This also became my first encounter (of many) with British motorways. It was strange trying to imagine these same fields as they might once have been (such as those popularised in the fantastic Lark Rise to Candleford), without a four to six lane highway carved through the middle of them.
Once in Cambridge, the first thing I noticed was the diverse and complimentarily odd buildings, all squeezed together in uniformly different shapes. It was confusing trying to distinguish between the truly old buildings, and the recent imitations, as they all seemed so well preserved.
The town is also filled with a huge number of bicyclists, which snake through the tourists on the narrow streets and alleys.
But I think the most overwhelming atribute of Cambridge is its overflowing affluence, containing the second oldest and most wealthiest university in Europe, with an endowment of 4.1 billion pounds just in 2011 This wealth has found form in the beautiful architecture built over its long (long) history (it was amazing just thinking about who's footsteps I might have been walking in... perhaps Isaac Newton passed this way...)
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| King's College Chapel |
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| Bridge of Sighs |
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| Bridge of Sighs |
We were lucky to be guided through the various colleges by David, Fran's friend studying at Cambridge, since most of the colleges are usually closed to the general public.
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| A view back in time |
Finally Cambridge has a beautiful canal that is busy with people punting. We took a meander down stream, and I thought about Mr. Gumpy.
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| Ed paddels the waka |
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| The Mathematical Bridge |
A beautiful first day.
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