Hmm, Where Did I Leave Off?

I know it has been some time since my last post.  Anyone following this blog must either have insomnia or little else to do right now. So where did I leave off? Right, massaging the sore muscles from my partially completed Walk Across England (WAE). 

Here is where we are going next. The week after the WAE (which was the last week in August) I visited Whitby and Cambridge, retrieved my bicycle (thank you Caroline), and prepared to fly from London to Paris for a ten-day excursion to western France before flying on to Bulgaria. 

That France visit included Giverny, Mont Saint Michel, a hop on a ferry to the Channel Island of Jersey (and back) for a couple of days, Saint Malo (forget about Carcassonne), the American cemetery at D Day beaches, and, last but not least for the religious among you (surely there must be one or two), mass at Chartres Cathedral en route to Paris. And let's not forget visiting the enormous cathedral in Bayeux. 

I am currently ensconced in an apartment in Burgas, Bulgaria (thankfully, after six weeks or so, I'm back to cooking and eating my fill of veggies). I have my morning coffee while sitting on my balcony four floors up, enjoying a commanding view of the Black Sea.  Bulgaria is my worldly home for 26 days.

Having gotten little out of my high school English class, I do however remember something about parsing (hmm, did I need a comma after however?). So, we'll tackle the week in England for one post, move on to the ten-day France trip for the next post, and finally whet your wine appetite with one from my journey thus far in Bulgaria. Please tell your friends and acquaintances that I am back to blogging.

Ready?

The Walk Across England ends in the town of Robin Hood's Bay.  Wainright, the author of the WAE, added insult to injury ending it here. The road into town leading down to Wainright's bar is as steep as and four or five times longer than an Olympic ski jump. My personal opinion is that they should station defibrillators every 100 yards along the road instead of all those damned ice cream parlors and cafes. Sorry, no pictures of the street. I was too busy zapping myself with a defib.  BTW, did you know they will not work if they detect a pulse?  It is amazing the information you pick up while walking along with new friends on the WAE.

Enough musing, how about some pictures?!

Whitby is a town just up from Robin Hood's Bay where I chose to rest for a couple of days.  I have been here before.  It is a lovely seaside town and being by the sea, the restaurants naturally offer seafood. As you can see from the photo below, this leads to a dilemma. And before you ask, no, I don't know what Woof is.  It seems to me, if anything, they should have had Meow on offer.

From Whitby to nondescript Cheltenham and then on to Cambridge.  It turns out that in 1209 some scholars fled Oxford and settled in Cambridge. Don't ask me why. I think it had something to do with fleeing persecution due to a conflict between church and state. Anyway, it led to the founding of Kings College.  Later, Queens College, Trinity College, etc. etc.  Just think: walking through a building so many centuries old.

I'll tell you right up front; it is impossible for me to capture decent photos of Cambridge with just my iPhone camera. I think a drone, Imax, or something else is needed to do it justice. 

I'm starting with the Cathedral of Great Saint Mary's because the idea of persecution is still on my mind.  There is a history of Saint Mary's on a large board just as you enter the doors.  It's a bit difficult to make out, but you can see it dates from 1205.  Now let your eye drift down to the date of 1551.   Martin Bucer, a celebrated Protestant reformer dies and is buried there.  Five short years later Queen Mary, best known for her aggressive attempt to reverse the English Reformation, has his body dug up and burnt in the square.  So much for the concept of forgive and forget. 

Impressive is the word for King's College Chapel as seen in the following photos.

By the way, for you art fans that's Rubens’ Adoration of the Magi.

Now on to other art inside Kings College Chapel

 I spent half an hour unsuccessfully trying to locate the Brimstone Exit.

 Here are two pictures of a portion of Trinity College:

A little about my lodging in Cambridge.  How is this for a place to spend a couple of nights?  I felt positively baronial.

  

As for my bicycle, it got sent on its way to the Languedoc region in southern France where I hope to be reunited with it later in October for a bit of cycling.  Hopefully I will get much better reacquainted with it next May and June for some serious touring in France.  Next to follow is a blog post about western France.