Re"shed"uled...

Kelsey Kathleen does NOT get up before the sunrise for many things. Working out? Heck no. Disney vacation? Heck yes. Meteor shower? Possibly. Tour of Bath and Stonehenge this morning? Absolutely, yes. Got up at the crack of dawn, nagged Matthew until he got up, and then we both rode our bikes in the dark (with our lights flashing) to the tour bus pickup point. Estimated departure of the bus was at 7:30am. When we arrived at 7:20, there was not a bus in sight. At 7:30 we began to wonder if we had showed up at the wrong place or time. A few minutes later, I got a call from our tour guide (also named Matt) saying that the bus had unfortunately "broken down on the way to collect you. I'm afraid we will have to re"shed"ule for next weekend or you can certainly get a full refund." Well, that was a giant bummer.

On the upside, we were not on the bus hours from home when it decided to malfunction. Thank you, Lord, for looking out for us. Another plus, we returned home and immediately fell back asleep. I finally dragged my hiney out of bed for lunch around 11:30am (I know, rough life), and forced Matthew to get up around noon. So, we are well rested and refreshed, ready for a long weekend with virtually no plans for the next two days. (Matt does not have class on Monday due to a professor being out of town.)

We decided our only feasible option was to explore locally because you can't exactly plan a cheap excursion or book an inexpensive hotel on the same day that you want to leave. Thus, we decided to visit the Fitzwilliam Museum, which is currently showcasing a Vermeer exhibit and has free admission. (By Vermeer exhibit, I mean 3 Vermeer paintings mixed in among other Dutch contemporaries housed in a hall that was exceptionally crowded and warm. Not what I had envisioned.) There are a wide variety of collections though, from ancient Egyptian artifacts to Renaissance furniture to Picasso sketches. I decided that my favorite room had a bunch of sparkly shiny things in it. The collection was entitled, "Splendor and Power: Imperial Treasures from Vienna." Basically, I concluded that homegirl can appreciate some gold and diamonds and various precious metals and gemstones more than she can paintings of naked ladies and medieval cannons. Call me unrefined or whatever, but I like the pretty stuff. By the way, there were a pair of gold earrings in the Cyprus exhibit that were approximately 2200 years old, and they could easily have passed for today's latest style. What goes around comes around I guess.

I couldn't take any pictures of the actual artwork, so I did what I could to show you how cool the architecture of the building itself was.

Walking up to the entrance. The door is under that arch in the bottom of the picture.

A little out of order, but this was the vantage point from where we parked our bikes before we walked up.

Under the portico from the back side of the Vermeer banners.

Central dome of the building in the entryway. Thought it was pretty impressive with the windows letting the sky inside.

Another dome in one of the galleries. Had a creepy Medusa face in the middle. Once again, the sky lights were a nice touch and really made it feel open.

Instead of going straight home and being lame, we biked towards King's College for an impromptu self-guided tour. I am intrinsically a rule-follower, so when I saw a sign that said "College closed to visitors today" and noted the person checking student IDs at the door, I was inclined to go on home and resume my craft projects from yesterday. "Kelsey, Kelsey. It's all about the perception. If you look like you know what you're doing and walk with a purpose, they will let you in," Matthew informed me. He corrupts my character. He flashed his Girton College ID, I walked beside him like I owned the joint, and we strolled right past the guard. Exhilarating! There must have been some kind of formal occasion in the King's Chapel because everyone was walking around in their Harry Potter robes and formal attire. I'm sure we stuck out like a sore thumb, especially because we stopped every five seconds to take pictures, but no one kicked us out. Matt also mentioned that I looked more like a local today and that I could totally pass for a Cambridge student because I was wearing a collared shirt under a sweater with messy hair and hipster glasses. I was secretly kind of proud of how native I looked.

I know we showed you some pictures before of King's during our punting adventure, but here are some more. Wish we could do it justice.

From the bridge crossing the river. Those punts are in the same area that we were when I was driving our punt a couple weeks ago.

Don't really know why there are cattle grazing on the other side of the river directly behind King's. Man, do they have the best view in town! Lucky animals.

The river was crowded today! We saw many traffic jams.

When panorama 'stitching' goes awry. This would have been a great view of the inner courtyard with the chapel straight ahead and the front entrance to the college on the right. The river would be hidden behind the building on the left. Oops!

View of the front entrance from the inside. Can't believe we snuck in. We used the back entrance though. It's less conspicuous.

A less messed up view of the inner court.

This is the closest we've gotten to the King's Chapel yet. Each pane of glass reflects the light a little differently. It's an imposing structure.

Ahh...when panoramas go right. Definitely one of my favorite spots. It's just quintessential Cambridge. If you see a post card, it probably has an image similar to this on it. Wasn't really a bad day afterall. I'm still astounded that we live here.

After church tomorrow we will probably be boring old fogies and come home so Matt can finish an assignment... but then... Monday is going to be "Celebrate-Matthew's-23rd Birthday-A-Day-Early-Day!" Since he doesn't have class, our tentative plan involves going to see Lion King 3D at the Grafton Center Vue Cinema and then going to dinner either at a Spanish tapas restaurant or an Indian food place. Yummy, yummy! I'll let you know how the festivities go.