Blogs from Cambridgeshire, England, United Kingdom, Europe - page 5

A day out at the Imperial War Museum, Duxford (near the famous university city of Cambridge) is a Big Day Out. The blurb said "there is much more than most people can see in a day" and boy, they were not wrong. We gave it a red hot go but failed. I'm told the Smithsonian in Washington has an astounding display of historic aircraft and spacecraft, but this place would go close. About the only thing missing from this UK version is a Space Shuttle. Spread across a number of hangers and other historic buildings along the airfield, the museum is home to every conceivable British aircraft since the dawn of flight, a (small) piece of the Wright Bros Flyer, the American Air Museum (AAM), a land warfare exhibition, Battle of Britain ops room and host ... read more

Our morning and afternoon activities were a sharp contrast in style, values and historical period. This morning we strolled around the gorgeous 18th Century Stowe gardens with its artificial lakes, temples and follies. The landscaping is gloriously extravagant including a Temple of British worthies, a Chinese house and a Gothic castle. We also toured Stowe House, now part of Stowe Grammar, which includes a vast elliptical hall and a magnificent library. This afternoon we visited Bletchley Park Museum, where British code breakers cracked the Nazi enigma code in WWII. It's a monument to ingenuity and also to the power of the outsider - three quarters of the BP code breakers were women and many others - including the brilliant Alan Turing (tragically persecuted for being homosexual) were outsiders whose value to the society was never appreciated. ... read more

We love visiting our friends in Cambridge. Somehow we always seem to discover great places when we go there. This time was no exception. First there was a great walk in the Cambridgeshire countryside near their home in Cambourne. Lakes lined with fishermen, windmills, cornfields - it had it all. And to top it off, the sun was shining and it was a glorious day. We also went into the city of Cambridge for another wander around. It was very busy with tourists from all over the world taking a look at one of the most famous seats of learning that the UK has to offer. It's always nice to see people having a go at punting too, but we remember from last time just what hard work it was! We were quite surprised to see ... read more

Bonjour mes amies, long time no post! Time passes when you are having fun - himself and I will have been married for 40 years this October. Such a feat of endurance could not go unacknowledged - lets face it you get less for murder! Those that know us will confirm we are a happy, beloved couple who have never had a cross word and whose hearts still flutter at the sound of each others voices! ha ha arf arf So another trip to our beloved France is about to begin, one with a difference as we are going for two months - on 1st May we will be traveling from Dover to Calais and then taking a leisurely 4 day drive down to the Haute Pyrenees to do a house sit for Alex and to ... read more

Sometimes you cannot believe just how quickly times passes. It was 30 days to the trip and counting. That has now dropped down to 12 days. All of a sudden it is upon us. Suzy is stuck on the drive. Hemmed in by the laurel hedge and a full skip of rubbish. Until that moves she won't be going anywhere. Holiday insurance sorted. Having dumped our previous company as they had put the premium up to £175 for the two of us for a year we decided to use that lovely company LV much loved by civil servants who are lucky enough to get deductions off premiums if they are member of the Civil Service Motoring Association. I joined last year and we saved a large amount of money changing car insurances and house insurances plus ... read more