cambridge.
Things got off to a good start (albeit early) when we were departing from King's Cross, because, coincidentally, our train was on Platform 9. And in our search for 9, we came across this priceless jewel:
You can't tell, but the cart is halfway into the wall :)
Upon our arrival we just wandered around the area...stopping first at Emmannuel College, because it was the first one we came across.
All the lawns in Cambridge are perfectly flat and perfectly manicured, it's crazy. Too bad you can't walk on them, though I suppose that would destroy the grassy perfection. Alas.
Fine I'm just being a smartass here.
All the colleges also have pretty gardens, and this artificial pond even has fish! Large fish, in fact.
I forget which College this is, but here is Jess demonstrating the ubiquity and the power of the Yale lock.
The most touristed place in town, King's College.
Nearby there's a street market selling jewelry, handmade soaps, trinkets, toys...very adorable.
These are all food-related because I was hungry and it was lunchtime. LUNCHTIME. Where we had to sneak away from all the tourists and go to a rather dleicious restuarant where I also had strawberries and cream. Fitzbillies was the name. They also had a bakery from which we bought one of their famous "Chelsea buns." Interesting.
So you can't actually take pictures inside King's College Chapel, but let me say that as soon as we entered, it was literally breathtaking. Strictly fan-vaulting, no columns or other support. 40 feet high, full of stained glass, it was stunning. The most impressive chapel I've seen yet *_*
But you can take pictures of the outlying grounds, yay for beautiful lawns.
King's college has the advantage of being right on the River Cam (Cam-bridge. har, so creative!), hence there is a picturesque view of the rather shallow river, and punters!
And we know any REAL college has a decent herd of cows across the river.
After lingering in King's College for far too long, we got to Trinity about 2 minutes before closing time, boo. But still, got a shot of Trinity's famous quad...
Then we decided to go punting. But having little faith in our punting skills (what if the pole got stuck in the mud and everyone capsized?), we decided to go for a chauffeured one. Made our way to Magdalene bridge where we were greeted by dozens of hawkers, and finally accepted a low price from a guy named Alex, who gave us a voucher and greatly annoyed Jess when she wanted to look at competitors. Ehhh. But it was a great decision, we had loads of fun being punted by James -- and it was his last punt with Tyrell's too, he was going to go into his own business :)
James, our wonderful and witty punter, with Mathematical Bridge as a backdrop :) One side of the river is always academics, and the other is residential, so before the bridge was bolted, the students would de-bolt the bridge so the professors couldn't make it across :)
St John's
Random pretty pictures
We learned a bunch of stuff about the riverside colleges, like Clare was founded by Lady Clare who was quite the golddigger, who had married 3 rich men by 27, all of whom mysteriously died of poisoning. Or that Prince Charles got a lower score on his examinations than his bodyguard. Teehee.
Upon disembarking, we leisurely made our way back to the station, admiring the sights as we went, like these cute flowers.
Melissa made fun of me because I tiptoed and fluttered my arms exclaiming "they're dancing!!" What? They ARE. So now Melissa is in full possession of embarassment material of a movie of me doing this. Meh.
Being a smartass, again.
And that's about it :)