Spontaneous Cultural Day

We'd held high aspirations of visiting the Wren Library one Saturday lunchtime and, accordingly, assembled dutifully in front of Trinity College tremulously excited about the forthcoming serious manuscript-admiration-action. Unfortunately, term was deemed to have finished the day before so that the opening times had changed in our disfavour.

Not ones to waste an opportunity of being up and about, we visited Great St Mary's church and went up the tower to enjoy the view. Unfortunately my own view was hampered somewhat, my glasses having been yoinked off my head by some drunken idiot whilst quietly standing in the queue minding my own business at the local kebabomatorium. Said drunken idiot capered off with them and, by the time I realised ( i was in fact slightly distracted hailing a pair of popsies with whom i'd become vaguely acquainted in similarly salubrious circumstances earlier in the week), disappeared. Suffice to say, my appetite for doner and taramosalata, usually insatiably hearty, was instantaneously quelled and, after a fruitless search for the spectacles, I departed in disgust. Fortunately, my companions, Ben and Ellie, were kind enough to describe the surrounding landscape in sufficient detail and such poetically descriptive terms that I almost felt like I could actually see it myself!

This is Gonville and Caius, the third richest college in Cambridge. Note pink knickerbockers hanging from window to left of tower - feisty.

This is the Senate House, and the University Library in the background.

The latter sparked an interchange regarding the aesthetic qualities of functional Art Deco, which provoked me to make the first of what was to become my catchcry remark for the day "When I was in...(insert travel destination and corresponding pretentious observation here)", in this case Liverpool and a note upon the magnificence of the Art Deco styled Mersey tunnel chimney vent near the Liver Building.

Here's market square looking very colourful:

Here i'm about to launch into another monotribe "when i was in..."

The bookshop in the church was having a sale so we picked up some amazing books at knock-off prices. Titles included: East Anglia from Above, Castles from Above, London from Above, Diary of an Edwardian Lady, Tutankhamen Jigsaw Puzzle Book, Seven Continents of the World Jigsaw Book - fantastic!

Keen to keep the culture coming, we hit the road for a magical mystery tour, first stop the delightful village of Trumpington to get some petroleum. Then off to Ickworth House, Suffolk. We'd actually learnt from the catastrophic Wren Library closure experience so phoned ahead to discover Ickworth House is next open in March, so quickly modified travel plans toward Anglesey Abbey.

Abbey-house itself closed but had very pleasant walk about the gardens:

This birch trunk is soooo smooooth.

After the stroll about the garden and being scared witless getting swooped by some giant bats (or small-ish birds, definitely one of the two), we headed on to Bury St Edmunds for a looksee about town, visit to the Cathedral and dinner.

Here I'm writing a postcard to Iggy who'd missed the trip as he'd had to stay home to tidy his room (which Ben and I had completely rearranged, i.e. every bit of furniture piled on his bed, the previous night - he won't be leaving his room unlocked ever again), about to hoe into the sumptuous chocolate cheesecake.

Finished cultural-vultural day with late screening of Mulholland Drive at Arts Picturehouse then scampered home to do the seven continents of the world jigsaw.