Good Friday: Agreeable

The parents and I ambled around Cambridge, primarily to the botanical gardens but also to the city centre. The botanical gardens are really a fantastic resource for the city, and as the weather was so horrendous, lots of people had crowded into the cafe and greenhouses to escape the rain.

Jaded by the weather we certainly were, but not by the plant life. This turquoise liana known as the jade vine, always catches the eye and draws delighted gasps from greenhouse goers clapping their eyes on it for the first time.

The city centre was as teeming as on any normal business day. Interesting to think that in the not-too-distant past the majority of people shut up shop to remember the day a bloodied bloke called Jesus carried a heavy cross up a hill. It got us into a conversation about Sunday trading laws, which I still can't believe haven't been relaxed as a way to boost the economy. There are many people with such disposable income that longer opening hours for businesses would surely reap profits, as there are many who still have bottomless pots of pennies to spend outside of the allotted six hours on a Sunday. For a government that is always droning on about a strong economy, I'm not sure why it's not suggested, but perhaps there's a quiet and steely group that opposes the change on religious or traditional grounds.

I noticed an elderly man in Superdry looking distinctly uncomfortable with the nightclub-like lighting and atmosphere.

Mother remarked upon how few 'fatties' there are in Cambridge compared to in Stoke.

A woman in Waterstones was booming a question to the sales assistant about whether the history section was catalogued by country or by era, and it very much seemed that she wanted to be heard asking it more than she wanted to know the answer.

Thus concludes the Good Friday observations.