Day 12 - Cambridge

After going out for breakfast, we headed down to go "punting on the Cam.". Cambridge has the River Cam running through it and you can take a cruise in punts (flat bottom boats) pushed along by guides. This is kind of like gondolas in Venice. This was a great way to see the many colleges that are under the umbrella of the University of Cambridge. We had a wonderful guide who used to be a cadet in the military. He even met Charles and Camilla two years ago. The stories he told really gave us a sense of the history in this town, along with the pranks each school pulls.

After punting, we toured the courtyard and chapel at Trinity College. In Charoits of Fire, this is the courtyard they ran around trying to beat the clock bell (it wasn't filmed here, but historically it happened here).

St. John's was the next college we toured. Right now, all Cambridge students are completing final exams, so we're only allowed to go to the courtyards and chapel. I've noticed each chapel has a different and unique ceiling. They are all Church of England, but have their own quirks. St. John's was interesting as it had Latin everywhere and many of the stained glass windows have a red tint.

We lunched on jacket potatoes (baked potatoes) and then headed to tour King's College Chapel. This is where I attended Evensong yesterday, but this time I could take pictures. The ceiling is amazing as it is built using a repeating fan vault. I've seen the inside on tv before, but to see it in person, to grasp the grand scale of it all, was just amazing. The windows were sharp and colorful, the woodwork dark and detailed, and the organ was one that wraps around...the organist has the get inside the two halves. It's truly a spiritual and beautiful place.

Afternoon tea and gift shopping was in order before we had dinner at The Eagle pub. This pub opened in 1667 and has been serving Cambridge's students since. During WWII, RAF pilots would come in to put graffiti on the ceilings and walls before they shipped out. This is also the pub in which Crick and Watson interrupted the other patrons' lunches in 1953 to announce they'd discovered DNA and the double helix. The pub was crowded tonight and our party of 5 squeezed in next to the fireplace. To our right was a group of 4 students discussing gravity and the collision of objects. To their left was a group of Asian adults enjoying each others' company. While we were there, 5 priests walked in, ordered drinks, and sat in the back. It was truly ecclectic.

It's been raining off and on, but nothing to prevent us from getting out. Tomorrow morning we go pick up a few more gifts then head to Bletchley Park and Leamington Spa. Bletchley is where the Brits decrypted the Enigma-coded messages Germany and Italy used during WWII. Leamington Spa is where my great-grandfather was working for the government when he met officials with the US Dept of Agriculture who convinced him to come to America.

Cheers!