Birthday Blog!

     

This March on the 1st, I turned 21! For my birthday in the morning my mom and I went out for afternoon tea at a cool little tea room in a hidden lane near our house. 

They brought us out a cool tray of different scones / muffins with some small sandwiches. Along with that we tried some different teas, they had good Chai teas and fancy looking tea cups and tea pots. 

The best thing on the tripple stacked plate thing was the blueberry pastry. After that we went into the city center and went to TK Maxx. I bought the largest candle I could find that had 7 wicks:

We also went suit shopping for our trip to Cambridge.

I got some really awesome gifts including some cool teas from Effie and a bottle that had a tea infuser in it. I also got a huge omega juicer. It is a juicer that is really good at juicing celery which is really good for you. We are drinking celery juice every day in the morning, and celery is very cheap so we juice a lot of it. It gets a lot of juice out of the celery and has a special setting only for celery. Its a slow juicer, but it gets more juice out of whatever we have. 

For dinner that night we all went to a restaurant called Ka Pao. They had a variety of different interesting dishes, it was like a tapas place where we ordered many different things and tried them all. The inside was very busy that night.

We started with white crab shrimp crackers.

Below are pepper oyster mushrooms.

The braised beef above was my favorite, with apache potatoes and Massaman curry. 

The fish was also really good, red curry sea trout.

Overall it was a great day. Had some great food and got some nice gifts! 

Happy Birthday to Jackson 

from 

the 

Scotland Squad

Cambridge - from the inside out

Well they say it is WHO you know, not WHAT you know, and we are privileged to know some (young) friends in high places!  

Bikem Pastine (Kim to us) was a student with Jackson for secondary school in Dublin.  High school to you Americans.  She is so brilliant, that she is currently a student at the prestigious Cambridge University in the UK, and I have to say, they are more than lucky to have her.  Jackson and I decided to take a mid-week break and go down to visit for a few days.  Hoping not to trouble her too much or interrupt her studies.  

And I'm so glad we did!!!!

What I didn't realize is that in the UK you graduate in 3 years with your Bachelors.  Then can do your masters in the following year.  (if you so desire).  Since her lovely parents are both PhD's, I have a hunch, she will keep on going and going and going.....

Anyway - we got there just in time to see Cambridge from the inside out.  Before Kim graduates this July.  With top honours if I can boast a bit about this amazing female!

Many say that Cambridge is more beautiful than Oxford, but I was dubious.  We have been to Oxford a couple of times and it is a stunner!  The history oozing from all corners of campus, along with cool Harry Potter places where they shot parts of the movies.  

So we decided to see for ourselves.  Oxford vs. Cambridge AND we get to travel - it doesn't get much better than this! 

First off, it was so nice getting on a flight without loads of paperwork and covid tests to prove we are safe to be around.  Do you remember those days?  Gosh how they have been missed.  

Our first stop was the taco food truck, because of course it was!  The cuteness was on overload and the food delish!  

Then we went punting!  It is the number one thing to do in Cambridge per tripadvisor.  You get to be slowly pushed down the river (kinda like Venice - but NOT).  We had a lovely day and a funny punter, so off we went.  There is bridge after bridge to view, all while passing by some of the 31 colleges at Cambridge Uni.  

This is the bridge of Sighs, and my absolute favourite, so you get two photos of it.  There is one in Venice, Las Vegas and Oxford and I can say this is the best I've seen.  The one in Oxford goes over a street, so the one over the River Cam wins IMHO.  

St Johns College

This is the mathematical bridge that they say was built by Sir Isaac Newton without the use of bolts and nuts, but it is a myth.  (or is it?)

Doesn't this look fake?  I'd swear it was a cheap backdrop if I hadn't shot it myself.  It is Kings College Chapel.

This is the Wren library, not open to the public.  But when you have friends in high places, they tend to pull off the unthinkable.  We got to see AA Milne's first edition of Winnie the Pooh, as well as Sir Isaac Newton's diary, walking stick and more.  I couldn't believe Kim and her friends made this a reality for me, I was so incredibly grateful!

The other thing we were blessed to take part in, was a formal dinner at Christ's College. All of the colleges have formals, but few guests get to attend.  It was a treat where we got to meet people from the Kerala Club and the Maths Club.  Surrounded by all of these brilliant minds, in a Harry Potter type dining hall, with a handsome date was a pure belter!!  I loved every minute of it.  

After the formal, there is no better place to go than to get in the queue at Jack's Gelato.  They are known for their crazy flavors and they lived up to the hype.  

or should we say, Jackson's Gelato?

And folks, that was just day one!!  

WHATTTTTT?

The next day we popped into a magnificent and huge church, which I do at any chance I can get, as they are such beauties to marvel at. 

Then we climbed St Mary's tower for a stunning view of the city.  

We then headed for this Corpus Clock (or grasshopper clock).  Which is there to remind you of the passage of time.  "The world and its desires pass away" it says in Latin at the bottom.  So live life and enjoy, and don't waste a single minute.  At least that is my interpretation.

Then we were off to Trinity College for the inside view.  Kim works miracles.  

We are inside the forbidden Wren Library and I'm well chuffed!!

Winnie the Pooh and Sir Isaac Newton, and yup, even in that order.  

Look at this great Hall - 'alohomora' (she yells swinging her wand) - and the doors opened wide!  

Kim is in Newnham College at Cambridge, and its a beauty. 

Now we were off to King's College and Chapel from the outside and in.

Then lunch at The Giggling Squid.  How cute is that name.  It was fantastic Thai food!  With ambiance to spare....  

The on to the Fitzwilliam Museum.

It is hard to describe just how massive and vast this entrance hall is.  

Whew - I feel like we really did Cambridge right and not to mention Kim and her friends that made it such a memorable experience.  It will be a trip to remember for a long while. 

Thanks Kim - you are literally one of a kind and I'm so glad you are our friend!  

Oh yeah, and for Celtic Kitty, Cambridge wins hands down!