rowing on the Cam, originally uploaded by julesberry2001.

My recurring dreams are usually about exam taking or rowing, presumably from having done too much of both in my youth. In this particular dream, I was sitting behind James in the middle "powerhouse" part of the boat. Twice we raced and beat the Master's boat. And then we had lunch in the sun.

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j&J's' International Tour of parts of the West of England #4

Hmmm...The view from the ancestral home and Kirkby Lonsdale's famous Ruskin's View (admired by Ruskin but painted by Turner).

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Jules' and James' International Tour of parts of the West of England #3

On the roof, originally uploaded by julesberry2001.

The ancestral home did, however, need some repair. Luckily no one fell off the roof so Pop was able to celebrate his 80th birthday the next day in style. Is the key to a long life, perhaps, climbing on the roof only when it isn't raining? We have often marvelled at the number of typhoon deaths in Japan that are the result of pensioners wandering out on their roofs in the height of the storm.

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cereal, originally uploaded by julesberry2001.

Over the last decade the British public have finally accepted the essential nature of chocolate in the diet, and almost all breakfast cereals are now fortified with vitamins, minerals and chocolatey goodness.

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Jules' and James' International Tour of parts of the West of England #2

After the long journey up north we recuperated at my ancestral home. Luckily (from the maintenance point of view) this is not it.

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Jules' and James' International Tour of parts of the West of England #1

The first place we stopped on the way was a Little Chef. In the last decade Little Chef has become very red indeed, while froth and chocolate has been added to the top of the hogwash. The cooked breakfasts looked quite good, but we didn't try one as we were already getting very fat from British food.

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Flowers and a bee

Another bee in focus!

[Leckhampton Garden, Cambridge]

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Trinity

Trinity College is posh and rich and not where normal people go. I thought, however, that it would be appropriate to visit Newton's Ghost who lives there, since we are working at his institute. Here the Camcard has less power, and was met by the porter with a disapproving look and an admonition to stick to the tourist path.

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Arches #2

The more arches the better but huge and decorated gets extra points.

[Entrance to St John's College Chapel]

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Arches #1

Generally, the more arches the better.

[Clare College entrance]

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Flower

This flower was striking with its bright pink colour, but I have no idea what kind of flower it is.

[Clare College Fellows' Garden, Cambridge]

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swan

I wonder how this swan got tied in a knot. Probably frightened into it by WC as he careered down the river.

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Camcard

Carrying one Camcard gets two people free entry to most of Cambridge's top tourist attractions. In fact it is even worse than this since one typically gets a "Oew du carry on modam" or similar courtesy from the porters as one creeps past the throng of queueing tourists.

[King's College, Cambridge]

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soft fruit

Probably you don't recall the story of how James robbed me of my iPhone. Since then, I have been eagerly awaiting the release of a new iPod Touch. Now it is out, but here in the UK, people want to know my opinion of Blackberries. I'm not sure what they have to do with iPhones, so I just reply that I like them very much, especially the ones that are juicy from having grown by the river, but that, unfortunately, I have little experience of late, as they are not available in Japan. Incompatible with the climate I suppose.

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Kentish Relic

I should have blogged this a few weeks ago. While in Kent we visited Ightham Mote. This building is the antedote to Japanese building practice, where everything is completely torn down and rebuilt when changes are required. Ightham Mote has been around since the 14th century, being gradually added to and diddled with by successions of not particularly famous owners. Recently it has undergone a 10 million pound restoration.

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Bee

British insects are small and docile. Photographically these two things counteract each other, making them just as difficult to focus on. This one isn't far off, but the picture is heavily cropped which is, of course, cheating.

[Photo taken in Clare Fellows' Garden]

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Views from the back of the tandem

Cambridgeshire is topographically uninspiring, but interesting things can occasionally be spotted peeking up through the crops.

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Corpus Christi College, originally uploaded by julesberry2001.

Last night I exorcised my dining rites at Corpus. I took my husband with me, and luckily, this time he did not commit any politically incorrect faux pas. We discovered another dramatic change in British culture. During the long evening drinking bottle after bottle of fortified wines, we found that cigars we not available. Instead we were offered snuff. Yes. Really. Snuff! ..and I'd thought it was only Japan that was culturally still in the 18th century.

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Newton's ghost

The ghost of Isaac Newton haunts Cambridge, and Trinity College in particular, where all students unwise enough to enter the chapel will get the opportunity to be made to feel small by his overbearing statue. Meanwhile Cambridge fellows wring their hands and question why Cambridge has never produced another Newton.

A more interesting question might be, did he actually eat the apple after it had fallen from the tree?

This apple was photographed in Clare College Fellows' Garden. These fallen apples were being eaten only by moorhens, but they were far to clever to allow themselves to be photographed in the act.

I wonder if it is all this pressure to be brilliant that has pushed Cambers back to the top of the World Rankings. I suspect it may have more to do with the brilliance of Alison Richards, who has done an amazing job of screwing simply huge amounts of cash out of us all over the last few years. We even met her in Tokyo!

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streets of Ayr #2, originally uploaded by julesberry2001.

The ghost of commerce past.

Actually I thought Ayr was looking a lot happier than when we last visited 1.75 years ago. Back then there was the depression of almost every shop being in a state of closing down bankruptcy. The still open cafes served recession specials and the remaining shops had special recession deals. Now all that has gone and one notices more the signs of carpentry indicating new shops about to open.

This street down by the harbour though was another story... I think only one establishment was still in business, and it was closing down.

I've not noticed recession elsewhere - not in Glasgow 1.75 years ago, nor Cambridge now. Glasgow is far shinier than it ever was and Cambridge about the same, although the roads are busier.

The house prices everywhere are unbelievably enormous. Clearly, when we retire, we will all go and live with our parents.

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streets of Ayr #1, originally uploaded by julesberry2001.

More cultural change over the last decade. Horrible dog shit replaced by horrible signs.

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beach #1, originally uploaded by julesberry2001.

Ayr beach again. One way in which Scotland is superior to Japan is that when the sun does eventually shine the light quality is never far from "Golden Hour".

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flower, originally uploaded by julesberry2001.

Mother-in-Law is very proud of the herd of these purple flowers that she nurtures in pots in her tropical Scottish garden. Luckily she did not excommunicate me from the clan when I asked if they weren't a kind of onion and mentioned that they grow as weeds in Japan.

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beach etiquette

In Scotland it is important that your overcoat, which is worn every day of the year, is the same colour as your dog.

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