Cambridge Tours

This afternoon I walked past a really old man working at one of the churches and he sarcastically asked, "So, have you absorbed all the information today?" and I laughed and said, "Not even close."

Historical figures, dates, locations, connections - all fascinating, but I'll never remember it all. I'm piecing history together bit by bit - living in England is like having an expensive history lesson. I finally figured out why over 30 colleges are on the map but Cambridge University is absent. I've been confused about that since I got here and this morning I finally heard a detailed explanation of the collegiate system that made sense.

After a full English breakfast I skipped the bus and instead walked for about half an hour to get into town. I've discovered that walking provides plenty of opportunities for people-watching and you figure out the layout of a city much faster... mistakes take a long time to correct.

I went straight to the Tourist Information Centre and purchased a package deal for a two-hour walking tour and a 45-minute punting trip down the River Cam (it's a tour in one of those boats like they use in Venice). I figure it's better to get a tour guide rather than wander on my own trying to read a guidebook. I found a website where walking tours can be purchased as MP3 files to play on an iPod - I want to try one of those sometime. Anne-Marie and I got completely lost when we tried using a driving tour at Gettysburg, but maybe a walking tour would be easier.

The walking tour came first - lots of good information and stories with access to some key sites, including King's College grounds and Chapel, Trinity College grounds and Chapel, and the Wren Library at Trinity College.

Although I don't wear t.shirts with Disney characters, I have been known to quote Winnie-the-Pooh on occasion so I was quite excited to see a first-edition copy at the Wren Library as well as a hand-written manuscript, both books open to the same page so viewers could read the type-written page next to the original. I thought that was pretty fun. Yes, I was at a prestigious college surrounded by ancient books in a room that prohibited photos or talking above a whisper and I was enjoying Winnie-the-Pooh. I also viewed a book from the 16th century with a hand-written copy of the four gospels written on animal skin "paper" and I found that to be an incredible sight too.

Courtyard at Trinity College.

The colleges have high walls facing the streets and you enter the grounds through gateways. Walking on the grass is reserved for only the highest levels of staff - college fellows and basically the college presidents (can't remember what they call them). I asked our tour guide what would happen if I started walking on the grass and she said if a staff member saw me I would get a firm talking-to and if I persisted in walking on the grass, our entire group would be evicted. This applies to the grass within the inner courtyards as well as the lawns behind the colleges around the River Cam.

Wren Library at Trinity College.

View of the River Cam through a window in the stairwell leading up to Wren Library.

Approaching King's College Chapel.

I decided to scrap aesthetics and just snap a shot of the average street in the part of Cambridge where the colleges are located - it's a beautiful place and the old buildings are quite overwhelming.

Bridges over the River Cam.

I lucked out and got an adorable guy as my tour guide on the river and the weather was kind of miserable so I had the punt to myself. I partly felt spoiled and partly felt very alone... so I chatted with the cute tour guide and we became little-while-friends (I decided to avoid the decidedly chick-like move of trying to sneak a photo of him). We were photographed numerous times - I'm apparently going to end up in the photo collections of many Asian tourists. He occasionally filled me in about what I was seeing and for the rest of the trip we just chatted about Cambridge, the culture here, the history, and the pretentious attidudes of so many people here. He said when he tries to chat with girls they usually ask what he's studying and the conversation promptly ends when he says he's becoming a stunt man.

My favourite conversation was when he mentioned that many years ago a college was taken over by Trinity College so now they're bitter rivals. I looked at him blankly and asked why they would be rivals if they had been taken over by Trinity. He repeated his previous comment, thinking I had misunderstood, but I told him it didn't make sense - why would the colleges be rivals if they were essentially the same college? He now stared at me blankly. He said they weren't the same college. I said I thought he had just said that one college had taken over another one, so doesn't that mean they're run by the same college? He burst out laughing and explained that he meant that one college had overtaken another college financially - that one college had been quite prosperous but Trinity College became wealthy and surpassed it in wealth, not that Trinity had purchased it.

"Two nations divided by a common language."

The guy who built this bridge was expecting to get paid a decent sum but he was only paid 15 pence. He promptly took a slice from one of the spheres so it would always bear witness that he was cheated.

After punting, I went to the church of St. Mary the Great to climb to the top of the tower for an aerial view of Cambridge before grabbing dinner and returning to the B&B. On the way up the stairs I peeked through the window of one of the tiny side-doorways and in the darkness I could see several massive bells. (The chimes of St. Mary the Great were used as the basis for the tones used at Westminster Abbey.) I could see a sign at the edge of a platform just inside the doorway and it said something about passing beyond that point would "result in certain death".
Hmmm... subtle.

Stairs to reach the top of the tower at St. Mary the Great.

Looking down on Cambridge.

King's College Chapel.

I have a few more hours to spend in Cambridge tomorrow and I'm not sure what I'll do. There's a free modern art exhibit but that kind of thing usually just makes me raise my eyebrows and shake my head. Admission to the Fitzwilliam Museum is free - a good option if it's raining. I think I'll maybe just go for a walk along the River Cam and take some side-trips to explore anything that catches my eye.