Cambridge
A Quick Trip to Cambridge
Cambridge is a great city for a short visit. We drove there, but all the narrow one-way streets, and students cycling, not to mention the suicidal ducks, meant that train would’ve been a better way to travel. Especially as, once you finally make it to the centre of town, there’s nowhere to park unless you take out a mortgage.
We met Son and Daughter in Son’s extremely tidy flat (he left all his muddles at my house – feel I failed at a parenting point somewhere). Then we went to Bedouin on Mill Road for lunch. I’ve never eaten North African cuisine before, but it’s different, tasty, and best eaten slowly with some good conversation. The decor was lovely, the walls lined with fabric, so you did feel as if you had stepped into a Bedouin tent.
The only fault were the washrooms. The sign was somewhat confusing, so to be fair, I might have been in the Gent’s. It was very narrow, so a large person would find it impossible to manoeuvre past the ornate copper sink and contort sufficiently to actually reach the loo. I wonder how many times they have to rescue guests who find themselves jammed in position. But apart from that, a great little restaurant. (info@bedouin-cambridge.com)
Weather was dry (unusual in Cambridge, it always rains when I visit) so we wandered to the Botanical Gardens.
Gardens were not at their best – possibly March is the wrong month to visit. Went into the tropical houses, but were unable to go into one whole section due to a mosquito. Yes, that’s right, just one. But Daughter has developed an aversion to them after being eaten alive recently in Bali, and I for one do not attempt to introduce logic when discussing options with my family.
Rest of hot house had some cool floating plants (brought back from Mars, apparently) and some orchids (which also resembled aliens). When Son told Daughter to: “See how many flowers you can eat in one minute,” I felt things hadn’t changed much from 20 years ago.
We also saw the National Collection of Tulips, which I feel is not something the Queen would be proud of – I can’t see her mentioning it during royal tours. Also saw a map showing the five floral kingdoms of the world, which Son-the-conservationist told me was extremely interesting.
Drove home in awful Sunday evening traffic and collected dog from my mum’s house (which was hairier than when we left, but both seemed happy). A nice day, in a nice place, with lots of laughs. My family are still the people I most like to spend time with.
Thanks for reading. Have a good week.
Take care.
Love,
Anne x
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anneethompson.com
Anne E. Thompson has written several novels and one non-fiction book. Her latest novel explores how someone very bad can manage to achieve something very good. Set in the slums of India, it is a fast paced, gritty story with strong characters.
CLARA – A Good Psychopath?
Available from bookshops and Amazon.
