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I'd been promising Selvan I'd show him around Cambridge for a long while and a day came when we were both free to meet. Good fortune had it that Tim was keen to do something that day too and once we were in Cambridge I managed to get Zahari to pop out to join us too. After meeting we had a wander around town and then a look around King's College.
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After seeing just about everything there was for tourists to see of the college we found our selves standing on a bridge thinking what to do next and watching people on punts crashing into each other. We all agreed we had to have a go.
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I took the guys to a punting place down the river where you could get a boat without being accompanied. Frankly the boat looked very small for four grown men, but after seeing others doing it I thought we were going to be quick learners and find it very easy. It was in fact very difficult and really hard work. Actually pushing and steering the punt with the pole (I'm sure there is technical term, but pole will do) was second in difficulty only to changing drivers. The boat had no stability and any imbalance of weight quickly started the boat to roll. This meant that squeezing past each other was something of a group acrobatic feat. Tim was convinced that my lumbering, brute force and ignorance approach to punting was only going to end in my submergence, but despite coming close I, like all the others, remained inside the boat.
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We then decided the best way to finish off a civilised day in Cambridge was to go bowling and get some fast food. In the end, even though it was probably a good idea to call it a day, Tim and I decided to go see UP:3D at the cinema, whilst Selvan and Zahari sensibly made their way home. Extending the day was not regrettable though, it turned out the film was good and the 3D was well worth seeing.
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In the morning we went into Cambridge for some breakfast and found a strange place called The Clowns Café. It’s full of clown memorabilia. There isn’t much more I can say about that. After that we wandered all around Cambridge and ended up at The Granta for a pint of Leffe by the river.
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On our way back to my place we went via the American Cemetery and Memorial. It's a sad, but dignified and beautiful place. It was lightly raining and a bit dark, but some photos came out OK. I had a go at a 360 degree panorama, but I forgot to use a fixed exposure and it didn't come out that great.
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Kelly and I met Martin in London and then cought up with Kathryn and Gavinder in Baker Street. It was really good to catch up with old friends. Sadly it wasn't a great day for photographs. During the day it was very windy and overcast. In the evening I forgot to get a photo of us all before Kathryn left. I asked someone to take one of the rest of us, but it looks like they didn't actually take any because the battery went. I replaced the batteries and Kelly took one in the street outside the bar.
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Kelly, my Mum and I decided to meet in London to celebrate my mother's birthday and to take advantage of a surprisingly warm and sunny autumn day. In the morning we went on a London Walks guided tour of "Subterranean London". We did not go underground, but we were taken all around Whitehall and Westminster and told about underground civil engineering works, the tube, and (previously) secret government and royal tunnels. After lunch and then chocolate cake in the cafe in Foyels Bookshop, we took a boat ride down the Thames to Greenwich via the Thames Barrier. I will resist the opportunity to rant about how we were misled into buying the wrong tickets and had all kinds of trouble, and I'll just say that a pier on the Thames is a great place for a panoramic photo!
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On Saturday we went to Wimpole Hall & Home Farm to the Wimpole At War event to make the 70th anniversary of the outbreak of World War 2. There was an exhibition of items and costumes which gave an important glimpse into the lives of the British people behind the war effort. It was also fun wondering around the farm and taking photos of the animals.
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This is my first post using TypePad. There may be other post dated entries added later, but this is my first attempt!
Today Kelly, her Mum and I went to the Butterfly & Wildlife Park in Long Sutton. There were many great butterflies to photograph as well birds of prey, black headed sheep, bison and many other things. I took nearly 400 photos! I deliberately wanted to capture photos that would be good for use as desktop background images and some of them came out well.
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After battling through every set of road works around London, Kelly and I were relieved to meet up with Tim for a pub lunch near his place. Afterwards we all decided to have a look around a place called Bird World as it was quite near by. Annoyingly every bird was behind shiny glass (I didn't own a polarising filter at the time) or fine wire meshing, so it was quite hard to get good shots, but still it was great fun and quite a few came out OK. After Bird World, Tim took us up to Old Winchester Hill for a walk in the sunshine. At the top of the hill we saw the iron age hill fort and bronze age cemetery. We walked around to the south west side, where there was a great view and I took a 360 degree panoramic photo.
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