Cambridge #2

Great day today! We all met up at 9:30am and boarded the bus. We had a brief discussion over possible destinations, but finally settled on wildlife park / zoo about 30 minutes out of town. The weather was a bit overcast, but it was much cooler with a nice breeze. Very pleasant weather for walking around outside.

The most unique exhibit was the nocturnal animals building. We entered the darkened building and then walked through a plastic hanging curtain into almost complete darknes. As we contined along the walkway, we soon discovered that there were bats flying all around us without any net or glass seperations. We could hear their clicks & squeaks and feel the rush of air from their wings as we continued through the building. When we got about halfway through, the girls came in and started squealing and screaming, which made it all the more intense!

There was a very nice play area near the back of the park and we let the kids play for an hour or more before heading out. We had a fantastic lunch at the Queen's Head Pub nearby and then headed back into town. Mom, Dad, Pi & Tina and their kids were dropped off at the hotel while Michele & I opted to join Kent & his family to go "punting" on the Cam river.

We boarded a small flat boat and a guide using a pole guided us up the river while pointing out sites and telling interesting stories. We passed many of the beautiful colleges & dorm's of Cambridge University. Kent & the boys even tried their hand punting for a little while. It was very fun & relaxing.

Afterwards we waked back toward the hotel. Michele & Justin stopped off at the mall to buy him an iTouch case at the Apple store. I took the other two boys with me to relax in the room for a little while.

About 6pm, Mom & Dad joined us and we went to a nice little Japanese restaurant on the river. We put a couple tables together and sat outside on the patio in the shade and cool breeze. The food came quickly and was delicious. All in all, a much better experience than the previous night!

We stopped by the park on the way home and let the kids run and play for a while. Afterwards, we stopped by restaurant row and got some gelati and enjoyed people-watching. There were many students out on Friday night, so there was plenty to see.

Cambridge is a neat little college town and we really enjoyed our visit, but we'll be moving on tomorrow. Next stop: Harwich to board Royal Caribbean's Jewell of the Sea for a 12-day Baltic Cruise.