Farewell Cambridge

Gooodbye Cambridge

The following post dates for Friday, June 29th

Today we leave Cambridge, forever. Most of this may be a little drab but I guess I’m writing this more for me to remember how everything went.

Since I got back from the club so late last night, I didn’t really have any time to pack. I left it all for this morning. And I woke up 30 minutes too late. I had so much crap to do. I thought about showering, since I haven’t since yesterday and I sweated a lot, but I didn’t have time. So first I threw down my suitcase and started shoving stuff in there as tightly as I could. I’m really glad that I brought an extra duffle bag for all the Cambridge wear that I bought for myself and people, otherwise none of it would ever have fit. Jennifer calls me kinda worried about a car bomb threat in the Picadilly area. I asked Simon about it, and he said that the police had neutralized the bomb, just the tube near the Picadilly Circus would be shut down, which meant all the other tubes may be slowed as well.

As I was packing I would think of something else that I had neglected to do. I still needed to write an inscription in the journal that I got for the Betson’s. So I stopped packing for a good 20 minutes to write them a short message. I made it downstairs at around 9:50 and I was supposed to meet Ani at the bus at 10:00. Dilema. Simon offered to give us a ride to the train station, which was extremely helpful in our time crunch. I could finally slow down. Simon and Karen had been working on an amazing English breakfast for my last morning at the Betson house. It consisted of eggs, bacon, sausage, black pudding, hash browns, toast, beans, and tomatoes. Oh my God, it was so good. I felt bad that I was shoveling it down instead of savoring it.

Wow

After breakfast, I presented Simon and Karen with the journal with my inscription in it. They absolutely loved it, or at least I hope they did. I went over to the family room where Harry was watching TV, and said my goodbye to him. Although he may be wild, he’s a really great kid that loves his parents. A couple nights before I left, Harry came into my room and we started talking. First I offered him some Bubbalicious. Then he asked me if I was really going to be leaving in three days. I was like yeah, I have too. Then he paused for a bit and said, “I will really miss you when you’re gone, James.” I was touched. I didn’t really know what else to say but, “I’ll miss you too Harry.” So today, as I was fixing to leave, I gave him a hug told him goodbye. I wasn’t abel to say goodbye to Lauren, but I wrote one in the journal that I left for them.

Next up was Karen. This was harder than I thought. I didn’t realize how attached I had gotten over the past month. I thanked her for all the hospitality she had shown me and for welcoming me into her family as one of their own. She has been one of the kindest people I have ever known. I think between the moment when I started loading up their van and actually pulling out of the driveway, I gave her a series of three hugs. We left right around 10:10 am. We picked up Ani, and headed off to the train station. I’m really glad that Simon offered us a ride because it took us no time at all.

During the car ride over to the train station, I was dreading saying goodbye to Simon. He and I had become the closest over the past month and we’ve shared many nice talks. After we unloaded our luggage, I said my goodbye and tried not to hug him too hard and hurt his back. I admire Simon very much. He has an amazing devotion to his wife and family and the connection he shares with his kids is amazing. Not that most father’s wouldn’t, but Simon would do anything for his kids.

I waved goodbye as he drove off and we met everyone else to buy tickets to get to London. This last trip will be me, Bryan, Ani, Kacie, Jennifer, and Laura. Michelle will also be coming with us, but she will be leaving shortly after we arrive in London to say with her sister who happens to also be there.

So while people were buying tickets, I was watching the luggage. I made a comment about how in the event that 10 people run over, grab a bag, and run off, they would be screwed and this guy thought it was really funny. He approached me and we started talking about how I had to watch the luggage of a whole bunch of girls. I was like, I know right? But I didn’t and still don’t mind. They do all the hard work, I’m just manual labor. Anyways so apparently th guy is from Wisconsin and said some other stuff I don’t really remember. Nice guy though.

So we boarded the train and left Cambridge for the last time. It was kinda weird holding a one way ticket out of the place, and it was then that it really sunk in that I wouldn’t be coming back for a long time, if ever. No more class, no more 10 mile a day bike rides, no more pubs, no more city centres, no more punting, basically no more a lot of things.

But it was nice to be back in London. I didn’t realize exactly how much time I had been spent in London. I added it up, seven days and one morning. Not bad. I was glad I was coming back because there is still a lot that I haven’t seen: Westminster Abbey, the Tower of London, the Globe Theatre. And there were lots of things I wanted to see again. I was also very glad that Ani would be traveling with us. This will be our first trip I guess with Ani anywhere. Well there was Stonehenge. Anyways Ani’s a really funny guy and we get along well. It seems like the guy knows a little bit about everything. I usually default to him if I don’t know something. The guy also speaks Hindi and German really well. Ani this is all I will write about you. When we got to King’s Cross station, Bryan, Michelle, and I made our way over to the Dilke house to drop off our luggage with Nicole, our representative in London. She, like Layla, is very good to us and coordinates all of our activities in London.

