Allison's Wonderland

Oxford pretty much holds the title as being the oldest school in England and let's not forget one of the many locations for the Harry Potter films.  Due to student vs. locals rivalry which resulted in a riot and a massacre, and the fact that some people weren't particularly fond of everything Oxford, Cambridge was born.  It's just a hop skip and a jump from Oxford and is located right on the River Cam.  It is an absolutely lovely little town, and one that I enjoyed exploring!

My day in Cambridge started out as most days out do, by catching the train from Gerrards Cross.  You can read my blog about Trains, Planes, and Lack of Automobiles to know exactly how that train ride went, so I'll spare you some of the boring details.  One of my main things I do when I travel is to explore different types of eateries.  I'm a foodie at heart so this is a very important factor.  Although this is the case, while adventuring one of my meals ALWAYS consists of McDonald's.  I'm a girl on a budget, what can I say?  On our mile walk into town from the train station, Leonie and I spotted a little cafe that was exuding heavenly smells.  We had to stop.  Once inside the place was extremely HOT.  Come to find out, it was due to the freshly made pastries that had just come right out of this huge boiling hot oven.  The man who served us was an absolute delight and fortunately for us there was seating outside so we didn't have to sweat while eating our breakfast.  The pastry I had was to DIE for!  I think it might have even been better than my favorite Nutella filled brioche that I would get everyday in Italy.  Yep, it was that good. 

Market Shopping

Belt Making Machine

Now Leonie and I were on a mission.  I was told by my Lonely Planet guide, other Au Pairs, and every travel website I had read that I absolutely had to go Punting while in Cambridge.  What is punting you may ask?  Well it's kind of like the redneck version of the Gondolas in Italy.  While walking around, we ended up in this huge square where there was a pretty awesome market going on.  That's when we were approached by this girl who was selling punting boat tours.  Once she found out Leonie was German, they started speaking their Deutschland native tongue as I stood there not knowing what the heck they were saying.  Thanks to them both being German we got a 5 pound discount.  Hey hey hey!  We were in luck.  Our tour didn't start till 12:30 so that gave us time to shop till we dropped.  I absolutely love market shopping and have really missed it since leaving Italy.  In Italy the market shopping was amazing and so cheap!  I got the cutest stuff for 5 Euros and under.  I haven't really bought anything for myself or anyone else for that matter since I've been in England.  Everything is expensive

Belt with my Pirate Belt Buckle.

and I don't really make enough money to buy souvenirs, but today was different.  I love unique things as well, that's when Leonie and I stumbled across this little vendor who was selling handmade belts, bracelets, etc. all made out of leather.  You were able to choose your belt buckle and the type of leather you wanted.  I was drawn to this gaudy gold pirate ship belt buckle.  I don't know why but I loved it.  The man was able to make me my own belt with my pirate ship belt buckle inscribed with my initials for only 10 pounds.  It was a steal. :)  Shaun says I can wear it to my next pirate party which I just might do.  Leonie got one as well but in comparison to my buckle hers was way more subdued.

Lovely Tour Guide

Our Boat. :)

After our market shopping experience, it was time for our punting tour of the backs. I don't know what it is about Cambridge, but there were so many Asians it was absolutely unbelievable.  It was kind of like the trip where Megan and I visited Versailles.  As to why they would be interested in Cambridge, I'm not really sure, but on our punting boat, Leonie and I were the only white people besides our very attractive punting boat captain.  We made sure to sit right in front of him so we could have a good view. :)  The river Cam was seriously crowded that day but we only rammed into like two boats on the whole trip.

Bridge of Sighs

We went underneath all the different bridges hence the name Cambridge due to the River Cam.  We went under several which consisted of the Mathematical Bridge which supposedly Isaac Newton built without a single fastener.  Supposedly the students were dared to take it apart and put it back together and once all undone they could not put it back together the way Isaac Newton built it.  I totally believed this story but than after reading my Lonely Planet guide, I was informed otherwise.  It's not true.  They also have a replica of the Bridge of Sighs in Venice just like Oxford.  I think this one was a bit prettier than Oxford, but definitely not as beautiful as Venice.

