Childerley Hall

We had such a great time this afternoon at Childerley Hall.  The Jenkins family, who now own the farm and the house, opened the gardens to the public to raise funds for cancer research. Childerley Hall has a long and rich history. Queen Elizabeth visited there in 1571 and 1578 and King Charles I visited for three nights in 1647.  The grounds are breathtaking and massive.  There is an old chapel on the grounds where tea, coffee, cakes and ice cream were offered for a donation.  Chuck and I had tea and cake under a tent in the garden. I can't think of a better way to spend a Sunday afternoon. We have decided that the definition of an English garden is controlled chaos but still controlled chaos, beautiful. I don't have the words to describe what we saw today so I'll just use photos.

Breakfast at Mcdonald's

Last Friday night, Chuck and I decided to venture out and have dinner in a local pub.  We researched Google and decided on Monkfield Arms in Cambourne which was just a few miles from where we're staying.  Using our trusty GPS, aka SatNav here in the UK, we found the pub.  Ordering food and drink in a pub is a little different from ordering in a restaurant.  In a pub, you enter, find a table, note the table number, decide on your meal and drink, then go up to the bar and order.  You'll take the drinks back to your table with you and your food will be delivered to your table. Now we know.

The joint was jumping.  There were lots of families with young children, couples on dates, singles, friends just hanging out, and old people like us 😉.  We had a great time just people watching.  The food was pretty good, too.  I had a steak pie with fries and English peas. Chuck had fish and chips with mushy peas. Mushy peas are English peas that have been mashed and seasoned.  They're actually pretty tasty. We both had a beer; his was a Guinness and I had a Foster's. 

After dinner, we decided to walk around Cambourne a bit. We were so focused on finding the pub when we arrived that we drove right past the Morrison's Supermarket where we shopped when we first arrived at Highfields Caledcote. As we walked, we discovered a Domino's Pizza that had 12 employees in the store and a fish and chicken shop as well as a drycleaners and a real estate office. 
  


Yesterday, we made a trip to the Tesco Extra at Bar Hill. After shopping, we stopped at Houle & Harris, the cafe at the entrance. We had cappuccinos and some goodies. The cappuccinos had hearts in the foam! That's the first time we've had that.

Today, Sunday, Chuck and I decided to go to McDonald's for breakfast after walking Tillie and Gracie. We didn't make it in time for breakfast so we had an early lunch. Cheeseburger and fries for me and a Big Mac for Chuck. It was a very pleasurable dining experience.  I have to admit, I don't frequent McDonald's at home, but I really enjoyed this McDonald's.  There were self-order kiosks installed close to the entrance.  If you decided to order there (paying with a credit card) your food was brought to your table. This McDonald's had a employee dedicated to keeping the tables clean and delivering orders This is very similar to Chick-fil-A. There was an area for the kids that had video games. The decor was pleasing to the eye and the seating was really comfortable. We'll probably eat there again.

This is just something that crossed my mind just now and I wanted to share. As we walk Tillie and Gracie every morning and afternoon, we hear the doves coo. There's a field that almost always has as many as 30 rabbits just sitting there. We have also seen three pheasants. Who else gets to do that?  We are so lucky!

Cambridge, Beef Rendang, and the Open Air Market

We began our day with a walk with Tillie and Gracie.  After a quick breakfast, we made our way to the Royal Mail Post Office to pay the tax on Frankie, our little Renault Clio.  We couldn't believe how easy it was.  The post office was in a little village market in Bourn.  The postal clerk was so very helpful, as we have found all the British people we have encountered to be.  She explained the process, we paid our taxes with our credit card (everywhere we have been so far I have been able to use my credit card with the chip), got our receipt and then we were off to Cambridge.  We decided the best way to visit Cambridge is to use the Park 'n Ride.  We parked the car, then, with help from a very nice gentleman, paid our parking and bought our tickets for the bus ride into Cambridge.  Using the ticket machine is a bit of a challenge.  We saw many people who struggled as we had.  Doreen, a neighbor or Michael's and Janet's, said you almost had to have a degree from the University of Cambridge to figure it out.

We rode the purple bus into Cambridge. While Chuck has driven in Cambridge several times, the traffic is crazy.  The bus makes so much more sense.  We got off at the first stop. Everywhere we looked there were people and bicycles, so many bicycles. Our first stop was Hardy's Original Sweetshop.  This shop is the real deal. I don't think I've ever seen so many sweets in one place:  chocolates, candies of all kinds, sodas, teas, and even cereal (Lucky Charms).  There were 2 levels and each level was chock full of goodness.  I found Bertie Bott's All Flavour Beans for Rip (if you're a Harry Potter fan, you'll know what these are) along with Chocolate Frogs (another Harry Potter favorite).

 

We found a souvenir shop called Jack's.  I found a Cambridge tote bag, a Cambridge ball cap, and postcards. Chuck wants a hoodie and we found one, but he wouldn't buy it. We're going back soon, maybe I can talk him into buying one. We walked around Cambridge taking in all the magnificent architecture and found an open air market.  We ended up at a Dosa stand.  The gentlemen there, one from Sri Lanka and the other from Malaysia, made and sold Halal food.  I found out through research on Google that Halal according to Islamic law, means the food is permissible as described in the Koran.  We chose the Beef Rendang based on a conversation with a patron at the stand.  It was delicious and so different from anything I've ever eaten. As we were wandering around Cambridge, we found the Grand Arcade, the largest shopping center in Cambridge-3 stories and of course, as soon as we walked in we saw a Krispy Kreme Doughnut store.  I guess they are as popular here as they are at home.

We caught the purple bus back to the Park'n Ride and headed to our home away from home. After walking Tillie and Gracie, we decided to visit the Caledcote Grill, a food truck that comes every afternoon.  We had stopped to talk with the Turkish gentleman who operates the food truck several times on our afternoon walks.  The odors emanating from that food truck made my mouth water.  We both ordered the doner (gyros), Chuck got a large and I got the small. There was so much food and it was as good as it smelled.

 

I thought I would post a photo so that you could see what we see each morning when we get up. A lot of work has gone into this back garden and we're the lucky ones that get to see it every day we're here. Of course, I have to share a couple of photos of Tillie and Gracie.