Sunday lie-in? Definitely. I’m such a night owl. I’ve trained my children, who are 10 and 13, to bring me and my husband cups of tea in bed and I usually lie-in listening to podcasts or the radio until about 9.30am, which seems like a humane time to get out of bed on a Sunday.
First thing you do? I will make little fluffy American pancakes for my children, in my pyjamas. We eat them with maple syrup and whatever fruit we’ve got.
Sunday coffee? Yes, I’ll have a black Americano but I have to be careful about how much I drink. In 2020, I was drinking too much – five or six cups a morning – and I developed palpitations. I’ve cut down to one or maybe two cups at the most.
Read the papers? I look at the Observer. I tend to read the news, science and culture sections. I definitely won’t be looking at sport. I also like reading The Conversation UK, which is written by academics. It’s expert commentary on the news, and not dry at all.
Sunday morning? I might go for a mountain bike ride with the dog. We have a Hungarian wirehaired vizsla called Lupa. That’s her favourite thing. If I’m getting my bike out, she knows what’s going on.
Favourite activity? A long walk, involving an archaeological feature or a monument. My children are very familiar with the monumental walk. They look at me very suspiciously if I start to fill up the CamelBaks. They know it’s going to be longer than I say it will be. But once they’re out, they enjoy it.
Sunday lunch? Usually quite snack-ish, nothing formal. We rarely cook a roast; I don’t really eat meat. A roast seems like a lot of work for little eating.
Church? No, one of the rather nice things about being a humanist is that I don’t have to get up early and go to church every Sunday. But one of those monumental walks might involve looking at a church or a cathedral. I wouldn’t be going there to worship, but these are places to evoke the sublime, and you can appreciate that even if you don’t believe in God.
Professor Alice Roberts is touring the UK in February and March to launch her new book, Crypt, which explores life, death and disease in the middle ages and beyond
