I didn't actually go punting, but I did walk along the river, as you can see. Cambridge was really, really pretty. And really, really touristy. There were sooo many people everywhere I went. I took about 2498571324
pictures, and I am still not sure what most of the buildings were. The students were all moving in, so we couldn't go into most of the Colleges, where you normally can. So that was kind of sad, but it was still lots of fun to walk around and people watch.The train was supposed to go from Norwich to Cambridge, but they had to do rail construction, so we had to transfer to a coach at Brandon (which is about half-way between the two). It took a little longer, but everyone was really helpful about getting you where you had to be. We walked from the train station to the Cambridge Market, which was crazy. There were buskers everywhere, and street bands, which to me was cooler than the buildings. It had a really carnival feel about it. There was a big open air market, too. We headed down to the river, where the punters are there to lure tourists. This one guy ended up talking to us forever about why we should ride in his punt. We declined. Then, it was my brilliant idea to go back by the river later in the afternoon--I wanted to see the fake Bridge of Sighs--and there was our friend the punter again! He followed us for awhile, pleading with us to go in his punt. It was very strange. It was easy enough to walk, and it was free!
AND I had my first fish and chips. Quite tasty, especially with a half-pint of lager. I was going to put a picture of it up, until I realized that I've been writing about food a lot. It was hard for me to decide what pictures to do, since I saw so much. The College pictured is Kings College. I really, really wanted to go in, but no luck...only if you had proof you were a student there. Still, the view from outside was pretty breathtaking. Sometimes, I feel like I'm still in America--I think because I am starting to get used to Norwich and campus. I didn't feel like that yesterday. It was so very different than anything I'd ever seen before, from the huge lots of bicycles (everyone rides bikes!!) to the immaculate green lawns. Some of my flatmates have a grudge against Cambridge, because they applied there and didn't get in. It'd be like someone from the States visiting Harvard (or in my case, Oberlin).
My legs are really, really sore today. I think partially from the walking, and partially from wearing my slammin' new rainboots yesterday. They have butterflies on them! Beautiful. Also, update on my currency problems: I paid for everything yesterday in exact change without taking too long to do it. Hurray for progress.
4 comments:
The disturbing part of that post was the half-pint of lager. It all starts with a half-pint, next thing you know you'll be playing womens rugby and doing keg stands.
The disturbing part for me about half-pints is I think that's what Pa Ingalls used to call Laura on "Little House on the Prairie"...that's generally what I think about when I order them.
I am in dire need of a vocab lesson... what the heck is punting and busking? I think it's pretty bad that I am having difficulty understanding English... :)
I like how your name is "cricket"! haha.
Punting is using long sticks to push off the bottom of the river/stream and propel your boat, which isn't hard in Cambridge because the river is shallow.
And busking is playing or performing on the street to get money. I really like it when people do that. There is one guy in Norwich who plays the bagpipes, so when you're here you'll have to look for that!
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