Apparently we had an earthquake near here. The BBC news site has information about here:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/7266136.stm
I did not feel it or even wake up but some friends have been telling me it was "intense". I guess there will be more information about it later but apparently it was the biggest in the UK in a couple decades or so and was about a magnitude 5 on the richter scale.
Wednesday 27 February 2008
Tuesday 26 February 2008
Spring is Here! ...Almost
Today has been an absolutely beautiful day. Sunny, not cold (I won't go so far as warm yet), birds singing, the whole nine yards. I actually got a little too warm walking around in my winter coat today. It is interesting how rapidly the seasons change - I felt that the change from summer to fall was very abrupt, happening in just a week or two. Now again, it seems that over the past week the sun is finally staying up until a decent hour of the night (doesn't go down until 6 now!), the temperature's improving, and overall the signs of Spring are everywhere. My spirits are lifted. However, my happiness was doused a little today when one of my supervisees told me that this was very unusual weather for Cambridge at the end of February. So perhaps we'll have another relapse into Winter...but I'm enjoying my temporary Spring while it lasts!
Saturday 23 February 2008
The Eagle Pub
I went out to the pub with some coworkers Friday night. This is sort of the common thing to do as far as I can tell since all pubs seem to be packed on Friday nights. We went down to The Eagle which is one of the most well known and central pubs in Cambridge. This one is particularly famous for hosting World War 2 pilots and being the place where Watson and Crick announced the DNA double helix. It is a nice pub with a fairly relaxed atmosphere (not unsual really) but is pretty crowded. I would say this is a must see for visitors to Cambridge. It is typical english pub sized so there is not a whole lot to see but it is worth stopping in for a pint.
Sunday 17 February 2008
Catz Connections
While we were at the Gielgud Theatre (see Aaron's post earlier today), I ran into an alumnus from St. Catharine's College! I was wearing my College scarf as I typically do in the cold, and he leaned over and said 'perhaps you'll recognize these'....he was wearing cufflinks with the St. Catharine's College shield. Apparently he went to St. Catharine's in the 60s and studied philosophy and law. It was pretty neat that he recognized the scarf and said something.
Iolanthe in London
We went down to London yesterday to see Iolanthe (a Gilbert and Sullivan play) at the Geilgud theatre. I have not seen any of their stuff before but it was pretty good. There were a lot of references to British politics that I did not quite understand but the production values seemed good and it was entertaining.
We took the train down and back and used a line which went into Liverpool Street Station that we had not tried before. Overall I liked the train a little better but it was slower than the line that goes into Kings Cross. It also required more travel on the underground to get to central London but it was slightly cheaper. We discovered that you still have to go up to the ticket window to get the cheapest tickets (as opposed to ordering them online or getting them at the machines). For four people it was 38 pounds total for a return trip into London (off-peak).
We took the train down and back and used a line which went into Liverpool Street Station that we had not tried before. Overall I liked the train a little better but it was slower than the line that goes into Kings Cross. It also required more travel on the underground to get to central London but it was slightly cheaper. We discovered that you still have to go up to the ticket window to get the cheapest tickets (as opposed to ordering them online or getting them at the machines). For four people it was 38 pounds total for a return trip into London (off-peak).
Tuesday 5 February 2008
A new home!
On Saturday we finally moved into our own flat! We'd been living with Antranig for 9 months (11 months for Aaron) - it is so nice to be on our own again! We found a nice one bedroom flat, it's a little small, but has enough space for all our things, so that's all that matters. The living room is big enough to put in an air mattress for company, so we're in good shape!
