Day 11 Cambridge & London
We were so sad to leave the last place we stayed in Grafham. That was the darndest cutest place and we really didn't have enough time there. There are only 2 times our whole trip that we end up staying for just one night. That was one of them. The other time was our very first night - in Canterbury. Everywhere else we are staying 2 nights.
We got the car all cleaned out last night, as well as organizing all our stuff. That felt really cleansing and good to be organized once again. It's been a whirlwind each day, and there's never time to do such things, or else there's time, but our car is parked across the meadow, or something that prevents us from doing that. But last night, it all got done and it was amazing!
This morning we even stopped at a nearby post office to mail some things home so that we could free up some space (and weight) in our luggage for London and Kent and any potential shopping we might do . . . :)
We drove to Cambridge today and all the while we were curious how we might compare it to Oxford. And even through Cambridge is beautiful in its own right, we both felt that we enjoyed Oxford a bit better. Here are our reasons:
Oxford:
Cleaner
Younger tour guide - more interesting and enthusiastic personality
Lighter colors on the old buildings
It was our first university to tour - so excitement was higher
Learning about people and extra things relating to the university - such as Harry Potter
Cambridge:
Darker colors, everything seemed dark and almost dismal
Scaffolding and construction work going on everywhere (the guide explained that the very weekend that the students leave for summer break, the workers move in and set up camp until the students come back in October)
The scaffolding interfered with being able to enjoy certain buildings/views and take photos
Tour guide was older and had a vast knowledge of the history, but it was taxing at times for my brain to stay focused, plus she was harder to hear
It was noisier - on the streets because of all the people/bicyclists/cars and even in quieter places it was still noisy because of the construction work
Having said this, Cambridge still had some interesting facts and buildings. For example, there was building - a LaBORatory - where DNA was discovered, where the atom was first split, where the earliest computer was created, and the jet engine & hovercraft were created.
In fact, the 2 scientists that discovered DNA, when they made their grand discovery, they ran across the street to the Eagle's Nest pub (instead of finding their professors or university personnel) and shouted, "We discovered the secret of life!!"
Other famous visitors to the Eagle's Nest were: Charles Dickens, and even Shakespeare performed here on the upper balconies.
Cambridge was formed as an offshoot of Oxford, FYI.
Along the canal, they use flat bottomed boats and the movement along the canal is called "Punting". The canal is about 6 1/2 ft deep, and they move along by using a long pole to propel themselves along.
One more interesting fact - at the Kings College Chapel (31 colleges at the University - a college is your home, dining, church & library, and then the university provides the teaching) - It dates about 1000 years old I think. And in 1642 they had their Civil War, when Oliver Cromwell came through with his armies, destroying all the churches, including the stained glass. Well, all of the other churches' stained glass got destroyed, except for this one. It was because Cromwell had a good friend named John Milton. And John asked Oliver to stop what he was doing.
Later, during WWII, the Kings College Chapel was a distinct target for bombing because of its size and stature. Those in a position of supervising the great Chapel decided to protect the stained glass. So they removed ALL of it and took it carefully down to the basement to protect it. After it was safe to bring it back up, they painstakingly pieced it back together over 5 YEARS!! So now it is beautiful and cherished by millions.
Okay, enough about Cambridge!!
After we left this University town, we began our drive down to London. We arrived just in time for rush hour, but we MADE IT!! We DID IT!! We successfully navigated to our lodging and boy is it beautiful here. We have parked the car behind our lodging in a paid parking stall, and we will be walking or using public transportation for the next 36 hours until we leave. There is a lovely canal just outside our flat that goes on and on. It's called a Quay. We are staying at 37 Spirit Quay, and the view out our windows is gorgeous. We went on a walk to find some dinner, and the very first minute of walking, we see a swan just hanging out.
We found a place for dinner right on St. Katherine's Docks, and you'll see the view from our table. :)
Tomorrow, we will visit some family history sites where our ancestors lived and worked 400 years ago!! I'm really excited for that.
Time to go to bed now. Super tired right now.
Link to photos from today -
Love to all,
Michele
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