We found a pasty shop on our journey, the West Cornwall Pasty Company (www.westcornwallpasty.co.uk), and were drawn in because of the smell. Just having eaten we couldn't bring ourselves to buy anything but promised the woman we would be back. We wondered down the street getting soaked when we decided it would be a good idea to look for scarves as it was so cold. We poked into several clothing shops and even a mountain sports shop before we arrived at a woolen items store. We quickly found some cheap scarves. The two girls quickly picked out some as they were two for ten pounds. Will bailed, ironically the one we were trying to get a scarf for in the first place. I ran upstairs to see what they had besides sire name crests for the scottish. I was rewarded by a wide range of clothes and some really 30 pound wool blankets that were amazing. The real reward for going upstairs was actually received on going back down stairs. I made it three steps before my right boot slipped forward on the rubber edge of the step, trusting my weight back. Just as quickly my left foot slipped forward under the extra weight. I went shooting down the steps, thud thud thud thud - thud as I hit the last step. It was the quickest feet ten blur of steps that I remember. The girls looked concerned and then started laughing as I got right up - I actually thought it was funny to, but only because of the rapid clicking thud sound I made on every step. I walked away with only throbbing thumb, a sore right upper back and my brused pride. One of the workers asked if I was ok, but definitely not in a timely fashion. Clearly being concerned about a person who might sue (yes I am an american, lets play up the stereotype) was not a top priority - or maybe they just had people slide down the stairs all the time and it was now not a big deal in their minds. Whatever the case we wondered into the rain.
Quickly getting soaked we decided to go back and get our pastries so we would have time to dry out. The girls ended up getting bacon and cheese while Will and I got the traditional - steak. Not only were these crisp delicious pastries hot and crispy, but they were also filled with a thick meat stew on one side and a onion potato and swede (Swedish turnip) mix, which reminded me of bamboo shoots in consistency and shape without the fibers. We didn't start in on our food until we got back to the hotel as we had just had breakfast. It was a bit too heavy for me so early in the day, so I put it aside and saved it for later. Setting out my clothes to dry and attacking my shoes and down jacket with a hair dryer I added long-johns and wool socks to keep me even warmer for the coming tour.
We left at 12:40 for a walking tour where we learned about all the different history of both many people and the buildings which existed in Cambridge. Everything from the churches, which I learned were not cathedrals, to the university (and colleges), to the discovers of DNA - which just happened to announced their finding in the Eagle pub we had eaten at the night before. I found it ironic when the tour guide told us that America hadn't created Public Relations. Apparently all the important people in the world (in Britain) made colleges (or churches) in their names to show how amazing there actually were. These also included kings who happily put their crests all over the place, like Kings College - cough - King Henry the 8th. He had a way of making a good image for himself, or at least making a lasting positive impression for a chapel that took 7 kings to build and a college that was made from 20% of the town, which a previous Henry had bought at the age of 17. The tour guide, Shelah, was really funny and informed us that the "other place", Oxford, did silly types of teaching while the true people who mattered - inventors - came form Cambridge. Inventors we learned are the true people that change the world - not the politicians who study in Oxford. We also learned that teenagers are trouble and that she liked dissing on the twenty-first century. We also learned about punting - a story I hope I can tell you about tomorrow.
