Peckish Travels

Greetings from Cambridge! We feel smarter already. We have had a great time here, and we haven’t really done anything yet.

We arrived in Cambridge on Sunday and had a lovely walk-through, pre-dinner social with neighbors, and dinner with our homeowners. We got a thorough overview of their beautiful home, an introduction to the beautiful Hugo and his care needs, and some great ideas for our extended visit. We are here for about 6 weeks — what a gift!

I have fallen in love with the area, as it is a dream for runners. There are so many pedestrian and bike paths, and the area is so active. The homeowners have bikes that we can use, so we are looking forward to biking as well. With Bob’s current hip issue, biking seems to be the gentlest form of manual transportation for him at the moment.

We began our sit about mid-afternoon on Monday and spent yesterday settling in and catching up on work, travel planning, and stocking up on groceries. We have learned that there are a lot of sculptures around town, and we passed a number of them on the way to the store.

Tomorrow afternoon we have a guided punting tour on the River Cam.

After doing separate days on Friday, Bob and I had a big (for us) afternoon/evening out on Saturday for our final day in London. We finally got to see Hamilton in person! We had had tickets to see it in San Francisco prior to a house sit during COVID, but obviously, both of those things were cancelled.

We enjoyed a late complimentary hotel buffet breakfast and then a leisurely morning in the hotel before heading for the theater about 12:45. The show didn’t start until 2:30, but we didn’t know how busy the underground would be with the train stoppage, and we wanted to check out possible places for dinner after the show.

We walked to the Earl’s Court underground to take a short ride to Victoria Station. The station itself was lovely, and the whole area around the station was very active and vibrant.

Hamilton was performed at the Victoria Palace Theater. The theater was lovely, and the staff were very friendly. And the show was amazing. We had seen it on Disney+ during COVID, but it was definitely better in person.

We ended the evening with a great dinner close to our hotel, the highlights of which were the cauliflower appetizer and beef carpaccio appetizers that we split. A day fit for a king but enjoyed by a couple of Yanks.

While Beth went walking and exploring, I went busing and exploring. Given the hip pain and hip replacement likely in December, getting around is still feasible but not for long distances.

I found a Hop On Hop Off bus that I paid $41 for a 24 hour ticket. I rode the bus for one loop (2.5 hours) and saw many of the sites we had seen on previous trips to London. I got a front-row top seat which provided some good views. Below are pics of my tour.

Bob and I arrived in London on Iceland Air from Chicago via Reykjavik on Thursday, 9/29. We are staying on the edge of the Kensington neighborhood in the Xenia Hotel. After a fitful night of mostly not rest and then waking up at 9:00 am (?!), Bob and I indulged in a lovely, complimentary breakfast buffet at the hotel before heading off on our own.

I decided to walk to the British Library, which neither of us had explored on prior visits. It was a 90 minute walk, so I got to see a bit more of London on the way there as well as lots of people out and about.

The British Library is similar to the US Library of Congress in that it is legally required to collect and preserve a copy of every book, newspaper, magazine, and map published in the UK as well as printed music. The Library has evolved from the Library of the British Museum, which was founded in 1753. I perused their exhibit showing samples of their materials and then just explored the building itself.

After my visit to the library, I decided to walk on to Regent’s Park, as neither Bob nor I had been there before either. The park was about a 30-40 minute walk from the library. Again, it was great to see a bit more of the city on my way.

Regent’s Park is one of eight Royal parks and covers an area of 395 acres, including a zoo. I saw just a small part of it, mostly near Queen Mary’s Gardens.

All in all a great day, especially as I got back to the hotel shortly after Bob and before it began raining.

On our second fall-like day, I headed out after a run and breakfast to the Garfield Park Conservatory, which comes up as the number two item listed on TimeOut’s 55 Best Things to do in Chicago Right Now.” After having seen it, I can’t say that I disagree. It also was a walkable jaunt (just under an hour) from our current residence. It is also free, although they do accept donations.

It was constructed in the early 1900s as an urban oasis, and it is that, with both indoor and outdoor gardens. The indoor space, which contains a palm house, fern room, desert house, among others, is referred to as “landscape art under glass.” See what you think.

Bob focused on travel planning today while hanging with Murphy, our nephew and niece’s adorable dog. He is sitting with him (about 25 minutes away) while his parents are at a wedding in Nashville.

