Wicken Fen

There is a series of cycle paths that could take us from Cambridge to Wicken Fen, but at 13 miles it is longer than any trip we have attempted, so we took advantage of the car to explore this closer-to-home nature reserve.

The highlight was the birds we saw at the first hide, including a reed bunting...

 And a close-up view of a European goldfinch and a chaffinch:

 The scenery was nice too:

 The tower hide had a nice view, but no birds at that time of day:

After five hours wandering around the site, we were tired enough, and ready for a relaxing drive home in our brand new rental vehicle:

Late September Update

A second trip to Anglesey Abbey today reminded me that an update is overdue.

25 August: Fen Drayton Lakes, RSPB Nature Reserve
 

We were a little disappointed on the birding front, but the scenery and the speedy bus ride along the Guided Busway from Cambridge were nice.

2 September: Buckingham Palace & Royal Mews

The chief attraction of our family outing to London was a chance to meet up with old friends / former colleagues / travel companions.

 That, more than the tour of Buckingham Palace...

 ...and the Royal Mews ... 

... made this our best London outing so far, and gives us courage to contemplate additional trips on our own.

A Quotidian September

One of the highlights of the short 6-week summer holidays was beginning to learn Latin with s.

Now that school has resumed, Latin is not nearly as quotidian as I'd like, partly because of football:

(I'd like to thank Archdeacon Motors for this picture.)

After school, we are sometimes able to work in a swan feeding:

15 September: Parker Library

On an open Saturday afternoon we were able to cross Corpus Christi and Sidney Sussex off our list of Cambridge's 31 colleges.

The Parker Library at Corpus Christi College houses a fantastic library of old books and manuscripts collected by Matthew Parker, a 16th-century archbishop of Canterbury:

Sidney Sussex's claim to fame is Oliver Cromwell's head. We missed the plaque on our first visit, so s. and I returned the next day on our way home from her piano lesson:

29 September Anglesey Abbey Take 2

Since s. did not have a Chesterton Eagles "football" game this weekend, we decided to go on a family outing. Anglesey Abbey fit the bill:

The dahlia garden was in fine form:

Beware of Duck

 

Anglesey Abbey

We rode to Anglesey Abbey on my birthday. I'll let curious readers follow the links if they want to read more about the estate's history: In brief, it's the story of an early 20th-century English-American heir to an oil and railway fortune, who decided to spend his time and money collecting valuable things and creating a massive 18th-century-style English garden, and who donated the property to the National Trust when he died so that the public can get a taste of what it was like to live as one of the 0.25%. The house is interesting ...

... the library is fascinating...

... and the  landscaped property is lovely:

We plan to visit again.

The bike ride there and back--about six and a half miles each way--was almost as much fun as the Abbey itself, and now that we have gone that far successfully, we have our sights on longer trips.