England Trip -- Day 9

We woke up this morning in Selkirk, Scotland -- a little border town.
 

We got a nice start to the day with smoked salmon, scrambled eggs, and Scottish porridge, and soon we were piling back in the car to head back to England.



Seven and a half hours later... we arrived in Cambridge!



Cambridge is only 30 minutes from Carrie and Ben's small town, so we opted to swing by there on the way home since we'd scratched it from the schedule last week.


We were really glad we did, because Cambridge is a great town!  It has a river going through it and lots of green park area on either side to sit by the water.
 

I have been growing increasingly irritated with America's "food" situation while here.  Why are we still eating artificial colors and flavorings and high fructose corn syrup?  Why do our kids eat chemicals on a regular basis, instead of actual food?
 

When did this become acceptable??  Nothing here has high fructose corn syrup or artificial anything.  If something contains stabilizers, it names them.



The transparency in their food labeling and grocery stores and restaurants is amazing.  I am so jealous.  And I'm increasingly disgusted with our choices in the US.
 

Cambridge is a college town, of course, so there were lots of college-age kids walking around.



And biking around.  Everybody in Cambridge rides bikes, it seemed.



There were some cars, but there were tons of bikes.
 

It seemed like everywhere you looked there was evidence of the huge number of bikes in Cambridge.
 

I thought every zone was a pedestrian zone.  Apparently not.  



The colleges and churches at Cambridge are exquisite.  They all possess that ancient charm England is known for. 






We arrived too late to go inside the colleges (each college is made up of a gated-off group of buildings that share a common courtyard), but it was fun to walk by them and learn a couple interesting facts.
 

This church had a really over-grown, beautiful green "garden" behind it.



Ben goes, "If you plant your garden in a cemetery, that's kind of cheating."  Hah.  I thought it was funny.



Carrie met us for dinner after work.


 We ate at The Galleria, and it was really yummy.  We got to sit outside, which we love.



Mine was grilled chicken on potatoes au gratin with asparagus spears in a lemon butter herb sauce.  So, so good!



Carrie's closest colleague and his girlfriend happened to walk by, so they joined us for dessert.  It was so nice to get to spend some time with people who are around Carrie and Ben a bit.  Carrie introduced them as "our best friends here."  Good people, good food, good town.  Good night!