Cambridge… Cambridge… Cambridge, exceeded my expectations. I have been enamored with this place since watching a British TV show (Lewis) where the actors would always pass by or through Cambridge University. The place was HUGE, and I used to say… I want to see this place in person. However, I don’t think I meant it literally, but there I went. (By the way, I watch a lot of British TV through Britbox.
I should mention that Cambridge was not part of my original travel plans. However, after visiting Dublin I changed my plans to include a cruise. The cruise line and port would be out of England. However, there’s about 2 weeks of vacant travel, which was filled by visiting Cambridge and London. This is one of good things about solo travel; you can change your plans when you want to.
Prior to arriving in Cambridge, I learned that Cambridge University was made-up of 31 colleges. And the one I saw on TV was Kings College. So this is where I started. When I arrived at Kings College, I had a WOW moment. A little disappointed that I could only see it from street level… oh but… I found out that you can pay to enter. I immediately got online and booked my entry for the next day. In the meantime, I walked around the City Center and saw a lot of beautiful buildings.
On the day of my visit I was able to visit the chapel, courtyard, and gardens of the college. The chapel was magnificent. Hopefully the pictures below will show the grandeur of the place. The outside court was the view from the TV show. I could picture the actors walking swiftly across the courtyard into the halls to question a suspect. The tour access didn’t allow you to go into the buildings where classes are held, but I was just happy to be there. Behind the main building was a couple of dormitory buildings with another courtyard and the gardens. There was also a canal where you could see boats going by with a person steering by using a long wooden stick (called Punting). I had planned to take part in this but after all the walking around to see the other colleges, I forgot about the punting tour.
Being in this area made me want to attend this college. My hope is that one of my great nieces or great nephew will get the chance to attend here or a college aboard. I’m also thinking of adding a trip to Oxford to my travel plans, if I can squeeze it in.