Clair, Bryan, Rebecca, and I don’t need/want to carry our huge suitcases and bags with us around Germany. So I had to pack all my stuff into my backpack along with a laptop. We have to drop our stuff off today, because Nicole is not there on the weekends. So I forgot to factor in Saturday and Sunday’s clothes that I have to pack in as well. So it’s about a week’s worth of stuff crammed into my bag. I couldn’t fit exactly everything I wanted, so it looks like I’ll be re-wearing some of my things. It’s ok though, you can always turn things inside out. I also have axe, so it’s all good. I ended up having to stuff my toiletries into Clair’s bag.

So then, Bryan, Clair, Rebecca, and I made our way to the London eye via the tube to meet up with Jennifer, Kacie, Laura, and Ani. Jennifer and Clair have a mutual friends studying in Barcelona, and they made a weekend trip up to London for one of the girl’s birthday. We are meeting them at the eye too.

The London Eye
While we were waiting, Bryan and I went to a hotdog stand on a bridge and had hotdogs with grilled onions. It was so good. I have been craving one ever since our first week in London. We ate them immediately thereafter.

This picture looks kind of fake. Ok so around the tower for some reason are a bunch of storm troopers. Why? I don't know.
Ok so the London eye is basically this huge Ferris wheel with big glass pods instead of seats. It’s owned by British Airways and it rotates in one huge vertical circle so that you can see most of London from it.

The Big Ferris Wheel. Pretty cool actually. The main attraction I guess was parliament building and Big Ben next to the river Thames.

Parliament and Big Ben.I’m not exactly sure how high you get above London, but I know it takes about 30 minutes to make one complete revolution. I had a good time. Then Bryan, Ani, I had another hotdog, but this time we haggled. We got a pretty good price.

3 hot dogs wih grilled onions. 2 pounds a piece. From the eye, we went to the Tower of London at around 5 pm.

The Tower of London.

Clair Hollingsworth Jr.But they close at around 6, and it cost 13 pounds, so it wasn’t worth it. Perhaps tomorrow? So instead we split to our respective hostels to get ready for dinner. We went back to Kensington garden to relax for a while. I really love it there, it’s so peaceful.

Kensington Palace. Where Princess Diana lived.

Ani, Bryan, and Kacie just chilling.We stopped at the hostel for a minute, then headed back to Covent garden for dinner.

The area that we live in.
We went to a traditional pub and I had some fish and chips. Good.

Bryan and Ani

Kacie, I, and LauraThe girls wanted to find like a bar to buy a drink for the birthday girl so we walked around for a while looking for one. As we were walking these two middle eastern looking dudes come flying out of this café and these three other guys are chasing them.. Turns out, it was the café that we ate at the second day we were in London. Also turns out, the guys chasing the middle eastern dudes were the waiters. It was awesome. This one waiter swung at the middle eastern guy and missed, but the guy tripped and fell down. The other guy dropped his piece of pizza on the floor, but picked it up and continued to eat it as they ran away. The waiters were going to beat the crap out of these guys. Very nice.

So we find this random bar called the Crooked Surgeon and figured ok this looks fine. So I’m walking towards the back in the group and Clair and her friend Lydia come walking out. I’m like, “what’s the deal?” Clair goes, “um it’s a gay bar.” I look over her shoulder and there are literally 40 dudes standing there. Then I think to myself the Crooked Surgeon. OH MY GOD. Get out immediately. So I turn for the door, and the bouncer stops us and is like, “no worries, it’s not a gay bar, there just happens to be a lot of guys standing there. He also tells us that it was gay pride day and some of the guys could be gay, but it’s not a gay bar. So we decide, ok then go upstairs and avoid all the dudes.

Hm. I forget the first girls name. I think it starts with a J. Then Crystal, Clair, and Kacie.
We sat up there for a while and the girls had their drinks. There was a Cricket game going on in the background so Ani was explaining the rules to Bryan and me.

I ran into the bouncer going to the bathroom and he pulled me aside and was said, “by the way, this is a gay bar.” I started freaking out again. But he was just kidding. Apparently he and his buddies were having a good laugh at this. It’s all in good fun but I don’t want to get hit on by any dudes.

He did this periodically through the night. Nice guy actually. So after we finished, we talked for a while before heading back to our hostels. My room is just me, Kacie, Laura, and Jennifer, just like the sleeper train. Ani is worried about his snoring problem so he chose the single bed with 8 strangers. We have our own shower and toilet which is really nice. Oh and Bryan couldn’t find a hostel, so he is sleeping on our floor. I feel really bad for him. The floor sucks, I could never do it. But he’s a tough guy, so he can handle it.

So I finally get to shower after like almost 48 hours. By this time I am sufficiently dirty. But here’s an interesting fact about me. I don’t smell bad, ever. I could be covered in sweat and if you smelled my clothes, it would just smell like water. Basically I am awesome.

Tomorrow we plan on going to Wimbledon, and I’m very excited. I’ve never been to a professional tennis match, let alone the biggest tournament of the year. I hope I see some famous people. Ok sleep time.

-James