CAMBRIDGE 2017

CAMBRIDGE

We boarded our West Bus at 8:15 Friday morning for our first day trip of the semester to Cambridge.  All of us were bright eyed and bushy-tailed!!!!  NOT!

We were met by our tour guide, Lindsay, and a photographer named Richard who went on the tour with us to take photos of our group.  We were selected to be photographed by the Cambridge Tours company to possibly appear in all of their advertising and web-site.  I will let you know if I hear anything and/or receive some of the pictures.  Lindsay did an hour and a half walking tour which included going into Kings' College Chapel.

Below is the Mathematical Bridge with some punting boats floating by and under it.

                           


This is a really cool clock that was donated by a Cambridge Alum.  The grasshopper at the top pushes the circle around every second.  There is a blue light that give us the time.

Some sights on the walking tour.

The white building on the right is the Senate Building.  The  courtyard is where students grades are posted.  As a college prank students put a car on top of this building one night, and it took the administration over a week to figure out how to get it down!

Speaking of pranks.  This figure of HenryVIII has been the subject of many pranks mainly the scepter in his hand has been replaced time after time with a chair leg.  The powers that be finally gave up on replacing it with a real scepter and just kept the chair leg there.  See the close up below!!!!  Ah, students!

Here is where the tree Sir Issac Newton sat under when the apple dropped on him.  This is a piece of the original tree replanted in the same place.  It is below the Henry VIII figure.

One of my favorite bookshops in Cambridge which is down a small alley.

There is a great outdoor market in the City Center that is fun to walk and browse around.   Also live musicians are continuously playing music in the area.

Across from The Eagle Pub which I will talk about in a bit is the oldest church in Cambridge.

 Below where you see a small black rectangle is a hole in the wall where priests could spy on the congregation to see who was attending Mass.

I found a homeless man sleeping in the side chapel!

The Eagle Pub is a famous pub in Cambridge.  It is where most scientific discoveries are announced, such as the discovery of DNA.   It was also a hangout for British and US air force soldiers.

 Check out the window on the left.  It is open and must always stay open.  There was once a fire in that room and the "ghost" in that room has to have the window open to be able to escape or bad things will happen if it is not open.  One time a new employee closed the window and the kitchen caught on fire.  The window is ALWAYS open!!!!

The ceiling in the RAF Bar is covered with graffiti put up there with cigarette smoke.  It was never washed off!!!  Here are a few pictures of the ceiling.

The plaque above the table where the discovery of DNA was announced.

After the walking tour we all had lunch at The Eagle.  Fish and Chips, Burgers, Chips (French Fries), and Sausage and Mash!!!!

 This Mayo is seriously good!!!!

One of my favorite shops-The Fudge Shop.  Here they are making chocolate walnut fudge.  I always buy some for our ride home back to London.  Yummy!

Here are some photos of Kings Chapel.  It took 100 years to build.  

One can see the influence of the Tudors and The War of the Roses.  Here is the symbol of a rose with a crown on it and the Fleur-de-Lis with a crown showing the French influence.  We will see these symbols again in Canterbury this week.

When Oliver Cromwell was destroying churches, he housed his troops and horses in the Kings Chapel.  The town took down and hid all the stained-glass windows.  Then put them all back in place later.   Recently they discovered graffiti left from Cromwell's troops!

A fun thing, and a touristy thing to do in Cambridge is ride on a punting boat.  One can take the boat out on their own or one can have a guide.  Because of time constraints we chose a guided tour and ride.  These are mostly college students who take you out, and they work on commission on how many riders they can get.   I managed to get the ride for 10 pounds each as opposed to 20 pounds or 16 pounds.   Turned on my Greek charm!!!!

Here is Tom our guide.  On the ride on the river CAM we saw the back of most of the colleges, and Tom filled us in on architects and founders of the colleges.

Even the Red Hat Ladies were enjoying a ride on the river on this beautiful, sunny day.  The weather was with us all day!!!!

The Bridge of Sighs is a covered bridge at St. John's College. Built in 1831 by Henry Hutchinson.

After our boat ride we went back to the bus and ate fudge all the way back to London!  A good time was had by all!!!

THAT'S ALL FOLKS!!!!!