Cambridge, Stonehenge and Paddington Bear

Last week Sunday we went to Cambridge for the day to visit Bron's UCT friend Bronwen Aken and her boyfriend Malcolm. Bron and Mal were great guides and showed us around the city centre. Most people associate Cambridge with the university which is spread out around the whole city centre much like Stellenbosch is. The system works a bit differently there and you need to apply to and be accepted at an independent 'college' (basically a student residence) first before applying to the university itself. There are many colleges in Cambridge most of which are closed to the public but there are a few where you can walk around the grounds. Probably the most prestigious and well known is King's College. The chapel is open to visitors and also offers a view of the college. We didn't go in but where able to see into some of the colleges when we walked along the river behind them. We had lunch at The Eagle Pub where Watson and Crick announced that they had discovered the structure of DNA and 'found the secret of life'. Apparently they frequented the pub everyday. Other things we saw were the round church, the corpus or grasshopper clock, many colleges and churches, the backs and the only hill with a view over Cambridge which is pretty flat. After exploring for the day it was time to head back to London. Thanks Bron and Mal! It was awesome to see you! =)

This week we continued touring around London doing touristy things. Last week was quite warm (12°C) but the temperature has dropped a lot this week and it has been pretty cold. Monday morning was raining and we couldn't brave it so we had a quiet morning at home catching up with ourselves. It stopped raining in the afternoon so Shell took us to Richmond Park where we had a lovely stroll around. We saw many deer and and enjoyed watching them. We also saw King Henry's Mound so named because Henry VIII had a clearing made on a little hill through which to see St Paul's Cathedral which has been kept clear to the present day. After the park Shell took us to a cosy tea place called The Tea Box where you can try many different types of tea. We had yummy afternoon tea and scones. 

On Tuesday we headed to North Greenwich and the Thames Barrier. The Thames Barrier is the flood protection for London that has been operational since 1983. You can see the barrier on the river but can't access it but there is a very informative museum with a model of how the gates work. It was really interesting and the coastal engineer in our group really enjoyed it! Even if you're not a coastal engineer it is interesting. 

After the Thames Barrier we headed to the Royal Observatory at Greenwich, home to the Meridian Line. It really is just a line on the ground but great to see none the less. There is also a little museum which explains the history of establishing the line, longitude, how to tell time and how important it was for sailors. Just down the hill is the National Maritime Museum which we explored till closing time. 

On Tuesday evening we had a great dinner with Justin's cousin Nicola and her husband Mike at their place in Putney. Thanks for a kewl evening guys! We met up with Justin's friend Ken from school days in Natal on Wednesday and just took it easy catching up and hanging out. It was also very cold and we didn't feel the need to be outside!! 

Thursday we met up with Ken again this time at the Imperial War Museum. The museum is huge (6 floors) with an impressive collection of war artefacts including General Montgomery's tank that he used in Africa during the second world war. We wandered around the lower ground floor which houses galleries on the first world war, second world war and Monty: master of the battlefield. The exhibitions are really good and also include a history on what happened in the lead up to both wars. Bron also walked through the Holocaust exhibition and the Secret war, an exhibition on espionage and secret agencies like MI5 and MI6, while Justin and Ken had a snack. On Thursday evening we went back to Richmond with Shell to have dinner with Justin's friend from UCT, Martin, and his fiance, Kirsten. We had a great dinner and enjoyed catching up. 

On Friday we went to the Borough Market which is a fresh produce and farmer's market in London city. We enjoyed wondering around and trying out some different foods. We found an Australian who makes and sells South African biltong in London! Was pretty funny. Apparently the SABC filmed him a while ago. After Borough Market we made our way to Westminster Abbey for Choral Evensong. We enjoyed evensong but  maybe we were a bit spoilt by going to St. Paul's first. The Abbey is a lovely church but not as ornate inside as St. Paul's. It was still beautiful though and a good time to be quiet and reflect. 

Shell, Bron and Justin headed to Hungerford via Paddington early on Saturday morning to visit Justin's aunt Sue and her husband Gary. They fetched us from the train station and after a refresh cup of tea and a snack we headed out to Stonehenge. It was really cold out there even though we had several layers on. Many tourists were out despite the cold weather. One used to be able to wander around the stones but they have since been cordoned off and you can't get super close anymore. Entrance includes an audio guide which is informative on the known history of the site. It is always quite interesting listening to people's ideas of what these ancient sites were used for and why they were built when there is very little known about them. It was quite special being able to be there but a sunny day probably would have been better.

Sue and Gary treated us to a home cooked meal after we had got back and thawed out complete with champagne. Then it was time to brave the two hour journey and head home. Thanks for a special day out guys! It was great.  

This week we have also started on the admin part of our holiday and began looking for a place to stay in Rotterdam. Hoping we have some positive responses before we get there! Also had to ask Bron's Dad to speed courier her birth certificate to her this week so she can register in Rotterdam. You just got to love last minute admin and stress.

We have mostly got through our tourist to-do-list for London. Plans for the week ahead include Tate Britain , The Lion King musical on Wednesday and going to York on Thursday for the weekend. The rest we will make up as we go along! Hope you have a good week!

Till next time!

x

Bron, Bron and Mal at The Back's in Cambridge

Corpus Clock

Plaque in The Eagle Pub

King's College Cambridge

King's College Cambridge

River Cam

Punting on the River Cam

Round Church in Cambridge

Deer in Richmond Park

Richmond Park

Thames Barrier

Greenwich Meridian Line

Greenwich Meridian Line

Interesting goods or sale at the Borough market

The Borough Market

Empanadas!!

Justin enjoying a German snack at the Borough market

An Australian Selling South African biltong in England!  

Westminster Abbey

Big Ben and The London Eye at night

Swaddled twins at Stonehenge

Stonehenge

Bron, Shell, Sue and Gary

Exactly what the sign says...