Have had a nice few days swanning about in Cambridge - my planned day trip to London keeps being postponed, so I find that tomorrow's the last day I can take it! But I won't put it off again, because I'm quite determined to see the Rothko room at the Tate Modern, and wander a little in Bloomsbury, see what else I can fit in on these adventures.

We spent Sunday studying for our trip this weekend, eventually tossing a coin to determine who got to buy the Lonely Planet guide when we realised we might as well spend the £9.99 to buy it and study up all week. Felicity won the toss with heads. It was a Canadian coin, and my backing the Maple Leaf did me no good at all. Disappointed, I decided to buy the Lonely Planet Tuscany, so I could figure out where all my little weekend adventures away from Florence would take me - I especially wanted to read a little more about Siena after meeting Claudia, and about Lucca, after we were nearly going to stop there on Saturday night, on the way to our mysterious final destination. Felicity told me after she'd won the coin toss that if she'd lost, she would've bought the Lonely Planet guide anyway, and then I probably would've felt that that was silly and pointless and bought Tuscany anyway.

I really had a very lazy weekend - spent a lot of time reading. Finished The Portrait of a Lady and now find I want to read more Henry James - a state of affairs that has come about rather suddenly and surprised me considerably! I've also been reading a little more Carson McCullers - couldn't find The Member of the Wedding here, so I read Clock Without Hands. Was taken by the fact that at the same time as being somewhat horrified by a character such as the Judge, I couldn't help but feel a great deal of sympathy towards him and his little delusions. I'm glad my attention is sharp - I feel like I'm drinking in every sentence that I'm reading, like I just can't take in enough. It's lead to a few nights reading till after midnight, and a few mornings spent in bed, just wanting to finish a few more chapters before I start the day.

Yesterday was my "Sylvia Plath day". I wanted to see a few of the things I'd read about in her journals, and Ted Hughes' Birthday Letters while I was here. We rode our bicycles, and, as I was wearing a skirt, I think I may have flashed my knickers a few times around Cambridge - but I'm sure this is something Sylvia wouldn't have been above herself! We had a look at Newnham College, and wandered around the gardens, then rode our bikes down across the Mill Lane Bridge, stopped along Eltisley ave to take a look at no. 55 where they first lived when they were married and then walked through Grantchester Meadows to The Orchard at Grantchester where we had a very civilised lunch. I finally had my scone with jam and cream in England, and drank Peach Iced Tea, and wandered through the Rupert Brooke museum they had there, and wondered at the fact that not only Sylvia Plath and Ted Hughes had been there regularly, but that before then Brooke, and Russell, Wittgenstein, Keynes and Virginia Woolf had all been among the regular roll-call. I spent the evening walking around Cambridge, and then walking through Jesus meadow we settled to eat an ice-cream on the banks of the Cam. Acquiring some bread from a nice couple nearby, we started feeding the swans, barracking especially for the black swans, nicknamed en masse "Perthy". I found out that it is not true that all the swans in England belong to the Queen - in fact, half belong to the Queen, and the other half belong to the people. Apparently each year when the signets are born people can volunteer, and they tag all the signets accordingly, allocating half for the Queen and half for the people. I was thinking about this in terms of an asset. I had to fill out those horrible forms at the bank before leaving, estimating what my assets were worth. If I were English I should definitely list in all such reckonings of assets, "Part share in Half the Swans of England." I don't know how their value would be measured. Felicity told me I couldn't claim any ownership, because I'm Australian, but then she decided that I should be able to claim my part share in half the black swans of England, which I think is most appropriate.

Am about to embark on reading Flaubert's Madame Bovary for the first time - I hope this will be followed by some more Henry James and then I'll see where I go from there. I keep on picking up books to read, and wondering that I never read them before.

I may go quiet for a few days - the Easter weekend coming up. We're hoping to make it to a Good Friday service at King's College - I'd love to hear the choir sing. Saturday morning we leave for our two week adventure. I hope I can find somewhere to access the internet at the other end - have to see how it goes.

Cambridge

Cambridge