Wednesday 14 August 2013 – Cambridge.
One of the good things about not working is that I do get to go and visit place like Cambridge during the week, and while it was still busy it was not stupid busy. For me this is a very good thing. Seeing as I have touched on the subject of employment I may as well provide a status update. No change. Still no job….
Back to more interesting things. I had arranged to meet up with Sanjeev in his new home town of Cambridge for a wee tour before catching up with another Africa trip colleague, Jackie later in the afternoon.
I took the direct train from Kings Cross and it was only a 45 minute trip, fast, smooth and very on time.
Sanjeev met me at the station and we walked into the centre of Cambridge, as Sanjeev had a bike I decided I would rent one as well and we could ride out of town and visit Madingley Hall, just because it looked nice !
The bike I rented was the smoothest riding push bike I have ever rented, it rode like a dream. Madingley Hall is about five miles out of town and it was a nice country ride on roads that were not too busy.
The hall is now owned by the Universities of Cambridge and there was a function inside so we could not go in which was a shame, the oldest part of the building was started in 1543. It was pretty cool.
Weirdly there was a Buddha figure outside, cool.
Along with this grotesque- which I thought was quite cool too.
It was a lovely spot, very peaceful and calm, one of the pleasures of not being in London !
We rode back into town and down the far side of the River Cam to the town, past the ‘backs’, which is the name given to the backs of the famous colleges on the other side of the river. There were of course a bunch of punts out on the river.
St Johns College (I think, stupidly I did not write the names down!)
Kings College
The Mathematical Bridge
We had a bit of time to kill before we met up with Jackie so we visited the Round Church.
We met Jackie and had a bit of walk around the main streets, we were going to visit Kings College Chapel but there was a 7pound fee and we didn’t have the time to make it worthwhile.
So we did what all true English people do and went to the pub! The Eagle is one of the oldest pubs in Cambridge, dating back to the 1300’s. In far more modern time Watson and Crick used to drink here while unravelling the mysteries of DNA. I guess most places in the old part of Cambridge have an interesting history.
I had to leave after a pint and did not get to catch up with Vaishali who arrived just after I left. It was great to catch up with Sanjeev and Jackie again and I am really looking forward to a bigger Africa reunion in October.
I caught the train back to London and had a panicked time preparing my first tapas for dinner with El in front of the England V Scotland football match.
It was a good day and I am really looking forward to exploring Cambridge again soon.
Where is Phil now? 