Cambridge

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Our group met up early this morning at 7:45 to head to Cambridge. A few of the undergrads were tired from a restless night. Gusts of wind knocked their shutters around last night, and I guess they didn't sleep well.

We went by train and got to see some beautiful parts of England on the way. When we arrived, we walked a little over a mile to the Eagle Pub. We got there right at 11am when they were supposed to open. A few workers stood outside, questioning the window above us that was closed. We wanted to go in and sit down, but, unfortunately, they had a late delivery (Possibly due to an angry ghost! Cue creepy music.). They had to postpone opening until noon. So, we wandered around the area. A few of us needed to use the restroom, so I volunteered to purchase a coffee at a cafe we passed so we could use their toilets. Then we stepped in and smelled all their delicious pastries, and everyone decided to get a little treat. I got my coffee plus a mini cannoli. Most of the others got hot chocolate with croissants. We chatted a bit and then decided to head back to the Eagle. They let us in at 11:45.

The pub was really cool inside, although the set up was unique. We walked up to the bar to order and pay for our food, and then they brought it out. The food was actually really, really good. I got a macaroni and cheese with the best garlic bread ever. One gal had ordered a brownie for dessert, and it even came with shaved, curled chocolate pieces. It was all pretty fancy and delicious. As we sat, someone pulled out a brochure about the pub. In it, it told a little ghost story. Apparently, there had been a terrible fire, and a child couldn't open the window of the second story to get out. He died in the flames. To this day, people claim that if the window on the second floor is closed, strange things happen. So, they keep it propped open at all times. The gusts last night caused it to slam shut. Hence, angry ghost child. Hence, late delivery. So, you see! Well, at least he didn't mess with my mac and cheese.

When we were finished, we went to the Whipple Museum, which is part of the University of Cambridge. Originally, we had a tour scheduled for 12:30pm. With the lunch delay, one of our professors messaged them to let them know we'd be late. Unfortunately, they had to cancel our tour. Maybe we should have done that first and then lunch, but I guess hindsight is 20/20. We perused their displays a bit ourselves and then wandered over to a cathedral. We were told to meet back there in 45 minutes for our next tour that was scheduled at 2:15. I checked out the museum gift shop while we waited. I expected to find something there for the kiddos, but nothing jumped out at me. Rachel and I walked to a candy shop together, but there wasn't anything worthwhile in there, either. So, we went back to the cathedral.

Rosie was our tour guide, and she was a wealth of information. We walked through the main gates and entered a courtyard. We learned about the three buildings in our view, the oldest of which was a church on our right. I believe she said it was started in the 13th century but wasn't finished until the Tudor period. We got to sit in there and learn some more about the church. She told us about their Christmas Eve service and Christmas carol special on PBS. Afterwards, we walked over to just outside Isaac Newton's old office. She pointed out the apple tree, which she explained was part of the old tree grafted onto a new one. I noticed she kept pointing out an endless number of colleges. I'm afraid I still don't understand the set up, but I think they all different colleges of the same university. I'm not really certain. I know she pointed out a Trinity College, Claire College, Corpus Christi College, Emmanuel College, and certainly a few others. Every time we walked by a college building, she had some piece of awesome information to share with us, like, "Rutherford worked here..." or "This was Watson & Crick's office..." or "Stephen Hawking lived here..." or "Rosalind Franklin did her undergrad here..." or "Alan Turing studied here..." It was really something! When she was done, she gave us some suggestions for us to explore on our own. I was really interested in going to Darwin College and seeing the gardens there, but we had to go catch our train. We said our thanks and ran across town to catch the train back to London. Somehow, we were gone for about 10 hours, but I don't know where the time went! I loved Cambridge and would love to go back and explore it more.

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Photos

The Eagle Pub
This is where Watson & Crick ate multiple times a week.

Comments

[Lorien]

Gotta love Cambridge!
Wow, love the photos - looks like you guys had a splendid day out! If you're ever back in town, i highly recommend going on one of the traditional punting tours on the River Cam, a beautiful way to see "The Backs".