Day-trip to Ely

I arrived in Cambridge on Friday evening, at the home of Ian and Margaret, relatives of friends in Canada. They invited me to spend a couple of days with them and do some site-seeing in the area. They both had appointments on Saturday so I was on my own for most of the day. Margaret suggested I take a train to Ely (pronounced "EEL-ee"), a nearby town, as it has a beautiful cathedral and is in The Fens. I figured it would be a good chance to see a different kind of scenery and I would still have Sunday afternoon, Monday and Tuesday to wander around Cambridge.

Ely used to be surrounded by water with lots of eels... the description I heard about quantities and former proximity to the cathedral made me think of the shrieking eels from The Princess Bride.

The cathedral as viewed from a park I walked through to get from the train to the old part of town.

Gotta love the fall colours!

Some detail in the cathedral.

Interior of Ely Cathedral.

Ely Cathedral is one of the few cathedrals in England which provides a sweeping view from one end to the other - most have a dividing wall in the middle.

Tiled Labyrinth.

Near the main entrance there's a tiled labyrinth which, if it were stretched out straight, is the same length as the height of the cathedral tower. Since I had plenty of time, and I'm not too proud to act like a kid, I walked through the labyrinth from start to finish. The path is the lighter area and is about 10 inches wide.

The Fens.

After wandering around in the cathedral and then taking part in a guided tour included in the admission fee, I took a walk along one of the rivers created to drain this former marshland.

A swan ignorant of its ridiculous position.

Although I enjoy having a pocket-sized point-and-shoot camera due to the convenience, I brought along my digital SLR camera on this trip to Cambridge and it's like a long-lost friend has returned. I didn't use it for a while as I didn't want to scream "Tourist!" too loudly and I figured I wouldn't need high quality photos of most of the things I was shooting... and I had forgotten the cord at home for uploading photos. Lisa brought the USB cord when she came to visit, so my friend is back. There's something fabulous about holding a camera with two hands, hearing the solid "click" of the shutter, and getting an instant response. Most of you think I'm crazy but I know there are a few who are nodding in agreement.