England Travels: Cambridge (Part 2)
Tuesday, April 17, 2018 and Wednesday, April 18, 2018.
We arrived back in Cambridge on Monday night. We were planning to go
to Norwich (pronounced: Nor-itch because every damn name in England
follows no consistent rules and serves as a shibboleth to distinguish
the 'us' from the 'them'), but my throat was feeling a little if-fy.
So we decided not to get train tickets in advance and we'd set alarms
for 9am and make a decision then.
The next day at 10:30am, we both had independently decided to sleep in.
I figured it'd be better not to do a lot of running around and far
traveling, so instead we explored some of Cambridge, including where
Stephanie works and the Botanical Gardens (photos in another section).
That night, we decided to do the same thing on Wednesday, and in the
morning, I still felt OK but if-fy. I finished up writing postcards
and we headed to town. I mailed them out at a post office, we walked
along the River Cam and saw various punters of various skill levels,
explored parts of campus open to the public, and stopped in the
coffee shop at a bookstore to make some plans for dinner and such.
The guy working there seemed a bit grouchy, like ordering drinks
was a burden to him, but it turns out he was very cool and friendly.
I ordered some tea and (honey for my throat, as I was coughing a bit).
15 mintues later he walked around offering the few people there the
remaining baked goods for free, since they'd be closing in about 30
minutes. He also brought me a glass of water without my asking.
I was also losing my voice. Just as we were getting ready to leave,
he stopped by to clean up the table. As I got up, he kind of nodded
Stephanie's way and winked at me, and then asked her if she wanted to
settle up now for the £5 worth of baked goods. She had a
deer-in-the-headlights look, and then he smiled and laughed,
and then said that I was in on it. Strictly speaking, I knew
something was up about 2 seconds before it happened. Still, he had
a good sense of humor and was quite friendly and we completely
misread him at first.
We went to a nearby Indian restaurant, then headed home, though I
took a few pictures by the water, and one of a street sign.
2018 England trip pictures
Displaying all 73 pictures
Downtown, Market Square, Plant Biology Building
Walking downtown by the river. Plus some University of Cambridge
buildings. Some pictures in the Botany Building, and other stuff.
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While walking to town we saw people fishing bikes and stuff
out of the river.
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Mmmmmm...fresh wild-caught, non-farmed grocery carts...now
that's good eating!
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Looking back at the entrance
to Downing College in the University of Cambridge.
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Map of Downing Site (including plant biology)
at the University of Cambridge.
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A building at Cambridge. Didn't notice until now there's
someone lurking on...(more)
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Metal dinosaur skeleton in front of the Sedgwick Museum.
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A view of Cambridge and roofs from Stephanie's office.
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Another window that had a fresnel lens (weak?)
magnifying glass effect.
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Frank showing how where and how to leave. My right
arm should have been a bit...(more)
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The market in the center of town. Lots of food booths.
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A building with a sundial on it. It actually was
a bit after 2pm, so it didn't...(more)
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Na-na na-na na-na na-na BAT MAN STREET! (Comes from when
he studied at...(more)
The Church of Our Lady and the
English Martyrs
Some shots of the church. It has a lot of cool gargoyles on it.
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Our Lady and the English Martyrs Church,
north entrance.
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Lookup up at the east entrance (the tower is just behind,
obscurred).
Evening in Cambridge
After our day's adventures, we stopped for dinner and then
headed home. I took a few pictures of the area at night.
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We had dinner at the Fort St. George pub. It was actually
twilight.
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The path along the River Cam on the way home (looking west).
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Bridge over the River Cam (unknown if water is troubled).
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The Green Dragon, another pub just on the north side of the
River Cam.
Downtown Cambridge
The next day, since I had a bit of a cough and wasn't feeling 100%,
we stayed in the area and explored other Cambridge things. The weather
was really nice that day. I still don't understand what the woman
wearing the cartoon head was doing, if she was a local or a tourist,
and if this was some known character (her or the cartoon head). Mysteries
for the ages, I suppose.
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A punter punting (birds got to sing, punters got to punt).
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And I've no idea if that's some known cartoon character.
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You can see she has the lead lifted, she's human underneath.
The River Cam and Cambridge University
We spent some time in some of the colleges at the University of Cambridge,
by the River Cam and watched people come and go, including punters
that weren't particularly skilled guiding their boats upstream. I
don't speak German, but when the woman almost lost her pole, I was
easily able to recognized "Oh shit!" in German.
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Punters punting under a River Cam bridge in Cambridge
(university and town).
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Another Cam bridge in Cambridge. I think it's King's Bridge
in King's College.
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King's Bridge with King's College Chapel in the distance.
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Now entering Clare College. Actually, the gate was locked.
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Flowers by Queen's Green in Queen's College, Cambridge.
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A building traffic jam of punters having difficulty going
upstream.
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A cluster of punters on the River Cam by Queen's College.
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The game to St. John's College at Cambridge is open.
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I don't know why there are plastic wolves by the river at
Cambridge, but there...(more)
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The top half of the previous picture (too lazy to composite
them).
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King's Cathedral or just some old buildings at the University of
Cambridge.
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King's bridge over the River Cam from the Queen's Green.
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St. John's College with King's College Chapel behind it.
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A map of downtown and the various Cambridge colleges.
Walking back at night
I wanted to try to get a good shot of the crescent moon. I had to
take a few pictures to figure out the exposure.
Passing Frank's Lane on the way home, I knew I needed to get a
picture with me in front if it. It's one in a series of me by signs
that have my name on them. It took a few tries, because using the flash
just blew-out the highly reflective sign. I was trying to time it when
the street wasn't busy and no one was around. One of the times, while I
was standing by the sign pointing to it and me, just after Stephanie
had taken a flash picture, someone in a truck that was turning onto
the street nearby yelled out in a strong English accent, "We
ahsk yew nought to tayke pictyures of uhr strayts. Thahnk yeeew."
I had been trying to look like a tourist goober for the pictures,
so I considered it a job well done.
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Stephanie's toy thing and the googley-eyed sign by the river.
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A bit overexposed shot of the moon over Cambridge across
the River Cam.
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My street in Cambridge! (This picture took a lot
of tries.)
2018 England trip pictures
This page last modified May 15, 2018.
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