Album: Stilton, Peterborough, and Cambridge

2003.08.23 16:38
Early in the morning on the third day of our trip we boarded a train headed north through the English countryside. Destination: Stilton! We were on our way to the Stilton Cheese-Rolling Festival.

2003.08.23 16:38
Stilton is a pretty little village in the middle of vast fields of green pasture. The country lanes bordering the small village center were lovely.

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The streets and neighborhoods of Stilton were lovely too. Quite idyllic!

2003.08.23 16:38
Ye Olde Fashioned Post Office Boxe

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Before the cheese rolling main event, there was a performance by some guys dressed up like knights from the middle ages. At the end of their act they invited the kids in the audience to participate.

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The kids screamed and charged the two adult actors, who started running away, only to stop, turn, and charge back. It was quite a sight to see the kids screaming and running after the knights one second, and the next second turning and fleeing for their lives!

The kids screamed and charged the two adult actors, who started running away, only to stop, turn, and charge back. It was quite a sight to see the kids screaming and running after the knights one second, and the next second turning and fleeing for their

2003.08.23 16:38
The main event was the cheese rolling races. Teams competed to be the fastest to roll a cheese down the slope to the bottom.

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The difficulty was that the cheese would often veer off course or start tumbling end-over-end, both of which slowed progress greatly. The fastest teams were able to roll the cheese on a straight and true path from the top to bottom.

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Many teams were in costume. Men and women competed separately.

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The disappointing part was that the cheese wasn't really a cheese. It was just a cheese-shaped block of wood. Apparently they gave up on using real cheese ages ago, as it often fell apart.

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The spectators didn't seem to mind though.

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Still, we thought it would have been much cooler if it were a real Stilton cheese. Anyone can roll a piece of wood down a hill, but where else does it make sense to roll a wheel of Stilton down a hill than in Stilton, England!?!?

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There were lots of cute kids in attendance.

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If memory serves, these guys won the men's division. It was probably the spandex.

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It didn't look like many of the participants had much experience, but they all looked to have a great time anyway.

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This kid almost got creamed when one of the "cheeses" jumped the wooden barrier at the bottom of the hill.

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It was a gorgeous day though. A little cool, but sunny and beautiful.

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Here's the proof - we've been to Stilton, England!

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After the cheese rolling the knights put on another show.

2003.08.23 16:41
Modern people dressed up in knight's armor always look so awkward when they move. Did knignts in the olden tymes look just as silly or were they more adept at moving gracefully in full armor?

2003.08.23 16:41
After the festivities we found ourselves trapped in Stilton with no way to get back to Peterborough. Luckily we ran into an older gentleman and his female companion who were waiting for a cab they had called to take them to a pub in Peterborough, and agreed to let us share the cab with them.

After the festivities we found ourselves trapped in Stilton with no way to get back to Peterborough. Luckily we ran into an older gentleman and his female companion who were waiting for a cab they had called to take them to a pub in Peterborough, and agr

2003.08.23 16:42
Petersborough was beautiful in the mid afternoon sun.

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There are alot of cathedrals in England and we saw our fair share, but this was one of the better ones.

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It's hard to take photos of stained glass.

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The interior featured some very interesting and unique architecture.

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While we were there they were performing some kind of rehearsal for a children's ceremony.

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The ceiling was beautiful.

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We took a very lovely and quiet walk around to the back of the cathedral.

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It's hard to balance a camera on a rock!

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From Petersborough we took a train to Cambridge. As a college town, Cambridge has its share of bicycles.

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Of course you can't go to Cambridge without punting on the River Cam!

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We were directed to this particular boat rental company by a very nice tout on the road. We talked to her for at least 15 minutes about what it was like to live in Cambridge (she is originally from Canada). She liked Cambridge well enough ...

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This is Cambridge University as seen from the river.

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Whoops, watch out for that tree!

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Halfway down the river we turned around and Nancy took over.

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Quack, quack!

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Nancy took to punting much more quickly than Bryan did. It must have helped that she got to observe him make all of the beginner's mistakes first!

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Same tree, other direction.

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Visitors are only allowed in certain parts of Cambridge University while classes are in session. There are little arrows all over the place pointing visitors to the path they are supposed to follow.

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Nancy in front at Cambridge.

2005.08.16 21:14
Nancy finds two of her identical triplets at Cambridge!

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Spiral staircase.

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How perfectly smashing it would be to matriculate in this fine establishment ...

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We had punted under this bridge ...

2003.08.23 16:42
Check out the pinky finger ... nice form!

2003.08.23 16:42
All that punting made us hungry for scones with clotted cream. They are, hands down, the absolutely most scrumptuous afternoon snack imagineable. There is nothing like Real English Clotted Cream! It's kind of like heavy whipped cream but thicker and tastier ...

All that punting made us hungry for scones with clotted cream. They are, hands down, the absolutely most scrumptuous afternoon snack imagineable. There is nothing like Real English Clotted Cream! It's kind of like heavy whipped cream but thicker and ta

2003.08.23 16:42