As if I live here

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Silver Lining Dept.: being ill was actually a great gift; it got me out of tourist mode and into ”residence” sooner than I might have otherwise done.
I am inhabiting this space and place, not merely perching here. I shop, I cook, I wash up. I watch TV (WAY too many vet and animal rescue shows!), I do laundry, iron, clean house, nap, read, water plants and sit in the sun watching the cat prowl the garden.
If I can my dial my judgey mind back a few notches (“You SHOULD be maximizing this opportunity - go to the coast! Get over to xxxx!), I’m quite happy going with the flow. When traffic is bad, I go someplace else, even stay home. After all, I LIVE here, and can pick a better day, a better time.

That was the point of this whole exercise, right?

But I also DO get out and about... an hour’s Sunday drive to Cambridge (lovely, and seemingly less crowded than Oxford, though still bustling), and church bells and services greeted me. I paid ($13) to tour Kings College, then skirted by the gates and grounds of numerous others (the University, established in 1209, comprises 31 colleges).

It was fun to watch the punters and kayakers along the River Cam. No, regrettably, I resisted: it was blustery and showery, heavily hustled and crowded, and one was requires to crouch low upon boarding, something these knees no longer support....

There’s been a market in old town since the Middle Ages, and I took advantage of a bench to people-watch and listen to an excellent guitarist after my “Bridge Street Breakfastl“ at Fitzbillies.

The crowning experience of my weekend was getting to Bury St. Edmunds, a charming market town from which I have ancestors. The Abbey Gate and Gardens were lovely, and full of color even in summer’s waning. Along one edge flowed River Lark, from which I am confident we get the family name Larkin...?

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Photos

University of Cambridge
One of many, many gates

Morning Prayer
Church of Mary the Great

Hell of a devil
Keeping folks in line...

Full English breakfast
Two each; eggs, sausages, bacon, tomatoes, toast

Cafe on a scooter
Five feet long

Hot chocolate in Bury
Resting my weary bones at the Abbey Gate

Comments

[Diane Borcyckowski]

I appreciate your recognition that you do not have to be on the go all the time. That the goal was to experience living there. And there's plenty of time to see what needs to be seen. Love your photos and find myself yearning to be other than where I am. Must renegotiate that...

[BlueHwyGal]

Yep
Thanks for the validation, Diane! After my extensive travels this weekend, I’m having a quiet day, in which my big adventure was refueling the car ($52.. gulp!), making potato salad, and bingeing on realty shows like “Escape to the Country” and “A Home in the Sun.”