Summertime at Wicken Fen

Over the summer, we returned to Wicken Fen nature reserve.  Blake was writing a physical geography report on the location, I wanted to take some photos, and Cooper was itching for an adventure.  The weather was perfect, and everyone was out enjoying the weather.  Some people had even parked their houseboats and were enjoying a picnic. How quaint!

We paid more attention to the landscape this time since Blake was doing field research. The fens are very soggy; a type of wetland unique to this area of England.  You can easily see the standing water, and the windpump is designed to drain some of that water for agricultural purposes.  Needless to say, we wore our tall hiking boots and Cooper spent the day with a soaked underbelly.

My camera found a lot more wildlife this time than it did when we visited in the winter.  The highland cattle and konik ponies let me get some close-ups, as well as some ducks and insects.

Cooper found some wildlife too.  He caught the scent of something near the river, but the reeds were so thick that none of us could see what it was.  Being a hound, he followed the scent through the reeds until he literally ran headfirst into a roosting pheasant!  The huge bird immediately made a loud whooshing noise and took flight.  All of us were startled, but none more than Cooper, who jumped about a foot in the air at his discovery!  What a fun day.

~Lindsay

London with Parents

After returning from Spain, the four of us took the train down to London for a day.  We bought tickets for the tour bus, which drove us all over the city with a tour guide.  It was nice to sit back and relax after all of our walking in Spain... not to mention that the red double-decker bus is very iconic to London!

We hopped on and off the bus throughout the day to explore some of the sights.  We saw the changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace, ate lunch at the oldest surviving pub in London, and took pictures of St. Paul's Cathedral.  After driving across Tower Bridge, we walked around the Tower of London, and then hopped on a river boat cruise.  The tour guide told us all about the buildings full of history on either side as we made our way up the river toward Big Ben, which just so happened to be chiming for us as we approached.  My parents then went up in the Eye ferris wheel before we made our way back to the bus.

Our final part of the route took us through the neighborhoods of west London, where we got to see such places as Westminster, Paddington Station and Notting Hill.  The streets were all decked out in 'bunting' (streamers with the union jack) to celebrate the Queen's Diamond Jubilee, and it was quite a sight!

Changing of the Guard:

Eating meat pies at Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese:

St. Paul's Cathedral:

Tower Bridge:

Tower of London:

The family getting ready for a river cruise:

Big Ben and Houses of Parliament:

Bunting on every street:

London never disappoints, and we had a great day showing it off to my mom and dad!

~Lindsay

Spain

The highlight of Chuck and Lisa’s visit this summer was our trip to Spain.  We took the early flight from Stansted to Barcelona and arrived early afternoon.  After Lindsay impressed us with her Spanish skills by speaking with the ticket-master, we boarded a train which took us deep inside the city towards our rental apartment. The apartment was perfect for the four of us and very close to Las Ramblas, one of Barcelona’s main traffic arteries and a tourist center.  That evening, we walked down to the harbor and ordered the first of many tapas meals on the waterfront.  

Las Ramblas:

The next day, we took to the streets and navigated to the Cathedral of Barcelona.  This was a beautiful gothic cathedral, complete with a courtyard with a garden, cool burial markers, and roof access to view the city from above.  Later we went to the Picasso Museum where we saw the progression of Picasso’s art across his lifetime.  We ended the day with a long stroll down to the high-side of Las Ramblas.
Inside the Cathedral of Barcelona:

Burial Markers in the Cathedral courtyard:

Us on the Cathedral roof:

Day three was all things Gaudi.  If the city of Barcelona had an interior decorator, the artist Gaudi would be him.  We started with Park Guell, a neighborhood park designed by Gaudi to provide Barcelona’s turn-of-the-century upper-class with an artsy gated community, but it is now a park enjoyed by tourists marveling at his genius.
Park Guell entry plaza:

The family inside a pathway resembling the inside of a surfer's barrel wave:

Us sitting on the mosaic tiled benches that line the park's plaza:

Speaking of his genius, we went to Gaudi's unfinished Sagrada Familia, the most elaborate cathedral I have ever seen.  Words cannot express its beauty, so we took tons of pictures!
Nativity Facade of Sagrada Familia:

Sagrada Familia interior columns resembling a forrest:

Sagrada Familia Altar:

Us in Sagrada Familia:

Later that day, we went to Casa Mila, an apartment building that was designed by Guadi, from base to roof.  His style was to incorporate naturally occurring shapes into his architecture and art, and that gave his designs a very curvy and fluid look.

