Cambridge

Punts on the River Cam

In spite of a bike race that tied London in knots, the 13 of us staying at the Landsdowne Club managed to get our bus to Cambridge on Sunday.  We arrived just in the knick of time to get checked into our rooms before taking a walking tour of the city center.

King's College

Cambridge is no longer the little town Lloyd and I visited 16 years ago.  The river was almost as busy as the streets, clogged with tourists, many of whom are Chinese teenagers -- the result no doubt of the enormous increase in the wealth of many Chinese families (not unlike the Japanese 30 years ago).  The buildings do not change much, however, and the colleges we passed looked as stately as they did 16 years ago.

Our dorm rooms are in one of the newer colleges, Selwyn, founded toward the end of the 19th century.  It is on the far side of the River Cam from the older colleges like King's, Queen's and Trinity and much quieter as a result.  My room is spacious and comfortable with an ensuite bathroom.

We eat breakfast and dinner in Hall, a spacious dining room that is a couple of courtyards away and the classroom area is within easy walking distance.  My two classes began this morning and are just great, one on the religious reformation in the 16th century and the other on Paris during the years when Haussmann was transforming the medieval capital into a city of boulevards and light.  Of course there were some great painters around then (e.g. Monet) to chronicle the changes and the rather fraught history (war and revolution), which makes this period particularly interesting.  I'm enjoying the novel approach of looking at history through art.

Entrance to Selwyn College Garden

Every college has at least one formal quadrangle the center of which is covered in grass on which it is absolutely forbidden to walk.  Many also have lovely gardens as does Selwyn.

Selwyn College Garden

After classes today, a friend, Ellen Wallach, and I had a great lunch at a pub called the Anchor.  Pubs have changed vastly (for the better) since smoking in them was banned.  The food has improved too and with a Shandy in hand, one is bound to have a good time.  Later, we visited both King's and Queen's colleges.  King's College Chapel is so stunning -- always a treat to visit.

Ceiling of King's College Chapel

We also discovered a huge new shopping center right off the market square (at least not out in the burbs).  Even on an ordinary Monday, it was hard to navigate the main street.  But it was fun to do some window shopping and when we finally got back to Selwyn a little after 5:00 p.m. we were almost too tired to eat -- but we managed nonetheless:).  The food in Hall is really quite good and it certainly is plentiful.  The older among us choose smaller portions, but the younger participants are utterly delighted to be fed so copiously.