So, wandered down to the coach station (yay for it being a few minutes down the road) only to find out there was some delay and it wouldn't be leaving until 8.45 (instead of 8.30). What was the delay? I really don't know, but I do think it had something to do with our bus driver sitting in the bus chatting to another bus driver...then them going out for a smoke (but that's just my take on things).
I took a pile of articles to read with me (and a couple of books for when I got bored with thinking) - only to find that my brain was telling my stomach that it wanted to give back the breakfast I'd not long eaten. I managed to trick my brain by stopping reading (it's not that clever, really). So, a boring coach ride. I'd tell you about all the amazing scenery, but I kept nodding off. I did see several paddocks of yellow...I think they were turnips gone to seed - that's what they looked like, anyway.
We got to Cambridge and I realised that I hadn't picked up my Lonely Planet guide (thanks Karen & Nick!) before I left so had no idea where I was headed. So I walked around town for a bit - eventually stumbling across this looooong queue of people. Instead of jumping on the queue, I walked alongside it to see where they were all headed (obviously for a long queue of people, there would have to be something good at the end). No such luck. They wanted tickets to a folk festival or something equally unexciting (to me). As luck would have it, right next door was the info centre...which was what I kinda wanted anyway. Went in, signed up for a walking tour and then waited for it to start (only about 5 or 10 minutes - do you know how lost I could get in that time!? Much safer to stay put and look at the junk on sale). It was well worth the £9 to take the tour. There wasn't as much walking as I would've thought, and the woman wasn't the best guide on the planet (but I also bet she wasn't anywhere near the worst either!), but it was really enjoyable (and she was quite pleasant and even linked, where possible, Cambridge with where we were from). I swear that there must be a lot of energy being saved in Melbourne at the moment! Almost every Aussie I've met over here has been from Melbourne. Of the 16 in our group, 11 were from Melbourne and two were from Brisbane (and there were Melbournites in the other group too). I do hope the last one out switched off the lights!
We had a good look around the wee back streets of the town (the 'old town') and around Kings College Chapel (and poked our noses in Trinity College). It was a shame it was only a two-hour tour...and more a shame that Jane has moved back to NZ - I could've popped in for a cuppa ;-) King's College Chapel was amazing! The craftmanship that went into it! You'd never see anything like it these days (mind you, you wouldn't expect a building to take 90 years to go up, either!). The ceiling is truly a sight to see! I think I have a pic of that to pop up... I knew that stained glass windows in a church usually told a story, but here they told both the old and new testaments (I think the top windows told the old, and the bottom told the new). The guide was telling us that in many churches around the time of Cromwell, stained glass windows got smashed in as they were too 'showy'. These ones weren't. The guide wondered if it had something to do with Cromwell using the chapel as his stables. Then she was telling us that during the blitz, every single pane was carefully removed and photographed, then all the panes were buried in several locations. Given there must be a billion panes, that's quite a hefty feat! They weren't replaced until the 1960s! Wicked stuff! I love stories like that.
^ Trinity College grounds (L-R: dining hall (ending at the big bay window); Master's residence (the ivy-clad bit); student rooms (from the corner around, I believe))
^ Front entrance to Kings College
^ Front entrance to Kings College
^ The amazing ceiling (the dark wooden thing in the middle houses the Church's organ; it's 1/2 way along the hall - it's f'king huge!)
^ The some of the stained glass windows - there were quite a few like this - they go right around the entire building!
^ This is quite a good shot of the ceiling and the stained glass windows...The highlight of the tour, though, was when we were standing behind Trinity College and the guide was explaining about how easy it was to punt down the river when there was this almighty splash - one of the punters ended up in the drink! I think I found it funnier than most, as my sides were aching...more from laughing internally, as people started to give me funny looks. I can't help laughing at other people's misfortunes. It's hard-wired into me. I swear ;-) Naturally, later on when I was approached by one of 10,000 people trying to pull tourists into the punts, I declined the offer - not wanting to end up as the other bloke!
^ People punting along the River CamAfter the tour I went into a small pub and had some lunch, then proceeded to walk around the town. By around 3.30pm I had done enough walking for the day, so decided it was time to go and sit in the park to wait for the bus. On the way, I ended up doing a spot of umpiring in a cricket match. But that was only 'cos the ball just about hit me and I was by the boundary line (it was a four, not a six - half the blokes were happy with my call; the other half happier ;-) ). It felt quite civilised sitting out in the sun (and damned wind) on a Sunday afternoon watching a cricket match. In between overs I did pick up my book and perused it for a bit.
I was chatting to Kirsty about Cambridge before I went and she described it as "quaint". She couldn't elaborate on it any more than that. As much as I do like that word, it doesn't really tell you much, does it? Anyhow, when we were talking on Sunday night, she asked me to describe Cambridge. The only thing I could come up with was, you guessed it, "quaint". Seriously! It is! Especially the 'old town'. So...quaint. It's what I expected old England to be like. I would've loved to have popped my nose into some of the private residences to see what they're like on the inside...but I think people frown at strangers doing that...
^ A 'quaint' little streetNot sure if I could've seen myself studying there though, like straight from high school. But I guess that's hard to say retrospectively. Also, it would depend on how one was brought up, too. Bluff to Cambridge, yeah right!
Anyhoo, the bus arrived and oddly, there were too many people for it. No one was checking the tickets and a few of us who did have tickets found there wasn't room for us...so they had to chuck people off. So very funny (in my head, as I wasn't being chucked off!). When we finally left, I did my snoozy thing again. I reckon that makes me even more sleepy when I get off the silly bus. Got off and thought I'd pick up some groceries on the way home. Nope. Not a happening thing. Bloody Sainsburys close at 5pm on a Sunday. I ask you! Do they not realise how inconvenienced I was? It meant I had to cook dinner (could've just gone to a restaurant, but that thought didn't occur until I was sulking about having to clean up my mess after cooking!). Then I did the dreaded ironing. Arrrgh. My thoughts, however, were that if I did it then, I wouldn't have to do it when I got home from Brighton! Clever, huh?
Overall, a good 8 quid spent on the return ticket to Cambridge.
Seeyabye
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