Front of Casa Mila:

Modernist chimneys and ventilation towers on Casa Mila's rooftop:

Inside a Casa Mila apartment (wooden double-chair designed by Gaudi):

The next day we explored Barcelona even further!  First we wandered La Boqueria market, where we picked up bits of fresh fruit, pastries, and tapas for breakfast.  Then we took a cable car up to Montjuic where we visited the castle where many political battles and executions took place.  We visited a museum dedicated to surrealist artist Miro, and the Catalan art museum.  That night, we slept well from all the walking, and prepared ourselves for our next destination, Sitges.
Fruit at La Boqueria:

Montjuic Castle gardens:

Us at the top of Montjuic:

Us in front of the National Art Museum of Catalonia:

Sitges was a town that attracted tourists and locals to their sandy beaches.  It was located about an hour away from Barcelona, by train, and was small enough that walking was a viable mode of transportation.  That day we spent time lounging on the beach, which was right next to our hotel where we got awesome upgraded suites.  Speaking of the beach, we were surprised to see many of the beach-goers tanning “European-style”, if you know what I mean!  That night, we headed down the beach for some amazing paella. 
View of the Sitges from the water:

Sitges's beachside boardwalk, leading to the church:

Us about to eat some paella:

For the rest of the trip, we spent as much time as possible relaxing on the beach, chilling by the pool, or strolling around the lively town of Sitges.  We went swimming in the Mediterranean ocean, but the pool water was a little warmer!  On the day of our departure, we took the train from Sitges back to the airport and began our journey back to England.  We had an amazing time and wouldn’t hesitate to go back. 
Our beach:

Relaxing poolside:

~Blake

p.s. Lindsay would like to add that there are lots more Spain photos available on her Flickr site, which you can see by clicking on the photos under "Lindsay's Photography" at the top right of this page.

Punting in Cambridge

After sleeping in to recover from our long day at Bruges, we took my parents to Cambridge for an afternoon.  We wandered through the open-air market, looked in some shops, checked out some of the historic college buildings, and admired the Corpus Clock.

Corpus Clock:

After all that walking, we relaxed on a punting boat.  It was a little chilly, but our boat driver/tour guide kept us dry and entertained us with stories and history of Cambridge University.

Punting Under the Mathematical Bridge:

Punting Under the Clare Bridge:

Punting Past Kings College:

Punting Under the Bridge of Sighs:

The Fam on the Boat:

We finished the day at our favorite Japanese restaurant; a great end to another great day in one of our favorite cities!

~Lindsay

Bruges, Belgium

While Lindsay’s parents were visiting, we decided to take a day-trip to Bruges, Belgium!  We used the Air Force’s Information Tickets and Travel (ITT) to book the trip, so we got a great price!  Early in the morning (or late at night for some folks), we boarded a bus outside the gate of RAF Alconbury and began our journey.  Our first stop was picking up more Americans from another nearby base; these were a rowdy bunch of people.  It was only 4am when we picked them up, but they were PUMPED, nonetheless.  Our next stop was at the England/France border (which is really the Chunnel station).  There our bus drove onto a train that took us through the Chunnel and onward to France.  The next stop was a chocolate factory some distance outside of Bruges, where the bus company had a deal with the locals to try to get Americans to buy all their chocolate before getting to Bruges.  We didn’t fall for that!

When our bus finally got to Bruges, it was already mid-morning, and our day just began; on foot from here!  Armed with nothing but our Rick Steve’s guide book, we took to the streets of Bruges.  We wanted to start far from where the bus parked, and slowly work our way back.  One of our first stops was at a little shop that sold Belgian waffles; Lindsay and I both got one.  They were delicious!  They were fluffy on the inside with crispy edges and covered in a caramelized sugar layer, which was the syrup substitute since these were sold to us in wax paper.
First view of historic Bruges when we arrived:

Throughout the day we stopped in numerous chocolate shops, historic buildings, and beautiful sites.  We bought some art and then strolled along the canals that meandered through the city.  We also stumbled across a gathering of the Belgian DeLorean Club where over 30 DeLoreans were parked at a city square; and yes, there was a Back to the Future model there too 
One of several interesting chocolate window displays:

Us at the Market Square:

Driving a DeLorean:

Boats on the canal:

We mostly ate chocolate all day long, but we did leave some space for some Belgian Frites (since Belgium is where fries were invented), which we ordered sans mayonnaise.   We had plenty of sweets for the bus ride home, which was brutally uncomfortable by this time of the day.  However, looking back on it now, it was one of our favorite European trips. 
All of us on a canal bridge:

~Blake

Burghley House

Unfortunately, we read the hours on the website wrong, and the Burghley House was closed when we arrived, but we made the best of it by walking around the grounds.  Then we went into Stamford where we did some shopping and had fish and chips.  It was a fun afternoon.

~Lindsay