So Terri gave us alternatives this week.  Photos of our town, or our favorite town.  I live in Western Washington, in a small city considered a suburb of Seattle.

This is the waterfront on Puget Sound, just north of the US Navy Base in Everett.

This is Silver Lake, just south of my house.

And these are from the Narbeck Wetland Sanctuary, located right across the street from a big airplane manufacturing plant.

But my favorite town, even when I haven’t been there in over 30 years, remains Cambridge, England.  In the summer of 1991, I spent three weeks there, on a UCLA summer study program.  I have never forgotten those magical three weeks, and I long to return there.  In the past week, I have been reading a new (to me) Inspector Lynley mystery by Elizabeth George, and it is set in Cambridge.  Her descriptions of the places her characters go brought back all those memories.  Yes, I could see those streets, and the bridges over the River Cam, and the colleges.

I would sit on the brick wall at the back of the College, and watch the punts glide along the river, filled with happy tourists.

This is a very famous church in the center of the town.  It’s very old, and gives you a taste of what Cambridge looked like nearly 1,000 years ago.

I think the dining hall at the College was the most beautiful building I have ever been in.

This building was directly across the lawn from my dorm room.

The University “owns” the town, and it has final say over any new buildings or renovations to old ones, so the town has stayed very close to its roots.

Our professor (called “dons”) of Medieval English Society was from Gonville & Caius College.  Can you imagine how thrilled I was to see the author, Elizabeth George, mention that he was one of her helpers when she was writing her book (For the Sake of Elena)?  I can’t believe that I actually know someone who showed her the city and its colleges.

 

 

Here’s the link to Terri’s original post.