Sunday, March 18, 2007

An Excellent Trip


Well, I must say the trip went much better than expected. We arrived just outside of Cambridge by noon and had a lovely pub lunch with the owner of the tannery before venturing off to see the place. I was pleasantly surprised to find out that the skins they receive are already tanned (as in they don't smell of dead animal) and then they re-tan them and dye them various colors. We were able to see how the whole process works and I even bought two skins. One emerald green and a second deep purple/maroon. They had an amazing shocking pink (a rare color for quality book binding leather), but it was a special order from America and they were not sure if they would have extras so I will be emailing them later to find out if I can buy one off them. I really hope they have a spare.

The sleeping situation was fine and I got to sleep in a full sized bed which is always nice. The next day we visited Cambridge University Library and were shocked to find conservators that did not whinge and moan about their jobs, they actually seemed enthusiastic about what they were working on (a rarity in this field I have found). We saw all sorts of books and manuscripts and even a set of very early bones that were written on. This was the only visit we went on this term unlike last term where we went out nearly every week, so I'm really glad it turned out to be such a good experience.

3 comments:

Clay and Katy said...

Trips always seem to turn out a lot better in the end than you think they will!! I am glad you enjoyed it. Sounds very informative!!!

Annalise said...

Yay! I'm glad it went well. It sure sounds like a lot of fun. And Cambridge is such a neat little town. I'm glad you got to spend more time there. Will you post some pictures?

Oh, and I know my hair looks really light in that picture, but it's still the same color it's always been. :)

jenny said...

All of your pictures look like postcards. I'm so jealous. Ps- I miss you so much. Like seriously. Sometimes I just drive by your old house because I'm so bummed.