Cambridge, UK

Cambridge - a beautiful and inspiring city!

The Cambridge excursion was last Saturday and I was a courier (chaperone) for the trip. We had two coaches and I was in charge of one with 40 students and a few faculty members on board. All were excited because there was no planned activities, just arrive and have 6-7 hours on your own to explore.

The weather was beautiful, a bit windy at times, but overall nice for a British day in January. I had several sites on my list to see and almost immediately after we exited the coach I saw the Mathematical Bridge. This is supposed to be designed to cross the rivers with no nails or other bracing items other than the physics of the placement of the wood. It looked solid and is used at times. But this was the first lesson of the day.

Mathematical Bridge

There are 31 colleges in the University of Cambridge! They were founded as early as 1226 and many in the 1400s and 1500s. Most campuses are closed off to the public, entry-only with an ID card for students/faculty/staff or if on official business. Yet they do allow us to peek through fences or enter a small courtyard where you can peer in behind a barrier. :) At Corpus Christi College, one can step into an alcove that overlooks the large grassy courtyard between the large buildings, an amazing space and buildings but unable to go any further. A few, like King’s College allow tours of the cathedral or church, but you have to register online. I was too late and they were booked when I tried. But seeing them from the outside was awe inspiring by itself!

Entrance to Corpus Christi College, courtyard viewing at end of entrance, public not allowed further.

Shortly after that I came across the Corpus Clock. This was dedicated in 2008 by Stephen Hawking and is very odd. You can see by the picture that it is made up of a gold circle with waves coming from the center (representing the Big Bang). There is the ‘Chronophage’ (‘time-eater’,) sitting on top that looks like an intricate model of a grasshopper, “eating” the minutes as they pass under its jaws. When you look closely, there are blue LED lights on the gold waves that actually tell the current time: hour, minutes, seconds. Odd but interesting at the same time!

Corpus Clock

From there I wandered this amazing place with beautiful architecture on every street and alley! Climbed the NARROW stairwell to the top of Great St. Mary’s Church for a beautiful 360 degree panoramic view of the city. There were 128 very narrow stairs in a tiny, confined circular stairwell to the top. If you are claustrophobic, it is not for you! But the view at the top was amazing! (I knew it was a tight fit when I saw the doorway was about four feet high.)

Great St. Mary's Church, including entry door and views from the top

I must have truly appeared to be a tourist (with the many others there), as I walked around every corner and marveled at the beauty of the architecture and the city itself. I toured the Anthropology and Archeology Museum and also found the Psychology Department (closed because it was Saturday). The “Round Church” is just that - round. And even found Jesus Lane, near Jesus College. Also, at times there would be a plaque on a building stating things like this is where the first successful fertilization of human egg in vitro experiment took place or where someone recorded the first impulses from a nerve cell!

Random building :)

Round Church

Univ of Cambridge Psychology Dept

Punting on the river is one way to see many of the colleges. It is a very common activity but make sure you hire someone to “punt” (use a pole to push the boat along) and not try it yourself without experience! You have the option of renting a boat either way and it wasn’t uncommon to see the amateurs floundering as they blocked the river or struggled going upstream. Watching the various boats punting along the river is a relaxing, and at times entertaining, activity when you needed to sit and rest.

Punting along the river

The end of the day came with the ride back to the Manor in the coach. As courier, I had to make sure we had everyone accounted for before we left. I was so pleased to see everyone, including the faculty, were early! As a side note, when some of the faculty heard I was going to be in charge of a coach, they were warning me they might misbehave. I would then reply that I’d have them placed on the other coach where the College Principal and her husband were in charge. That was enough to keep them in-line - lol! Cambridge it an amazing city and I would recommend a visit to anyone who enjoys beautiful buildings, churches and perhaps want to try punting on the river!

Enjoy the photos :)