Saturday was an exciting day. We had to bring the deposit and first month's rent in cash or banker's draft (guaranteed funds) to the rental agency. We had meant to go out Thursday or Friday to get the cash, but our days filled up and we didn't have time. So we went to the bank Saturday morning...only to discover that although the bank was physically open (there were people there ready to help you open a bank account, etc.), the tellers were not! We couldn't withdraw more than 500 GBP - the limit on what we could get from the ATM. Not good! Aaron wanted to just give up and go home, move in on Monday. I was determined I was not going to be delayed in moving AGAIN (after the initial delay that arose when the landlord from the previous place we had lined up backed out the day before we were to move in), so I decided to go on to the rental agency and plead our case. Aaron followed. Fortunately, the gentleman at the rental agency was pretty forgiving. We explained the situation and gave him the cash we did have, then wrote a check for the rest. We had to go back and give him cash on Monday for the amount on the check, but that was a small price to pay to go ahead and move in. We were so happy to be dealing with someone who had everything organized and together.
We had a celebratory lunch at Pizza Hut (Aaron says he was going there anyway, but it's kind of expensive, so I felt like it was celebratory), then went back to Antranig's and finished packing. We took a first load over to the flat on our bikes and looked around to determine the pre-move in condition (we'll have to sign something about the state of the flat on move in when they mail it to us here in a few days). While we were here, the man with a van we hired called up - he was waiting outside Antranig's! Fortunately, the new flat was only a few blocks from Antranig's, so we hurried on over. The man with a van was absolutely wonderful (I highly recommend him to any Cambridge folks looking to move a small quantity of stuff). He was well-organized, loaded his van very efficiently, and got all of our stuff over here in just one trip. He was extremely friendly, and enjoyed picking on you a bit - he had me going for a while that he knew someone in Blacksburg Virginia (where my parents live)...until I realized he was looking at a box shipped from my parents while he was talking. The whole move probably didn't take more than an hour.
I spent the rest of the day unpacking, and got mostly done. We still needed hangars and a cabinet for the bathroom, so I couldn't get everything done quite yet. Yesterday (Monday) we got our internet hooked up and went out and got a few more things. Still no bathroom cabinet, but everything else is in pretty good shape. I've been really enjoying having our own place!
Saturday was an exciting day. We had to bring the deposit and first month's rent in cash or banker's draft (guaranteed funds) to the rental agency. We had meant to go out Thursday or Friday to get the cash, but our days filled up and we didn't have time. So we went to the bank Saturday morning...only to discover that although the bank was physically open (there were people there ready to help you open a bank account, etc.), the tellers were not! We couldn't withdraw more than 500 GBP - the limit on what we could get from the ATM. Not good! Aaron wanted to just give up and go home, move in on Monday. I was determined I was not going to be delayed in moving AGAIN (after the initial delay that arose when the landlord from the previous place we had lined up backed out the day before we were to move in), so I decided to go on to the rental agency and plead our case. Aaron followed. Fortunately, the gentleman at the rental agency was pretty forgiving. We explained the situation and gave him the cash we did have, then wrote a check for the rest. We had to go back and give him cash on Monday for the amount on the check, but that was a small price to pay to go ahead and move in. We were so happy to be dealing with someone who had everything organized and together.
We had a celebratory lunch at Pizza Hut (Aaron says he was going there anyway, but it's kind of expensive, so I felt like it was celebratory), then went back to Antranig's and finished packing. We took a first load over to the flat on our bikes and looked around to determine the pre-move in condition (we'll have to sign something about the state of the flat on move in when they mail it to us here in a few days). While we were here, the man with a van we hired called up - he was waiting outside Antranig's! Fortunately, the new flat was only a few blocks from Antranig's, so we hurried on over. The man with a van was absolutely wonderful (I highly recommend him to any Cambridge folks looking to move a small quantity of stuff). He was well-organized, loaded his van very efficiently, and got all of our stuff over here in just one trip. He was extremely friendly, and enjoyed picking on you a bit - he had me going for a while that he knew someone in Blacksburg Virginia (where my parents live)...until I realized he was looking at a box shipped from my parents while he was talking. The whole move probably didn't take more than an hour.
I spent the rest of the day unpacking, and got mostly done. We still needed hangars and a cabinet for the bathroom, so I couldn't get everything done quite yet. Yesterday (Monday) we got our internet hooked up and went out and got a few more things. Still no bathroom cabinet, but everything else is in pretty good shape. I've been really enjoying having our own place!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
