This post is a little late because I visited Cambridge at the beginning of July, but I have been busy making up for lost time and doing as much as possible with all of the annual leave that I have carried over from last year that I have not been spending much time in front of a computer unless it is for work. Cambridge was one of the solo trips that I made and a city that I had only been to on two fleeting occassions years ago. I never properly explored it until this visit. I had a walk around to see the Cows of Cambridge sculpture tour, Dinky Doors, and I also had afternoon tea and visited some tourist attractions. Of course, one of the attractions was the punting which I had never done in Cambridge nor Oxford, so it was high on my list. I also got to look around the shops, but they are not very photogenic, but I found Cambridge to have great shopping areas. Also, the people were very social, especially those who wished to chat about photography. It has a great atmosphere for the arty and intellectual types, so it was easy to fit in here. There's even a castle (Cambridge Castle), but it isn't a must-see attraction.
I had decent weather during part of my visit, and one of the first places I headed to was further afield where I walked along the river to search for some of the Dinky Doors. The punting does not go down this stretch of the river, but it does look picturesque here with the technology museum stack in the distance.
Cambridge is filled with very old buildings and colleges, and I loved looking at the buildings. I wanted to do a walking tour, but I just did not get time for that, so I don't know what some of the buildings are that I walked past.
One of my visits was to Jack's Gelato, a small-batch ice cream producer that uses local ingredients where possible and has been serving ice cream to Cambridge since 2010. I purchased the mint chocolate chip ice cream, and it hit the spot on a warm early evening. It was actually quite popular too.
Next up is the Corpus Christi Clock at the end of Bene't Street, where Jack's Gelato is. I struggled to get a photograph of it because of the glare on the window, and it was just a popular place for people to stop and look. The clock was placed here in 2008, and it depicts a giant insect "eating" time with inscriptions bearing that all must pass in time.
I visited over graduation weekend, and King's College was very busy with graduation and visitors hanging around. I took the below photograph in the early evening after the ice cream and visit to Corpus Clock.
There are many independent shops in Cambridge. I believe that it has something for everyone.
Parker's Piece is a large area of green located to the south of the city centre.
I did not realise that Cambridge was known for its red cattle that roam around the city. These cattle were near the river where I would later pass by on the punting boat tour.
The mathematical bridge is one of the bridges in Cambridge. It was built without needing any nails, but when they took it apart to treat the wood, they would not work out how to put it together again, so they had to use nails.
The views along the river are quite picturesque.
On the morning of the day that I was due to leave, large groups of students were marching (in a socially-distanced order) to their ceremonies in their caps and gowns.
One of the trees near here is "Newton's Apple Tree" where he started to think about gravity. Obviously, it would not be the same tree as apple trees do not live that long, but they have created descendants of that same tree.
I took a punting tour, and we were told about the different bridges and some of the buildings along the way.
The building below was designed in the modernist style, and when it was opened by Prince Charles, he was less than flattering about the building and referred to it as a "car park". It does look like one, and it is an ugly building, to be fair. It looks so out of place along the river here with all of the other traditional buildings around it.
Below is the Bridge of Sighs.
Although still in the centre of Cambridge, it does look misleading along the river here between the colleges.
We were told about the different colleges along the river and the dormatories. Some of the rooms are coveted and only given to the top students.
The back of King's College is noticable.
There were so many gorgeous views, and the river was quiet and sunny. By the time we were on the way back and almost returned, there were quite a lot of people on the river.
After the tour, I had a wander around the shops.
I remember the fudge shop during my first visit to Cambridge in 2000. It is still there, opposite King's College. They were making fudge, but it obviously was not at all busy. These places get so many tourists normally that there is a queue to get inside and watch the fudge being made and try samples.
I thought the little sculpture was unique, but I did not know anything about it. It is by Gary Webb, and it is called "Snowy". It features a local person named Snowy Farr who always set up with mice around the brim of his hat and other animals around him. He raised money for various charities.
Here's more of what I got up to in Cambridge:
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