Retrospective: Lavenham

(First things first - I am done with my Arabic orals!! Listening was Thursday and speaking was yesterday. I'm sure both could have gone better, but I was expecting them to be pretty rough. In any case they are now behind me - the focus shifts towards the five, three-hour written exams I have ahead of me beginning a week from Monday. Yay! Until then - literally nothing - no classes, lectures, supervisions or assignments. Just library!)

As a result, I decided to recap one of my adventures from earlier this year, when Dad came to visit me around my birthday in February. A true Poseidon adventure! Dad had originally planned to come for Lent Bumps (which I rambled about here), but I told him the wrong dates (major fail, trust me, I know..) By the time I figured it out, the flights were booked and there was no changing them.

So Dad arrived the weekend before Bumps - with a full getaway planned! On Friday night he treated me to sushi, which seemed like a good idea at the time. We planned to depart earlyish on Saturday morning, but I woke up at ~4am and headed straight to the bathroom to be sick (that is British speak for vomit.. yeah..). So, maybe it was the sushi, who knows, but something wasn't right. After a second trip to the loo, and a small bowl of Jell-o, I felt better so to the train station we went!

Looovely day! (The photo from above was from the next day :) )

The train from Cambridge wasn't running because of 'engineering works,' so after a bus to Bury St Edmunds, and a bit of standing around in confusion waiting for a bus to Lavenham, a friendly bus driver finally explained we were waiting in the wrong station. In any case, we figured it out eventually. By this point I was feeling pretty horrible, and the bus motion and dreary weather weren't helping. I'm sure I was a pretty miserable travel companion.

We arrived at our destination - the tiny town of Lavenham - and made our way to our hotel, The Swan. The Swan is probably the main attraction in the village, and understandably so. The oldest part of it was built in 1400, and the character has certainly been well preserved. Unfortunately, by this point I was in major need of rest and some warmth. I crawled into bed for a short nap - curled between the radiator and a space heater wearing all the layers I had - and accidently slept until dinner time. (Sorry Dad :( )

I crawled out to visit the bar around dinner time, which was excellent. Very 'typical English pub,' with the added bonus of having been the meeting place for British and American service men stationed in Lavenham during WWII. Dad continued to try and feed me, so we got some soup (which was good, even though I didn't eat much). And that was about the extent of our activity for the first day!

On Sunday I felt much much better (for real this time), and we headed to the hotel's fabulous restaurant for breakfast. I have to admit, there isn't much I love more than a really good breakfast. Despite the iffy stomach, I managed to 'force down' quite a lot of delicious toast, tea, and eggs benedict.

After eating as much as possible, we were left with a little time to explore the town. Fortunately, it's tiny, so there wasn't too much to see. Unfortunately, this brief walk was about all I got to see after spending the entire day preceding it inside the hotel. Boo. On the upside, the weather on Sunday was gorgeous, while Saturday was cold (although I think my fever skewed things a little) and rainy - so Sunday was the better day for photos anyway!

Back in Cam I managed to capture the gorgeous view of Great Court that makes up the header of the blog! And Dad and I headed to the Eagle for dinner - probably the most famous Cambridge pub, known for (also) being a hangout for RAF pilots as well as a meeting place of Watson & Crick.

Conclusion: Lavenham is gorgeous, and the Swan is even better. Just try not to be ill while you're there..

Wedding, Continued

So, we left off with the arrival of the Princes! (I can't believe I'm actually typing that. I saw Princes?! What?!)

The in-laws were next to arrive - a blurry Camilla.

 With Prince Charles (my co-Trinitarian)

 Absolute madness in the crowds.

 Various clergy waiting for the Queen!

 Refuse :(

 Still waiting..

 Aaaand... the glimpse of a yellow hat!!

 Her Majesty :)

 The news people are in full gear.

 The time is approaching!!

 Bridesmaids!

 Very, very cute.

Kate arrives...!

 Accursed auto-focus preferred the police officers..

 But managed to capture a blurry wave!

 During the ceremony we tried to watch it on the screen. They also broadcast it on speakers, but it was quite difficult to understand what was going on. Fortunately, Liz had a radio tuner on her phone so we kept up to date with everything. We could hear the music quite well on the speakers, and the crowds joined in for 'Jerusalem' and 'God Save the Queen.'

 As things were winding down, the procession gathered outside.

 And here they are! The new Duke and Duchess of Cambridge. (This is immensely exciting - maybe they'll come visit!)

 This horrible blue arm is in way too many of my photos..

 Getting in the carriage..

We noticed the flag on the abbey changed, but couldn't figure out why. This flag was waving for most of the morning.

 But then.. it was this one during the service:

We realised it changed because the Queen was in! This was an exciting revelation indeed. :)

After everyone had left the Abbey, it descended into insanity. 

 We headed towards St. James's Park to attempt to find toilets/somewhere to sit down. Looks like this guy got a little lost..

 We found an American woman with a Phillip Tracey - watching in style.

 The one bridge across the massive lake that divides the park had been limited to one way traffic - the opposite way we were headed. So we walked rather a long way to get around it.

 But we did get a view of Buckingham Palace!

 Hordes.

 A surge of people heading towards the Palace.

 Finally we found refuge under a tree, and enjoyed some of the masses of food we carried with us.

 We managed to make it onto the Mall to see the flyover.

 Tourist!

At this point there wasn't much else to see, so we made our way back to the Park. We hung around there for a little while whilst trying to get up the energy to move again.. Finally we propelled ourselves back across the park, and walked past Clarence House where there was some kind of official something happening!

 Wandering in the streets of London!

 We took the Tube back to Liz's flat, and we were impressed at how quickly things had dispersed. There were still a lot of people in St James's Park, but the Tube was running smoothly and wasn't horrifically crammed. After snoozing our way back to the flat, we drank a lot of Coke to keep us going back to Cambridge. Highly caffeinated, we headed back to King's Cross on the Tube to get the train, and stocked up on souvenir newspapers. These kept us occupied all the way back to Cambridge, and once I made it back to my room, I crashed hard at around 9!

Overall, it was an amazing amazing day. The entire experience was seriously surreal. Standing outside Westminster Abbey for 7 hours? Seeing the entire royal family? Actually witnessing an essential moment of history? People have been standing outside in hordes to catch glimpses of the Royal Family exactly like we did for centuries. It was at times painful, uncomfortable, and boring, but it was worth every second. As Kate and Wills grow up and eventually become King and Queen, I'll have been present when it all began.