Cambridge

Saturday September 3^rd I got up early and ran some errands. Then I came home and we had lunch. After lunch we left for Cambridge. When we got close we parked at a Park’n’ride and rode a big double decker bus into down town Cambridge. When we got off the bus we were by a huge park that had flowers and paths all over. We headed to the area of town that our book had listed as a good place to do a walking tour. We walked down the streets and saw lots of old buildings, cathedrals and colleges. Cambridge has 3 Universities(I think) and 31 colleges. The ones we saw were all in really old buildings and were beautiful! The one we walked into the courtyard of was Queens College. There was a couple who had just been married in the chapel there and they were walking out the door. There were people playing flutes as they walked out the door. It was neat to see.

Then we continued our walk and it went over the river where everyone was punting. It is riding in a little boat and using a long stick to push your selves along instead or oars or paddles. We stood on one bridge watching people do this. We even saw one guy fall in the water. His stick got stuck in the mud and his boat kept going and he fell in. We decided to go give it a try. We opted for a guided tour though. I didn’t see us using a long stick to push along a boat in a little river with 4 kids and no life jackets as being a responsible parent thing to do. So for 35 pounds we got a tour on the river that goes past some of the colleges of Cambridge.

On our punt (I think that’s what its called if the actual action is punting) it was family and 2 other older ladies and our guide. He took us under probably 7 different bridges and behind some of the most prestigious colleges of Cambridge. It was beautiful. I am still amazed by how beautiful those buildings still are that are hundreds, sometimes a thousand years old. They sure knew how to make things last back then.  Some of the colleges were Queens College, Trinity College, St. Claire maybe and some others. All of the grounds were amazing. Our guide told us stories while he was punting. He said that Claire had married 3 different times to very wealthy men and each of them died. So, she had lots of money and she started a school with it and left the money to the school. It is a really old school so it was a really big deal for a woman back then to have enough money to start a school. The other school he talked a lot about was Trinity College. This one has the most money and land because someone left them tons of land. They are one of the top land owners in England. I think it is their students that live in an old castle looking building. One of the bridges we went under was originally built with no nails. I think they used wooden pegs maybe. It has been reinforced now so it will last longer, but it was cute. Another bridge had something to do with prisoners going across it to Jail or something. They still call it the name though because it is where the students go from their living quarters to the testing center.

Another funny story our guide told us is there is a club at one of the schools that puts things up on top of the buildings in the middle of the night. One morning when he was punting there were Santa hats on top of all the spires on the buildings. Another time there was a small car on top of one of the buildings. The professors were so impressed with the ingenuity of the students that they sent wine to their rooms. They had disassembled the car and over the space of 3 months carried the pieces up to the roof. Then they reassembled it in one night. So in the morning everyone woke up to a car on top of the building. Pretty funny.

There were a few buildings on the boat ride that weren’t so impressive. One of them was a very modern concrete building. It didn’t really fit in. The other building was built in the seventies and I guess the architect was trying to make it match the forest across the river from it. The base was supposed to look like the ground, then it had beams going up that were supposed to look like the trunks and the windows were supposed to be like the sun coming through the trees and somehow there were branches somewhere. We couldn’t see it and I guess the guy was actually found to be not all there mentally. Everyone just kind of accredits it to being “oh, it was the seventies.”

After the punting tour we continued our walk and went down one street that was amazing. It was the front of one of the colleges and had a beautiful cathedral in front. There were people all over just sitting and talking. There weren’t any cars and it just felt like a very relaxed atmosphere. The next street we walked down was definitely a touristy street. They even had a Disney store there. We grabbed food at a  little store that had a deal where you get a sandwich, drink and treat for 3 pounds. So we each got something. I think one of Blake and the kids favorite things here is trying the different candy’s. So far we love the Cadbury chocolate. We have had the ones with caramel, fruit and nut and Alissa got one that was nuts and raisins. YUM! After we got our food we continued past that street. We aren’t the touristy tourists. We don’t love all the expensive shopping they have to offer in those areasJ especially with 4 little kids. We took our food back to the first park and ate on a bench by some pretty flowers. We took some pictures and just relaxed. Then we caught a bus and went back to our car and came home to get ready for church the next day. It was a beautiful, relaxing day!!!!