Cambridge

We spent the last week of 2006 exploring the college town of Cambridge. The first college was founded in 1209, with the first actual building being built in 1284. Since that time, various benefactors have funded new colleges. As a result the college buildings are scattered through the city, intwining the city and university almost into one entity. Brian and I couldn't decide whether each college was like its own little city or whether the city was like one enormous campus. It is a very fun city for a ramble. I guess it is a bit touristy-- it seemed like we heard an American accent on every corner. It is funny because Cambridge is more of what you picture as quintessentially English than Brighton, but I think there are a lot more Americans in Cambridge.

We hired a car to take this trip and took the scenic route from Brighton. It was SO nice being in a car again. I actually kissed it. Iain continued his streak as a travellin' champ. By plane, train, automobile (or bus), our little guy loves to be on the go. What a blessing! Cambridge itself is not very large, probably due to its age. It is definitely not a driving city. There are hordes of bikes everywhere, and it seems most people get around that way. We weren't staying in the old part of the city, so we took the bus in or used one of the city lots while were there. Brian was a bit nervous about driving in the UK for the first time, but he did great. He loves to drive and is quite good at it, so I knew he would adjust quickly.

Our time in Cambridge was quite limited due to limited daylight, the baby's schedule, and visiting some friends. Also, a lot of things were closed since it was Christmas break. I hope that we can make it back again before we go, because I really enjoyed the city.

We got into Cambridge at around 2 on Friday, and on the reccomendation of our hosts went to see the Little Round Church. I'm so glad we did because it was very interesting. It was built in Norman times and modelled after the church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem (traditionally the site of Jesus' tomb). The architecture was interesting and they had a great display of Cambridge's Christian and secular history. It was a great way to start our trip.

On Saturday we walked around peering through windows and iron railings to catch a glimpse of some of the beautiful old colleges.


































They have some really awesome looking museums too. The picture below is from Corpus Christi's Natural History Museum (I think). It is a whale skeleton from a whale that beached itself in southern England in the 19th century. It is huge and it is displayed outside the Museum. You can see that Brian is a second Jonah, having been eaten by the whale. Or maybe he is Pinniochio.















We couldn't go inside King's College Chapel, which was a real bummer. The outside alone was awesome.















We did however get to go into the Cambridge University Press Bookshop. They publish really expensive academic books. They had a 2 pound table and Brian was in hog heaven. I suppose that isn't a very scholarly metaphor, is it?

After the bookshop it turned rainy as it so often does here in Britain. So we popped into a local pub for lunch. Turns out it was historic too. The scientists who discovered DNA used to hang out there. Don't you just love England?

It was still raining and the sun was setting after lunch (the Floridian in me rebels at even typing that blasphemy) and we headed off to the Fitzwilliam Museum where we saw some Greek & Eygptian antiquities and some medieval armor. We didn't have time to see anything else before it closed. It seemed like a good museum.

On Sunday we went a Presbyterian church and met up with O. Palmer Robertson and his family. He used to be one of Brian's Old Testament profs at Knox and we went to Cambridge specifically to see him. He is only going to be in Cambridge for a month and they are quite busy during that short time.

Palmer used to split his time between teaching at Knox and teaching at the African Bible College in Malawi, but now he has focused all his attention on founding and running the African Bible College in Uganda. The Robertsons invited us over for Sunday lunch and we enjoyed visiting with Palmer and Joanna and their three boys so much. After eating with them-- spaghetti bolognaise and Joanna's super-yummy Christmas cake, we hit the road. Since it was New Year's Eve we got the brainwave to drive straight through the heart of London. It was awesome! We whizzed by Big Ben, Buckingham Palace, Trafalgar Square, Piccadilly Circus, the Tower of London and over Tower Bridge picking up the feel of London night life as crowds began to gather for New Year's.