own classroom. Sean was a little apprehensive (I'm glad I took him for a look around last week when all the Infants were still away - they come back a little later than the big kids) but soon his teacher had him sitting on the bench entranced with a story. And only very happy stories this afternoon when I picked them up from the shuttle bus stop. 

Mother on the loose
So of course this meant I was alone. I actually got out a lot by myself a couple of weekends ago for the WordFest literary festival but other than my runs, I have been doing everything with the boys.

My first stop was the wonderful cafe I discovered a few weeks back: Hot Numbers.  Just to give an indication of the lovely weather we've been having, this photo (right) of its outside sign was taken around 1030 in the morning. Light but persistent rain gusting into my face for a few blocks really did give the sign an extra glow. Inside it's a warm coffee haven. Along with very good espresso coffee (is it just me that thinks Australian espresso is often way better than Italian?), they also have  Japanese-style filter coffee. I had it black so I could really enjoy the flavour. Because it's filtered slowly and gently the flavours are very clear and rich. Yum!








How much did these books cost?
Time to find some books. At the Books for Amnesty (International) store I got a stash of second-hand books: 7 of the larger size kids books, a paperback and a hard cover. I'm going to ask you all to guess how much they cost altogether. Clue: way way less than in Australia! Next stop was the Salvation Army shop where I found a pair of my favourite brand of shoes - Bally court shoes that cost me a whopping one pound 30p!
                   Then home via grocery store to put together an application for a local literary award I have found out about. I'm also looking at agents but right now I'm looking at the clock. Close to midnight. Off to bed!

Happy birthday (aunty) Kit

Birthday painting: Flag by Finn, plum blossoms by K, Henry the Eighth by Sean (why we don't know!) 

Happy birthday from us all in Cambridge!! Finn and Sean wanted to send you lots of British lollies but instead we are still looking for something interesting and handmade and of course light to send to you. Hope you had a great day with Ma and Pa.

Things we like in Cambridge: One

FLOWERS

 

Kids battle with sticks and the Royal McEnroes

King's college and the king of Pubs

St John's College. One of the many beautiful colleges here. It is a struggle to explain to the boys why they can't walk to the grass...

An update on the Grand Nation

Today I got the Sunday newspaper to find that my horse – the favourite to win the Grand National – had been injured so badly in the race that it had to be put down shortly after. It was one of two horses that gave their lives to this crazy sporting event.

Grand National

Brendon reporting on his Grand National expedition: 

I cycled out of town today looking for a Ladbrokes betting shop and then a pub to watch the Grand National. This decision to go on the town rather than the gown side of the tracks was well worth the extra miles cycled. I found a pub full of well lagered yobs young and old. The proprietor was a classic leather jacket-wearing bruiser with a huge crucifix necklace and an earring (tough guys with earrings is something I haven’t seen for a while...). It was the kind of bar where they served all the regulars before the stranger even though I was the first customer at the counter. Got a large pint of Greene King. It tasted watered down compared to the same brand served in Balmain two weeks earlier. Settled in the corner of the pub to watch the big race.

     Close by, young largerlads and ladettes were charging down pints and eating the most massive shared platters of chips, wings and fried schnitzels I have ever seen (American bar food is gourmet and healthy compared to this fare). My horse, the favourite, lost its jockey on the warm up lap –  not a good sign and in fact a portent of things to come. Instead of starting in barriers the horses line up behind a rope. Men with bad teeth string the rope in front of the horses and then attempt to put it in a vice on the other side. The rope collapses at the starting gun – hopefully, or else we would be facing the sight of some decapitated jockeys. As a result of the general shambles there are a few false starts before finally these geezers who may well have been kicked in the teeth once or twice (who can tell) get the race going.

     44 starters rush towards the first hedge and a few horses collapse on the other side. This carnage is both compelling and wincingly awful to watch; there are jockeys down after each hurdle. One was injured so badly they put a portable black curtained off box around him/her and got the horses to skip around the outside of that jump the second time around. My horse is down early and so is most of the field. About 10 horses with jockeys fight out the last section of the race. A few riderless horses race on reminding you of the early madness and brutality you have witnessed.