Our Picnic Before it was interrupted

After our tour Leonie and I were famished.  So where did we head?  To the Golden Arches.  Grabbed some grub and headed back to the backs in order to sit by the river and eat.  Found a nice little sunny spot, got out our cheeseburgers, and just as I was about to take the first bite we were told by a security officer that we were not allowed to eat on the premises.  UGH...England and all their stupid laws.  So he told us where we could eat which was outside the gates of the backs on this dirty little path.  We sat down by a tree and I was in a white skirt and not happy about our surroundings.  All we wanted was a nice little picnic!

Trinity College Square

St. John's College

Oh well, it was onto Trinity College.  The place I've been wanting to see all day as it has one of the largest courtyards which was also the stage for the famous scene in Chariots of Fire.  It also has this ridiculously old tree in the yard as well that is said to be over 600 years old and the supposed Apple Tree where Sir Isaac Newton discovered gravity.  We got up to the front of the gate and guess what?  It was closed.  MURDEROUS!!  I got my picture taken in front of it, but that was it.  So we decided to explore.  Went over to St. John's college and just started wandering.  Wandering is honestly one of my favorite things to do because you can stumble across some pretty cool stuff.  Well we ended up in the back entrance of the college and were actually able to cross over the inside of the Bridge of Sighs.  We also got to go into the chapel and ended up exiting through the entrance where we didn't have to pay!  SWEET!  Wandering has its pay offs.  Now it was time for King's College.

King's College Chapel

King's College is the second wealthiest college in Cambridge, with Trinity being the first.  Our punting guide told us how housing in Cambridge works which I think is really kind of awesome.  Other Universities, ahem Liberty, need to get with the program.  As a first year student you live in the dormitories which are just plain normal dormitories.  Nothing really special.  The second year you are required to live off campus and get a feel for apartment living.  Third year is the cool part.  Housing is based upon your grade point average.  The better you do, the better your living arrangements will be.  If you slack off you're going to be housed with 8 other people with a shared kitchen and living room with little space.  If you do exceptionally well, you have your own housing with your own

Inside Chapel

kitchen, living room, balcony overlooking the river where you can have friends over and chill out whenever.  I like that idea because it definitely gives you incentive to do better in school. The chapel on the grounds of King's College was suppose to be one of the tallest chapels in Europe and my Lonely Planet guide ranted and raved about it.  I figured okay we have to go and I thought as well that when you pay the entry to the chapel you also get entry into the college.  We ended up paying 7.50 in order to get into this place and it seriously was not anything special.  Leonie would not let me live it down.  Haha oh well.  After King's College it was my favorite part of the day.  Dinner!

I scoped it out by using my Lonely Planet and Leonie and I were off to a place called "The Eagle", kind of like "The Eagle and Child" in Oxford.  This one was famous for a different reason though.  It was established in 1525 and was the place where Watson and Crick first announced their discovery of DNA.  It was also a popular establishment for RAF and American forces during WWII.  The

Fish & Chips

ceiling of the RAF bar still bears their signatures of those who fought and died for freedom.  Pretty cool little historic place.  I loved it and of course I had to get my main dish of Fish & Chips.  I always order that out everywhere I go!  After dinner Leonie and I had gotten really silly on our walk home. 

Our Asian Pose :)

That's when we ran into the 15 year old.  It was so odd, but this guy passed us and was like Oh hello...and so I said hi back.  Then he just stops in the middle of the sidewalk so we caught up to him again.  He looks at me and asks me if I think he's sexy.  Leonie couldn't stop laughing and I asked him if he wanted me to tell him the truth.  He looked 12 and was very unattractive.  I mean what stranger asks that of another stranger?  We were dying laughing the whole walk to the train station.  WEIRDY!  We took pics at the train station acting like Asians.  We're classy like that.  It was a wonderful day, although we ran across a few disappointments, but overall another great little mini vacation. :)