Cambridge is a great college town much like Austin. College kids running around, bars and cafes everywhere. You just have to remember that it is a few hundred years older. Some of the college date back to the 1500s.

We started our tour at Emmanuel College. Julian, our resident historian and comedian was a student at Emmanuel and he wanted to show off his old stomping ground. He was able to get us tours of rooms he never entered as a student. Cambridge is still very formal and the students are still required to wear their robes to dinner. Behind the dining hall is the fancy parlor for all the “fellows” or professors in American English to take their tea or port with dessert. Hidden in this room were several Holbein portraits and the fine china. There was also a room with one long table with one much smaller table on one end to seat all 60 of the fellows at one time.

We had tea and cookies in one of the gathering rooms then we were off to see the library. In the library the college displays their treasures. We saw the school charter signed and sealed by Queen Elizabeth with her likeness added for decoration. We also saw and old illustrated bible and a book given to Katherine of Aragon from Erasmus. It is crazy to think you are looking at something so incredibly old that was one time held by the kings and queens.

From Emmanuel we headed off for a few hours on our own. We grabbed a nice sandwich for lunch and walked around the town center. Being Sunday some of the shops were not opened but there was plenty to ramble through.

After lunch we met back up with the group to go in the chapel at King’s College. Chapel does not adequately describe the church. It is more cathedral than chapel. The ceiling is amazing. It all stone with carved buttresses. As for our Tudor group most went through looking for the references to Anne Boleyn. Most had been removed but their were a few that were overlooked. There was also great heraldry for the Tudor and Beaufort families. We had seen a lot of the articulus symbols and the Tudor rose but the church also showed off the greyhound which I had not seen before. The rest of the time was spent admiring the ceiling. We all left with cricks in our necks.

From the church we took a nice walk around the town. We saw some of the other colleges from the outside. We saw where Newton attending and my favorite A A Milne of Winnie the Pooh fame. Julien pointed out where all of his college escapades took place. I know where he met his wife, the bar he frequented and the room in which he served some rather disgusting cake. If he ever becomes hugely famous I will be able to give tours of his college days.

After our tour we were on our own for a while and Val and I decided to climb the tower. The view was really nice and we got some great pictures. Two gentlemen were holding court in one corner that gave the best view of Kings Chapel and would not move on. I kept trying to get them to move but regardless of how close I stood they wouldn’t budge. We waited them out took our photos and headed back down.

We didn’t do much shopping and soon headed back to the bus. Dinner was independent tonight. We had reservations at one of the pubs we a few of the other ladies we have met on the trip. They share the back of the bus with us as well as our love of gift shops. Anyway I again had the fish and chips with a side of macaroni and cheese. Other than the ketchup which was horrible (think the worst sweet cheap ketchup you have ever tasted then make it even worse) the meal was delicious. It was some of the best macaroni and cheese I have eaten. I tried a England beer none which was not my favorite I prefer my beer cold but when it Rome and all that.

This will be our last night in our quaint quirky hotel so I stopped off at the airmen’s bar for a few photos. We had a few drinks in the bar the first night. It is a great bar where US airmen hung out in WWII. Many of them signed the walls at the time and then some have come back to update their signatures. They also pounded some badges into the wood posts over head. It was a nice place to have a drink.