Back to university?

On to Cambridge today, and one of the few places in England that I insisted we visit. Having never been before, I was keen to see some of the universities and their architecture.

You can see Cambridge on Flickr:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/81692166@N05/sets/72157647343129017/

After picking a (relative expensive) car park, we walked along one of the major thoroughfares for a while, coming across the Fitzwilliam Museum. It’s a fantastic collection of artwork and historical artefacts, including an Egyptian sarcophagus (which I didn’t get to see). While going and seeing it properly would have been nice, we were limited with time, so decided against it:

The Fitzwilliam Museum

Then we got to the core of Cambridge: its universities. At this point we split up, as I wanted to do some exploring, whereas mum and dad were more content to wander around the other part of town. They weren’t free to get into - I suspect that may have had something to do with it.

First up I went into Queens College, one of the smaller universities, and walked through a few of its buildings and along the River Cam. Cambridge is known for its ‘punting’ along this small canal-like river, and I personally think it is way too commercialised. There are dozens of them in a continuous chain going up- and downriver, as well as a few causing havoc in their amateurish attempts at punting:

Queens College and the River Cam

My next target was Kings College. I ended up not going in, as not only had I forgotten my student card for discounted entry, but the entry fee was enormous. I think it was 7 or 8 pounds each. Something I can leave to next time - because I will surely be coming back.

A bit more of a cruise around later, I headed back to our meeting point at the Fitzwilliam Museum, as I was out of phone credit. We ended up walking back to the car the long way, when I had the good fortune to stumble upon Pembroke College. This college was almost the smallest of them all, but with the most fantastic colour contrasts in its buildings and trees:

Pembroke College

That was about the end of Cambridge for us. Mum and dad at least - there is so much here to see that I’ll definitely be back one day. We’re staying about a half-hour north of Cambridge tonight, and we’ll journey to Dover tomorrow. The end is in sight!

Some more from today

The city proper

Today we were able to get our hosts to take us into the town of King’s Lynn. It’s by no means a large town, but it still has its fair share of things to see and do.

More photos on Flickr:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/81692166@N05/sets/72157647245721700/

We didn’t drive into the city, but rather to the car park for a small ferry, which has run back and forth across the river for the best part of 600 years (not always motor-powered of course). From there we wandered around the older part of King’s Lynn, with the highest concentration of taller and older buildings:

Historic centre

We passed through a small park on our way to The Walks, dedicated to World War II victims. Quite pretty as well:

Another small park

Then, we moved on towards The Walks. The park features several small old buildings, including a chapel that pilgrims came to for many years - evidenced by the 17th-century equivalent of “XYZ was here” graffiti:

The Walks

From there we took a reasonably direct route back to the ferry, and went back to Terrington St. Clement to prepare for an evening meal out. We went to what our hosts called a pub with “a South African twist on food”. While we didn’t quite see the South African twist, the food was still good. British food is wacko sometimes - they order a curry on a bed of hot chips, among other weird things.

We’re definitely winding down on the trip now, we will stay overnight in Cambridge, with a half-day to explore. See you there!

Local attractions

For our first of two days in King’s Lynn, we decided to visit a couple of local attractions. I say local, they were about a half-hour’s drive away each.

Photos from today on Flickr:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/81692166@N05/sets/72157647245721700/

Our first destination was Ayscoughfee Hall Museum and Gardens. The medieval hall dates back to the mid-15th century, and has been really well-kept by the local council. You can even see parts of the original walls and roof beams through glass panels:

Ayscoughfee Hall

Surrounding the hall is a public green space. It felt really open, but they’ve packed a lot in, from manicured hedge gardens to sports places to green spaces surrounded by enormous trees:

Surrounding gardens

Our second planned visit was to Wisbech, a small town adorned with Georgian architecture. Its small river has been part of a couple of movies, with its chain of buildings on each side:

Wisbech

Tomorrow hopefully we’ll have a chance to explore King’s Lynn proper. See you then!

A drive through Norfolkshire

Today we needed to get from Croydon, on the southern side of London, around and up to King’s Lynn, where we will tour Norfolkshire for a couple of days.

A few photos added to an album for Ely:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/81692166@N05/sets/72157647545347302/

Our only stop for the day was Ely, a church city about an hour south of King’s Lynn. Its church is apparently a big deal, because as I stepped in I saw signs for admission prices of 8 POUNDS. The reason it’s so expensive is that it’s a mandatory 12-month ticket - you can’t just buy a single-visit admission. I contented myself instead with taking photos from just inside the front door, which is before the admission area, and outside:

Ely Cathedral

After that we went for a bit of a wander through the backstreets. There was nothing much to see really, but there were some nice buildings and streets all the same:

The rest of Ely

That took up the whole day, none of us really felt like doing much more at this stage. So tomorrow we’ll explore some local attractions. Until then!