Day 24-26 - Cambridge

Monday

The first thing, the very first thing were had to do before we'd left Kings Lynn was more laundry. Fortunately Kings Lynn's laundromats were much less desultory than Oxford's. We tried for the local museum before we left (to see Seahenge) but it was closed. There was nothing for it but to press on to Cambridge.

However we made a small detour. Our route to Cambridge took us past the town of Ely. I'd never heard of Ely, but L had. This is why she'd heard of Ely:

The inside is just as remarkable. One of the most beautiful cathedrals we'd seen, along with Chartres.

We finally made it to Cambridge, and found a hotel with both proximity to the town centre and a car space. And a price to match. It was then considered prudent to actually book our accommodation ahead of time, rather then show up and just take what's available.

After we'd settled in (and our hearts had recovered from the tariff) we walked into the heart of Cambridge. Which proved difficult, because it was clogged with cyclists. It also didn't help that we had arrived at the start of "fresher's week".

Nonetheless, we found the Round Church after blithely walking past it, found dinner, and found our way back to our hotel.

Also we found the Corpus Clock just hanging off the side of one of the colleges - though it was difficult to get a proper shot of it - that blur at the top is a grasshopper type thingy that's the actual mechanism of the clock.

We had dinner in what turned out to be a member of a chain of rather ordinary gastropubs called the All Bar One and retired to the luxury of our hotel room.

Tuesday

Our first full day in Cambridge, and we decided to spend some of it on a bus. We'd done a Hop On Hop Off touring Singapore, so we decided to try the one in Cambridge. And then, maybe, we could have the bus plow through all the bikes instead.

Our first stop was the Fitzwilliam Museum that was hosting an exhibition of Han Dynasty artifacts related to burial. It was more extensive then we imagined, even displaying two full burial suits.

As with the Ashmolean, there was more than enough to warrant a second visit.

Lunch was at The Eagle - the pub frequented by Crick and Watson where they discussed their theory of DNA. In fact the local beer was called Eagle DNA - but sadly it didn't give me wings.

After lunch - it was off to another sacred sight: the Samuel Pepys library. The library is only open for one hour each day, and doesn't advertise its presence.

You cannot take photos inside, but it was a lovely space with the books in their original shelves, arranged by height.

The rest of the day was spent on the Hop On Hop Off bus, filling in more bits of Cambridge's past.


Wednesday

Back to more of the Fitzwilliam Museum, and to check out the Cambridge markets.


Then off to Bletchley Park via Linford Stables .