Cambridge Proper

Friday, the 28^th of Jan.

Today we toured downtown Cambridge and the University.  The downtown still has a very medieval feel to it.  It was awesome.  Lots of cobblestone sidewalks and streets with narrow roads and shops all built in a row.  It’s like one giant strip-mall, only really cool looking and the shops are interesting.  There is a market in the center of the town where we spent some time browsing.  Basically our day consisted of wondering around sightseeing until the girls got cold, at which point we’d duck into a random shop for tea.  It was great.

The entrance to one of the many colleges of Cambridge University.

A street in downtown Cambridge.

The same street shot to show the sky.

Near the market downtown.

At one point Haley got really creeped out by this guy that was leaning on a balcony watching everything.  Only it turns out that “he” was a statute.

Maybe it’s just because I’m in England, but everything feels classier.  The homeless here don’t beg for money they sell “The Big Issue” which is a newspaper.  The street performers weren’t The Naked Cowboy but instead we witnessed a duet between a bassoon and violin.  Straight class that was.

We toured Jesus College and the Fellow’s Garden there.  It was unbelievable.  I don’t really know how to describe it.  A lot of amazing buildings with beautiful gardens.  It felt very Secret Garden to me.  You’d walk around the corner and there would be a stone wall stretching into the distance with moss and vines growing over it and a very intriguing door every so often.

After that we went to meet up with Lauren, an old buddy from Auburn who’s currently getting her masters at the University here.  She toured us around St. John’s College which was unbelievable as well.  Lots more open space.  Whereas Jesus felt like Secret Garden, St. John’s felt like Lord of the Rings.  Sorry for resorting to cheap movie references, but word pictures have never been my specialty.  St. John’s had tons of towering, majestic buildings with wide-open courtyards and green-spaces between them.  At one point you cross the Bridge of Sighs over the river which is supposed to be one of the most famous bridges in England.

The low light was killing me.  It was already well into dusk at this point.

Next we went to Evensong where Sam, another American getting his masters here, joined us.  I hesitate to even describe Evensong because it was so awesome.  Sam is a minister in the Anglican Church so it was great to have him there because he knew so much of the history behind the service.  It’s a chapel service from the Book of Common Prayer and has been worshiped regularly since 1622.  It’s in the Cathedral at King’s College. (FN1)  The cathedral is tall with warm woodwork everywhere and plenty of stain-glass windows.  There is a big organ in roughly the middle of the church that services a divider of sorts.  It allows them to use part of the huge cathedral as more of a chapel without seeming empty.  Very ingenious design.

The actual service consisted of the King’s College Boys Choir singing in Latin and English with the congregation doing responsive readings and the priests reading Scripture and praying.  It was amazing.  If you do one thing in England this is it hands down.  It’s done every Friday evening at 5:30.  Better line up early though.  We got there at 5:10 and that was plenty early, but I imagine during tourist season that earlier arrival would be necessary.

The line forming outside the famous chapel.

After Evensong we left to try and get dinner.  We first tried The Eagle where the discovery of DNA was announced by Watson and Crick.  However, it was packed so we moved on.  We wound up at B.  It was great.  Great food and great drink selection.  As everyone says, the service just isn’t the same outside the US.  We were sitting there after placing our dinner order when a manger-type person appeared and put a sign on our table saying that the table was reserved at 8:30 (in 45 minutes).  Who just tells paying patrons they have to relinquish their seats in 45 minutes?  I tracked him down and we got things sorted out, but I was slightly incredulous.  We celebrated Lauren passing her first round of exams.  It’s similar to law school in that her entire masters program consists of two papers and a thesis so there’s not a lot of feedback and a ton of pressure on those papers.  Afterwards we migrated over to All Bar One where we hung out some more. 

Haley, Elizabeth, Adam, Me, and Lauren

The highlights of our time at ABO were Haley taking her tip back from the bartender after she felt like his service was subsequently lacking and me forgetting my souvenir sweatshirt and having to run back several blocks to get it.  Some things aren’t different no matter where you are and running through crowds of drunk people will get you the same cheers and jeers here that it will in the US.  Hahaha good times.

FN1. Colleges.  The university system is different over here.  Instead of doing it by subject matter (I graduated for example from Auburn’s creatively named College of Business), they do colleges by residence.  So your college is more like your community.  Then each major/faculty would have its own separate buildings which I think are located within a college, but not necessarily your college.  All the colleges I have named in this post are part of Cambridge University.