Cambridge

We had some friends in from out of town, and we decided to reserve our shared car to drive up to Cambridge. 

 Cambridge is one of the oldest Universities in England.  It was setup by a group that left Oxford to create a more liberal university. 

 It came into greater prominence under the reign of Henry VIII, and if you look carefully at the carvings, you can find his insignia.

 










It has some wonderful whimsical architecture that invokes a blending of Gothic and Italian Palladian styles.










 It is home to many great discoveries including the first spliting of the atom, and the unraveling of the DNA strand. 










We did a walking tour, which included admission to two of the colleges -  Kings College and Queens College.  A college in American terms equates more to a dormitory than a specific discipline, though many of the colleges are divided by interest.  One can easily see where the Harry Potter concepts of houses originates.

For lunch, we stopped at The Eagle Pub.  There wasn't anything remarkable about the food at this pub, but it was where many of Cambridges Science luminaries from the Science college across the street would hang out here for drinks.  They have a beer named in their honor.

 It was also the pub where many of the American GIs from the local airfield would come and relax.  Their initials are carved in the ceiling.

After lunch we took part in a classic Cambridge pasttime - Punting.  These are small boats similar to gondolas, and they cruise up and down the small river, Cam, which runs through the town. 

There is even a bridge that is named after a similar bridge in Venice also called the bridge of sighs.  The story goes that the bridge here in Cambridge is named this as it is the bridge students cross to go take some exams.

 It was a beautiful afternoon, and the threatened rain never materialized thankfully.

Bentley in particular was fascinated by the ducks.











Cambridge makes a wonderful day out from London.