Today, daughter no 2 is giving us a tour of Stanford University. When I say a tour of the university, we are on foot and the campus is enormous, so although we walk a total of 5 miles, we only cover a fraction of it.

We take in the most important sights; the Main Quad, the Clock Tower, the Memorial Church and the Hoover Tower. Unfortunately, due to Covid restrictions, it isn’t currently possible to access the Hoover Tower observation deck, so we head instead for the Book Store.

The Book Store sells books (obviously) but most of the store is dedicated to selling a monumental amount of Stanford liveried goods. You name it, you can buy for an exorbitant price with a Stanford logo (an S and a giant tree) on. They even have a whole section dedicated to Stanford goods for your pets! We resist the urge to buy dresses for the cats and move on with our tour.

Next it’s on to the Sculpture Gardens. American universities are so wealthy compared to their British counterparts and Stanford more so than most. Its sculpture garden boasts the largest collection of the work of Rodin outside of France, including the Burghers of Calais.

In fact, Stanford is so fancy, it even has its own drain covers. Once we’ve finished marvelling at fancy drains and outfits for cats, we round our visit off with the main attraction; a visit to daughter no 2’s office.

Then, while she gets on with some actual work, we head to the mall for some shopping and Trader Joe’s for supplies. Then it’s back ‘home’ for dinner and a late night swim/ jacuzzi combo.