Date Day...

I have decided to deem yesterday "Date Day" instead of Guy Fawkes Day because Matthew and I spent our whole Saturday doing fun little things together! It was kind of like a "Date Night" except it lasted longer. To clarify, it was NOT like the movie "Date Night" with Steve Carell and Tina Fey, although that would probably have been way more interesting for you to read about. (You can watch the movie trailer below if you want. It's really a hilarious movie.)

The only similarities between that "Date Night" and our "Date Day" were that there was delicious food involved and that we encountered some shady characters too. (Thankfully, they did not point the 'kill shot' at us though.)

A brief outline of the day's events:
We first browsed through the arts and crafts markets before hitting the food market where we bought a delicious Italian Gondola loaf of yummy bread. Next, we visited the Cambridge Camera Club Photography Exhibition. (There really are lots of neat, free things to do here if you know where to find them.) We took a brief break and went home for a sandwich lunch made with our newly purchased bread. Later, we rode our bikes to Fitzbillie's, which is a well-liked cafe near the Fitzwilliam Museum, where we devoured a piece of delectable carrot cake, a cream filled coffee choux bun, and two lattes. That is one thing that the Brits definitely got right - warm drinks and sweets on a regular daily basis.

The clear glass on the left contains cubes of sugar. It took us a couple minutes to figure out what it was. Not being regular tea-timers, our initial guess was that they were cubes of fudge. It was brown sugar, give us a break.

Then, we wandered around town capturing various autumnal scenes with the DSLR camera. I guess we had been inspired by the photography exhibition. Plus, the fall foliage has arrived in full force, and sadly, some branches are already starting to be quite naked. It reminds me of fall in Oklahoma - one day the trees are green, the next they have changed colors, and by the third day they are completely bare. It felt urgent that we capture the pictures of the leaves while they are still in tact. Afterall, we only have one autumn to spend in Cambridge.

A church near Fitzbillie's had this beautiful teal door. I loved its blue mixed with the yellow and green leaves.

This was one of the courtyards of Pembroke College, which may be the most breath-taking college that I have seen from the inside.

Same spot, I just got a little more brave with how far out in the grass I stepped. You aren't supposed to walk on the greens, but for this vantage point, I couldn't resist. As you can see, the architecture is as lovely as the nature.

Apparently, I was a tad obsessed with the benches. These particular leaves were massive, and I love how they completely covered the ground in a leaf carpet.

Although this one is slightly blurry because it was getting darker, I thought that the archway shrouded in red leaves was so uniquely shaped, I had to try and snap its picture.

After playing photographer for awhile, I somehow convinced Matthew that we needed to go to H&M. I had seen a coat there last week, and to my great surprise, it was 50% off! Of course that meant that I had to buy it. It was less than 20 "quid" (slang for pounds, like saying 20 "bucks".) 30 something dollars for a nice warm stylish coat? Deal!

Obviously, this model is not me, but this coat is now mine! Another justification for its purchase - it's gray, so it goes with black and brown. Perfect!

Food, pictures, and shopping...Check. What was left to do? How about fireworks, a bonfire, and more food? The shady characters I mentioned earlier were congregating on Midsummer Common to celebrate Guy Fawkes day. Not everyone was suspicious looking, but try to imagine the state fair combined with the 4th of July combined with a huge burning of wooden pallets, all while it is drizzling rain. That's what we got. I think half the population of Cambridge was crowded onto this lawn, but I may have been slightly disoriented due to the backdrop of neon strobe lights from the carnival rides and bumping music provided by the BBC. It was quite a spectacle. I tried taking pictures on my phone, and they didn't really turn out well, but they should give you an idea of the atmosphere last night.

The fireworks were set off really close by on a section of the lawn that was fenced off. Because they were so near, they were really loud. They were also different in that some of them looked like jelly fish. I can't describe it, but some of them had these little circular shapes that floated around after they dispersed, and they looked just like jelly fish.

This shows you how huge the bonfire was. There is a fireman's silhouette standing on the right hand side, and he is probably a good 30 feet from the blaze. The stack of pallets that they burned was probably 25 feet high. I guess they usually burn an effigy of Guy Fawkes, which I find slightly disturbing, but we didn't see them do that. Maybe we left too early.

When we felt that our eyes were on the verge of blindness from staring into a gigantic fire and watching a half hour's worth of colorful flares exploding in our faces, we walked with Chad to a gathering of people from Queen's College. They were having mince pies and mulled wine to celebrate, which I guess is just the standard thing to do for Guy Fawkes Day, kind of like how cooking out and eating barbecue is the routine for Independence Day. The mini-pies were like tiny fruit flavored pop-tarts about the size of muffin tins, and they were tasty! I didn't try the mulled wine (the name itself did not sound appetizing) so I had Orangeade instead. It's more or less like orange soda. You could say I felt quite patriotic, which is what I think you are supposed to feel like on that holiday. I'm still a little confused though as to whether Britain loves or hates Guy Fawkes. Praising someone by burning his likeness sends me mixed signals.

And finally, our epic date day ended at home on the couch. Matthew and I watched part of the second episode of Frozen Planet, but we had to interrupt that to start watching the OSU-Kansas State game. Despite its midnight kick-off time, like dedicated fans and alumni, we stayed awake to cheer on the Pokes. Well, I made it through the first quarter and called it quits to go to sleep at 1:30am, so I'm sure that disqualifies me from the devoted fan category. Matthew, on the other hand, is probably the Fan of the Year or something because he persevered and watched anxiously as OSU pulled out the victory. He finally came to bed around 4:30am, and yet he somehow managed to get up for church this morning. (He is napping now as I write. Poor thing. The price of loyalty.)

To think we sat in this stadium, rain or shine, through four seasons of college football only to leave it behind, and then suddenly our team is ranked #2 in the nation. Not the best timing on our part. Haha. Good memories though. I never thought I'd miss something named after Boone Pickens so much. ORANGE POWER!!!

Date Day was a success. I never could have imagined what our time would be like here in England, but so far, it is exceeding my expectations.