    I think all is lost but then hear the name of the horse I drew in the office sweepstake called out over the increasingly loud chorus from the most pissed and aged section of the pub. These punters are now yelling out the names of their horses and willing them on. I don’t profess to be one of the world’s greatest linguists but even I could tell the various French and Italian names were being well mangled. Back in the race, my office sweepstakes horse “Neptune Cologne” a French journeyman emerges from nowhere to threaten the leader and win by the smallest margin imaginable. I claim victory to the lad now sharing my table with his huge plate of schnitzel. Great Cambridge experience, if a bit atypical.

Daily life begins



Walking into town down the lanes near
Trinity College



Today it was down to making the first steps into "real" life in Cambridge. First stop the public library. Brendon walked with us into town so that he could get us borrowing cards at the bountifully stocked library. The boys piled up the books. They've had a deficit for some time now and I'll be glad to hear something other than facts from Horrible Histories.

   Brendon set off to work and the boys and I to a Newcomers meeting at the University. Unlike a university in Australia, all neatly contained in one place, Cambridge University is organically sewn into patches throughout the town.

  We managed to track down the right building but, alas, could not find the group. Never mind. We sat warmly  in the cafe on the third floor looking out its big glass windows over the green banks, weeping willows and a canal full of punts .



 View from the bridge near the Backs
and Trinity Hall

Did I say 'real" life?  Of course it must include more books so next step was to find the ADC theatre where we bought tickets for some of the sessions for this weekend's Cambridge wordfest literary festival.  (See http://www.cambridgewordfest.co.uk/ )  

    I'm looking foward to hearing from Virginia Woof biographer Alexandra Harris and to attending a celebration of Angela Carter's work. We've also booked a children's session for the boys and Brendon and I have recruiteed a babysitter so that we can attend a session by writer Geoff Dyer  together.



View of our building complex, built around a central courtyard. We are on the far side. Very peaceful

 

Aaah, the weather. I can't do a post without mentionng it. It changes minute by minute. We set off in late afternoon sunshine to the park only to be waylaid halfway there by a small hailstorm. None of this seems to peturb Mother Nature who continues to push daffodlis and tulips into bloom in careless patches across the grass. The trees seem more reticent, holding tight to their tips of green till they feel more sunshine.

Piano two

Piano at Clare

Finn and Sean playing the piano in the commonroom at Clare Hall, Cambridge.

nice day for ducks

7am, Easter Monday

Weather: rainy
Brendon: meant to be having a lie in but more likely to be checking emails
Katherine: writing with one hand while having an arm pulled off by a small ninja
Sean: being a small ninja
Finnegan: reading our new Greek Myths book

The day ahead: more rain. Perhap  a visit to a working farm  a little out of town. Finn might find his new friend Frances. They coud make a play or have another "Easter Rock" hunt. We could go to the common room and play the piano. Or maybe search out the enormous second-hand bookstore I have been hearing about. Whatever happens, the rain looks like it will keep the sky crying and grey.




Running into spring
The bells ring out splendidly across the cobblestones, only the street cleaner and I to hear them.

via Hong Kong


First flight: looong. Touch down in Hong Kong for a mad midnight taxi ride - us without seat belts sliding around the back (Sean on my lap asleep) and our luggage held down by straps in a gaping boot. At the hotel poured Sean into stroller and got hysterically tired Finn up to the hotel room.
Hong Kong is Tokyo on steroids minus the neon. We ate many dumplings, and went from tawdry to classy in the shopping stakes (I must be the only woman shopper in the history of Hong Kong to leave with one hat and a pair of running shoes). Took the tram to the Peak (hard to believe that the governer and his cronies used to go by rickshaw up that slope in the good old days).
We missed the protest about China's interference in choosing the Hong Kong representative and ended by congratulating ourselves on choosing an 1130pm exit - everyone slept for over five hours of the next leg (always good on a 13-hour flight with two kids!)




Finn using his new email

 



    Neighbourhood running track discovered on our last night.
The boys decided to do a few laps each. Great for sleeping on the plane





On the tram to the Peak





Getting eaten by a crazy duck. Part of an exhibition
creaed from old pallets