One of the things I have done after landing in Chicago is to Google things to see in the Logan Square neighborhood. Of course, Humboldt Park and the 606 trail come up, but there were some other points of interest too. So, yesterday I did a little walkabout to see these myself and capture some other things that caught my eye. Bob rested his hip at the house.

Yesterday afternoon, Bob and I drove to the North Center neighborhood to meet up with our nephew Nick. We had a great dinner at Bodega Sur.

Happy Tuesday! Bob had a productive day at our residence yesterday coordinating some needed medical procedures for later this year. I drove about 90 minutes up the road to Rockford, Illinois, to meet my mom for lunch. She is doing well, and I got to catch up on family news.

Yesterday afternoon, we went to Scofflaw, which had been recommended by our homeowner and our niece/nephew, for a happy hour drink. It was a cute venue, and the staff were very friendly as well.

Today, Bob wanted to get out for a bit to at least see the 606/Bloomingdale pedestrian trail. It was quiet on the trail, and he got to see what it looks like and look over Humboldt Boulevard, where we’re currently staying.

After our short perusal of the trail, Bob went back to the residence, and I continued down Humboldt to the very large and lovely Humboldt Park. We had driven by the park on our arrival into the Logan Square neighborhood last Wednesday, but we hadn’t yet explored it on foot.

Per the Chicago Park’s website, in 1869, Humboldt Park was named in honor of Baron Freidrich Heinrich Alexander Von Humboldt (1759-1859), the famous German scientist and explorer. He was not famous to me, so I Googled him. He sounds like a well-rounded smart guy, but is most known for his work on botanical geography, which apparently laid the foundation for biogeography. That drew another blank for me (did they teach me nothing in school?!). Biogeography deals with the geographical distribution of plants and animals.

Anyhoo, back to the park that was named in his honor. Again from the park website, Humboldt Park totals 197.26 acres and is home to a large, historic fieldhouse with a fitness center, two gymnasiums and meeting rooms, as well as an inland beach, and the historic lagoons and boat house. I spent close to an hour checking it out.

It’s a beautiful day here. Mid 60s during my run. High 70s/low 80s when I was walking around. Another day in the 80s tomorrow before a cold front comes through to bump us down 20 degrees or so.

Bob and I spent the day with family on Saturday. Bob picked up his nephew that lives in Chicago, and the two drove 3.5 hours to Iowa City to tailgate and then attend the Iowa versus Nevada football game. Iowa ended up winning at about 2:00 am this morning after a few rain delays. Bob’s group left about 9:30 or so.

I left the house yesterday morning about 8:45 am and walked the 5.5 miles, about 2.5 hours, to visit my aunt who has just had a liver transplant. She has been home from the hospital for about a week. It’s a pretty intense care regimen for my other aunt who is down from Wisconsin caring for her.

It was great to see them both, although there is a long road ahead. I visited for a few hours and then brought the El back (red line to blue line). It was a lovely day for an outing.

Today, Bob and I walked to our closest L station to plan my route tomorrow to visit my aunts, who are in the Near South Side neighborhood of Chicago, just north of Chinatown. Bob’s hip didn’t enjoy the outing, so he headed back to our current residence, while I continued the walkabout that we had planned.

I walked down Milwaukee from the California L stop on the blue line towards the 606, or Bloomingdale Trail. I have seen signage for both. I have run on the trail but wanted Bob to see it and also wanted to get some photos.

We also continue to be amused by Wilma, aka Silly Willy.

Bob and I started house sit #111 last evening with a quick walk through with the owners before they headed off to St. Louis (wedding!) and then Mexico (honeymoon!). We’re excited to be able to care for their great apartment and fun cat, Wilma, during this exciting time for them.

We are residing in the Logan Square neighborhood, which is northwest of downtown Chicago. We have already checked out their local branch library, the 606 pedestrian trail, and a nearby market. There seems to be lots of other eating/ drinking options around as well.

Wilma, the cat, is one-year old and loves to play. She’s quite friendly and curious about things.

It has not been a terribly exciting day, as Beth spent at least two hours at the dentist today having a crown put on a tooth that chipped the other night. However, we’re thankful she was able to get an appointment and hopefully no more tooth drama for awhile.