An Afternoon in Cambridge
Collin and I weren't far from Cambridge when we were housesitting in the tiny village of Gretton. So we decided to drive down for the day. Luckily the owners of the house lent us their very large Range Rover Discovery to take advantage of the sites nearby.
We booked a city bike tour of Cambridge and I was stoked to get there and see the sites. We arrived in Cambridge a little ahead of schedule and so we walked around a bit to get a feel for the place.
We met our guide, Anthony, and another family at a nearby park. After walking a bit to the bike store we got suited up with bikes and helmets - safety first!
I had not ridden a bike in a very long time but like they say, you never forget. I was given a cute little bike with a basket on the front.
Collin lovingly holding my bike so I could, of course, take more pictures.
The tour was fantastic. Anthony was an amazing tour guide who grew up in Cambridge, did a bit of traveling, and found himself back in Cambridge to start a family and business.
He knew it all. He actually was an alumnus of Cambridge himself.
We biked near the river where we stopped every so often for him to relay facts and tid bits about the boat houses. Not every Cambridge college (there are 31 in total) have a boat house and those that do have strict rules about them. For example, only those Colleges that have won ten consecutive boat races can have a clock on the facade of their boat house.
The traditions reminded me a bit of Texas A&M but much more British.
Tiny dog living the high life.
Cambridge is a beautiful town with cobbled streets, storied histories and amazing buildings.
The Colleges we biked to were imposing stone structures oozing academia at every corner.
The most beautiful was Trinity College (Chariots of Fire anyone?) where Isaac Newton studied. The family took a piece of the famous apple tree at his home and planted it outside Trinity College as a homage to him. It stands outside his room at Trinity.
Newton's apple tree.
Anthony took us around the backside of Kings College Chapel where we were treated to an amazing post card view of the chapel.
Across the street from the entrance of Kings College Chapel is a very unique clock. The golden clock named, Corpus Clock, was conceived and funded by an alumnus of Corpus Christi College, John C. Taylor.
The most interesting feature of the clock is the grim looking grasshopper moving on top. Taylor says that the grasshopper is literally eating away time. The grinding sound produced by the moving grasshopper is anything but ordinary as is the eerie sound of a chain dropping into a small wooden coffin hidden behind the clock out of sight. It is a grim reminder of the passage of time.
Cambridge boasts some beautiful canals as well where you can hire a boat to go punting which kind of reminded me of Venetian gondolas. We didn't have time for a punting tour but took some pictures of the beautiful River Cam.
After the tour we were famished and treated ourselves to a delicious meal at a nearby pub.
We took our time winding our way through the streets, stopping at a bustling sweet shop and grabbing a pot of tea with scones and cream before heading home.
