7.23.2009
Cambridge University. Nearly an hour away. Absolutely Beautiful. I didn't quite know what to e
xpect but I knew I would enjoy it from the time we walked down the main road. Wonder why? Shopping!! Everywhere! And incredible buildings and greenery all around!! I'll be honest, I got a little tired throughout the day but overall, it was a fun day. We had a tour guide who had a passion for history. Cambridge University has been around for 800 years people!! 1209 is when it all began. Nick, our guide, explained that in individual interested in attending Cambridge must apply to the university, and then apply to a college: Trinity, King's, Claire, Jesus and 27 more. He said that it is within a college that one is lectured individually, studies, meets friends, gets into mischief. It would definitely be a different experience than I am having in my education now. Personally, I don't 
know that I would like that setup all too much but regardless, it is a well known school with high ranks. Members of the royal family have attended but Nick said it is because they are wealthy and pay their way in, not because of the brains. Prince Charles actually attended, and wanted a life as normal as possible. He had a guard with him in all his courses and activities. In order to graduate, there is a test that must be taken. His guard figured that he had been to all the courses, he might as well take the test. . . he performed better than Prince Charles. Kind of interesting.
xpect but I knew I would enjoy it from the time we walked down the main road. Wonder why? Shopping!! Everywhere! And incredible buildings and greenery all around!! I'll be honest, I got a little tired throughout the day but overall, it was a fun day. We had a tour guide who had a passion for history. Cambridge University has been around for 800 years people!! 1209 is when it all began. Nick, our guide, explained that in individual interested in attending Cambridge must apply to the university, and then apply to a college: Trinity, King's, Claire, Jesus and 27 more. He said that it is within a college that one is lectured individually, studies, meets friends, gets into mischief. It would definitely be a different experience than I am having in my education now. Personally, I don't 
know that I would like that setup all too much but regardless, it is a well known school with high ranks. Members of the royal family have attended but Nick said it is because they are wealthy and pay their way in, not because of the brains. Prince Charles actually attended, and wanted a life as normal as possible. He had a guard with him in all his courses and activities. In order to graduate, there is a test that must be taken. His guard figured that he had been to all the courses, he might as well take the test. . . he performed better than Prince Charles. Kind of interesting.My favorite touring aspect of the day was going inside the King's Chapel. It was so immaculate. It is the place where the Queen and royal family have come. There was one particular time when the Queen sat in the back corner to enjoy a play and didn't like it. This chapel was beautiful. I really liked it inside because, once again, it was different than any other we have seen.
The campus was beautiful! We were able to go out to the river to eat our lunch during our free time. We just sat on some grass nearby and watched the punters pass us by. Punting is very similar to a Gondola, just a different kind of boat that isn't as nice as a gondola, but regardless very fun. We were actually able to go later on in our day. When we ate lunch we were entertained by the people trying to control their own punts, running into edges and splashing water everwhere. We enjoyed that very much. My favorite was the little duck who was not afraid of us at all. It ate out of my hand. I have never met another duck who has it in them to do that. We laughed at us as it showed off for us as well. Lunch was a wonderful break after our 2 hour tour. We worked to gear up for another 2 hours of touring after lunch.We made our way to meet up with the group again and went into an art museum. Nick was very helpful to explain various pieces to us. I actually really
enjoyed the art. I saw another favorite of mine. It was a piece by Renoir. I like his work so much. I can't explain why but I think it is so beautiful!!
enjoyed the art. I saw another favorite of mine. It was a piece by Renoir. I like his work so much. I can't explain why but I think it is so beautiful!! After the art museum, we finished off our activities with Punting. Of course, it poured right before we went so we enjoyed wet pads on the boat, but we had so much fun! It was there that we saw some of the most beautiful views of Cambridge.
Eventually we made our way out of the town, and on our way stopped in at SubwayBecause we were already hungry and had an hour and a half or so before we would even be home. We ordered sandwiches and drinks and then headed towards the train station. We decided that we would prefer to just sit and eat and knew that there would be another subway along the way so we stopped in. I decided that I wanted some chips and wasn’t sure what kind to get. I was feeling Doritos but we had some at home so I thought I’d do get something else. There are not normal chips here. There is a brand called Walkers which is basically Lays potato chips. I thought BBQ sounded good for a change. As soon as I opened them, I knew they were different because they were not seasoned the way ours are at home. I quickly realized that they were BBQ Rib chips! SICK!! They had such a nasty aftertaste. If I ever see BBQ Rib chips at home, I will run!
Oh, good day. Good times.
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