After the tour we went to the Slug and Lettuce for a cup o' tea. I took the recommendation of the waitress and got an english tea, which I happily dumped both sugar packes she gave me as well as the milk. We had a good long visit about dream cars and several other conversations before we broke off from the group, the two girls, the other meg, and myself. First we hit up a paper store looking at postcards to send home. We didn't find any worth getting, but I did find a Moleskine notebook. I had been looking for one before I left so I would have something to put my recites in and to write down random thoughts or comments, such as the ones I learned from the tour. We decided to hit up this bakery that we had passed multiple times. We were exploring when went through a open doored mall that we thought was a street. We found bits of america here and then among the mostly European shops. We dived into a shoe store where I wanted to buy some bright neon yellow and dark green Nikes, but alas, they didn't fit and didn't feel like a very solid shoe for the $75 I would've had to shell out. We moved on and stared in on our food. I had a mini strawberry fondant covered and strawberry filled sponge cake while the girls had fudge cake and an eclair. Best. Sugar. Rush. Ever. We couldn't help ourselves and went into the first apple store we saw, good old Mac. While I played fruit ninja with Erin both Megs looked up places to eat. Finding one, I switched to the new mac book air (free advertisement I know) and did a google map directions to figure out how to get there. Took me a little bit of time to type because the keyboard was different because of the size and there were a few odd symbols as well. The Moleskine quickly paid off as we wrote the directions in there. Too bad we didn't exit the mall from the right way and got lost. Thankfully we found the market square rather quickly and read the map there.
We ended up at the Alma pub. I ordered shepherds pie (lamb) with salad and two pieces of garlic-bread, while the girls got wraps and scami - breaded shrimp balls. I ended up having a few scampi, which were great, and I LOVED the shepherds pie! It reminded me oddly of venison but was absolutely great. I didn't really eat enough of it as Meg took a good chunk of it but it was soo good! I seem to have a thing for potatoes and stew like meat mixed together. I must digress and and change quickly to our most entertaining of subject of me giving 50 pence so the hooker could play ball. The place was decked out in rugby stuff and Megan apparently plays for the PLU/UPS team. The hooker is the one who often gets the ball and throws it or tries to "hook" it with their feet. We got lots of play by plays with glasses, the salt, coasters, and my money as the ball. All I know is I don't want to be in a rucker (yes, spelled like *ucker) on the ground wrestling for the ball while people can only try to tackle each other if they walk all over me, another wonderful rule to this violent game. Our conversation eventually turned to cauliflower ears, which had Meg making great faces. The fries, excuse me, chips were wonderful and the garlic break was just as wonderful. We learned that ordering from the bar means you need to be on the bar to order or people will cut infront and that leaving your dishes is acceptable. Meg awkwardly running to the man at the tap was priceless to watch. She claims to be shameless and I love it. So glad I don't have to be stupid by asking questions - but we thought this was a better option than doing a social faux pas that would impact their image of americans. We were so glad we had avoided the touristy locations and the atmosphere was great with the large groups, dart games, and rugby being played on the TV. We all chose water to drink, though it was brought up that it was odd that we were the only ones in the pub not drinking. This started a discussion about when and if we would drink. It was voiced that this was an experience that we would only get to have once in college, drinking in a british pub, and the same for Germany. None of us had really drank much in the past, minus one. We decided to put off the decision until London and enjoyed the rest of our mean and rugby explanation - a decision that would at least save us $5 a glass. I took a picture there of their healthy drinking promotions. Condensed to the huge easy words to read if you were drunk the read: Think, Drink, Drive. The average bloke probably did a quick tally and said they only had the last one to do.
We ended the night by talking will our professor. Our life stories, alcohol, other professors, our class, alcohol, and what we each thought should be changed in the class came up. All I know is I wish I had more done so that I could better enjoy the trip. I just didn't look forward to reading the last four books I had left in my pile. Thank goodness for airport time I guess. I finished the rest of my pasty, now delicious to my still hungry body. Writing this had me thinking, along with our group discussion with our professor, what are the ethics of drinking? Should we have a lower drinking age in the US? What about the topic of dry campus? Does having a dry campus actually do any good for our population or would it be better served by a wet campus with better education and enforcement? These struck me as a mental process for a long plane ride and not at midnight...I feel like I should learn to type even faster...or with less words. Professor Harney would say that is a good challenge as PR people should be able to write fast - along the 3 Cs: Clear, Concise, and Coherent. Concise is clearly lacking so I have taken up my professor's (Greg) challenge. My Title will now be a Tweet in length - less than 140 characters and no longer. Good night Cambridge. See you in the morning for our first philosophy class.
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