It’s like time travel. When I’m going through photos I sometimes feel as though these things happened yesterday and other times they seem light years away. Either way, I do love a good throw back and the ability to relive a day all over again. As the weather turns cold here in the UK (okay not really, we’ve had exceptionally mild weather) I am going through photographs from months ago and feeling the warm vibrancy of summer exploration all over again.
You might have seen the quote: “I haven’t been everywhere, but it’s on my list.” It is a great quote and I can of course relate (I think the entire globe is a bucket list as far as I’m concerned.) Anyway, I do feel as though this quote accurately sums up the way I feel about the UK – it’s pretty much all on our list. We like the country, we like cities, we like the coast and we like charming, historic, scholarly towns too. Cambridge fits that bill just perfectly.
It took a little over an hour to get there and at least double to get back (UK traffic can sometimes be a killer. We are learning.) I may have said this before but I love it when places exceed my expectations. In most cases, Europe’s ancient architecture and quaint alley streets tend to accomplish this rather easily. I had heard wonderful things about Cambridge and many comparisons between Cambridge and Oxford. We have yet to do the comparison for ourselves, as Oxford is still on the list.
Cambridge oozes history and is teeming with life-loving enthusiasm. Perhaps a few stressed-out college students would disagree with me, but that is how Cambridge felt to me. As we walked down the street, looking in shop windows, two young lads, wearing glasses and holding books discussed the subject of their master’s thesis as they walked behind me (I kid you not). I had also just seen the movie ‘The Theory of Everything’ and felt as though I had been transported to the 1960’s, if not long before.
A sunny day always helps.
I also loved the bike culture – bikes, bikes everywhere!
Do you see the guy in the picture below, playing piano in the field of grass? I’m not sure what was going on there, but quite intriguing.
We did go punting on the river Cam, which is an ideal way to see Cambridge.
King’s College Chapel is a must see. It is considered one of the finest examples of late Gothic English architecture and the medieval stained glass, fan vaulted ceiling and dark wood are stunning.
We haven’t been everywhere, but now we have been to Cambridge and I certainly wouldn’t mind going back one day.