Cambridge
Today Margo gave me a day off. I'd been thinking of a trip to Cambridge so I jumped on the bus to the train station.
The train fare was cheap compared to London and took about an hour and twenty minutes each way. Where there might be eight or more cars on the London-Norwich line, this was just two. The trains were a bit different, too, with the engine underneath so a separate engine car isn't needed, but it was noisier than I'm used to - hard to hear my iPod even.
I went in cold, not having a chance to do any research on essential attactions, like where the independent record stores and real ale pubs are. Outside the train station (and admiring the bike racks with hundreds of parked bikes), I could see the town centre wasn't right nearby, so I found a bus taking me there. It turns out I only needed to go about a mile and a half.
The town centre is fairly small: it takes just a few minutes to walk from one end to the other. Much of it is surrounded by the River Cam, wich bends around it. And a lot of it - most if it, probably - is taken up by the various colleges of Cambridge University. The campus buildings mostly surround a cluster of shopping high streets in the very centre.
At 11 am there was a boom in the distance, and eventually, everyone stopped talking and just stood there. It was surreal, like being in a movie and wondering, what is everyone stopping for? Then there were a few more quick booms, and everyone went on their way again. I think it was cannons and had to do with war veterans - this week is a remembrance.
It was neat to walk stones trod upon by Isaac Newton, Charles Darwin, John Milton, Alan Turing, Stephen Hawking, Douglas Adams, and the guys from Pink Floyd. That would be a great alumni association to belong to. I could only walk by closed gates, being a Saturday, but I did get these pictures of some of the college chapels. Here's King's College:
Trinity College:
and St. John's College:
It's a bit weird having all this history, then you cross the street, and there's Marks and Spencer, Starbucks and McDonalds in the high streets.
There was also a lot of bicycle use. In fact, I saw my first example of recumbent bicycle advertising on one of the high streets: a guy rode his bike past (and you could hear his boom box hidden behind a fairing) with two-sided signboard on the back.
I crossed the River Cam to get this picture ...
... and then I doubled back into a pub I'd bookmarked earlier, where I had fish and chips and a pint of real ale at a great window table with excellent people-watching.
Then I spent the rest of my afternoon walking the halls of the Fitzwilliam Musuem, which has a great collection of works by English, Italian, Spanish, and Flemish masters, from medieval armour to modern art. It took me about an hour to see it all.
My train ride back was uneventful save for my seated proximity to some young American guys with Army haircuts. It had been months since I'd heard so many occurrences of "shit", "fuck" and "dude" in regular conversation, and left me wondering if there's a US base near Bury St. Edmunds, where they departed.
The train fare was cheap compared to London and took about an hour and twenty minutes each way. Where there might be eight or more cars on the London-Norwich line, this was just two. The trains were a bit different, too, with the engine underneath so a separate engine car isn't needed, but it was noisier than I'm used to - hard to hear my iPod even.
I went in cold, not having a chance to do any research on essential attactions, like where the independent record stores and real ale pubs are. Outside the train station (and admiring the bike racks with hundreds of parked bikes), I could see the town centre wasn't right nearby, so I found a bus taking me there. It turns out I only needed to go about a mile and a half.
The town centre is fairly small: it takes just a few minutes to walk from one end to the other. Much of it is surrounded by the River Cam, wich bends around it. And a lot of it - most if it, probably - is taken up by the various colleges of Cambridge University. The campus buildings mostly surround a cluster of shopping high streets in the very centre.
At 11 am there was a boom in the distance, and eventually, everyone stopped talking and just stood there. It was surreal, like being in a movie and wondering, what is everyone stopping for? Then there were a few more quick booms, and everyone went on their way again. I think it was cannons and had to do with war veterans - this week is a remembrance.
It was neat to walk stones trod upon by Isaac Newton, Charles Darwin, John Milton, Alan Turing, Stephen Hawking, Douglas Adams, and the guys from Pink Floyd. That would be a great alumni association to belong to. I could only walk by closed gates, being a Saturday, but I did get these pictures of some of the college chapels. Here's King's College:
Trinity College:
and St. John's College:
It's a bit weird having all this history, then you cross the street, and there's Marks and Spencer, Starbucks and McDonalds in the high streets.
There was also a lot of bicycle use. In fact, I saw my first example of recumbent bicycle advertising on one of the high streets: a guy rode his bike past (and you could hear his boom box hidden behind a fairing) with two-sided signboard on the back.
I crossed the River Cam to get this picture ...
... and then I doubled back into a pub I'd bookmarked earlier, where I had fish and chips and a pint of real ale at a great window table with excellent people-watching.
Then I spent the rest of my afternoon walking the halls of the Fitzwilliam Musuem, which has a great collection of works by English, Italian, Spanish, and Flemish masters, from medieval armour to modern art. It took me about an hour to see it all.
My train ride back was uneventful save for my seated proximity to some young American guys with Army haircuts. It had been months since I'd heard so many occurrences of "shit", "fuck" and "dude" in regular conversation, and left me wondering if there's a US base near Bury St. Edmunds, where they departed.
posted by Michael Nelson at 12:16 pm
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