Cambridge and The River Cam

Friday, August 7, 2009
Our whirlwind tour of the highlights of Britain has begun! Today our wonderful hostess Lyn drove us to Cambridge to explore that world famous university, this year celebrating its 800th anniversary.
We drove to a “park and ride” not far outside the Albany-sized city. There we boarded a double-decker city bus for the remainder of the trip to Cambridge. We were dropped in a bustling town filled with shops and shoppers. Shortly we found a sightseeing bus and climbed aboard for a magnificent tour. We saw fields near the city center where the rules of cricket were developed. Nearby, atop a venerable building, an iron cricketeer was demonstrating his swing in a unique weathervane. This sport is now a touchy subject for not-so-jolly England. Its team is looking weak against a powerful Australian squad in the “Ashes” tournament, so named because in a much earlier competition, dejected Britishers burned the wickets and placed the ashes in an urn that is now the tournament’s trophy What’s more, the team’s leading player injured himself during horseplay while on a trip to the U.S., and he may not be 100%.
On a nearby field, the rules for English football (soccer) were also refined. The size of the goal was set at the distance between the trees that lined the field! We rode along the River Cam and saw the “punters” poling on the narrow stream.
Our bus took us past a nearly thousand-year-old round church, one of only several in Britain, built by the Knights Templar after their return from the Crusades, and we saw the small leafy park where John Milton wrote some of “Paradise Lost.” Near the end of the tour, we viewed the American cemetery where the World War II dead from our Air Force are buried, and where a monument to the missing, such as Glenn Miller and Joseph Kennedy, can be found. Later we shopped in one of Britain’s high class stores, “John Lewis.”
We had lunch in one of the town oldest pubs, the “Eagle”. There, during World War II, British and American pilots used lipstick and lighters to mark their names in the ceiling. In the corner where we ate, Crick and Watson discussed their ideas and research in the early 1950’s, so it can be said that DNA was discovered here! We are sure the incredible “Greene King” IPA was the source of their inspiration!
We hated to cross the bridge over the River Cam as we left the city. It was terrific! Tonight we went to dinner at the "Queen's Head" Pub. A very posh and gourmet restaurant outside of Writtle located on a beautiful stream. A wonderful meal with great friends!