On to Cambridge

This morning we left our tiny hotel with its tiny rooms and headed across the street to Kings Cross station to catch the train to Cambridge.  We hopped aboard and the train ("The Fenman") left the station, smoothly accelerated to about 90 MPH, and cruised along with no clickity-clack whatsoever.  Apparently, there is one long set of rails with no joints all the way from London to Cambridge.  The ride took a mere 45 minutes and was quiet and comfortable.

My question is this: why does Europe get such great public transportation between cities and we get bupkis??  Don't answer that.  I think we all know why and it starts with a C and ends with a politician.

After the fast and effortless journey to Cambridge, we walked for 20 minutes or so to Christ's College.  Did you know he had one?  I didn't either.  We checked in at the Porter's Lodge and left our luggage until check-in time a few hours later.  In the meantime we walked to King's College (I figured the king would have one) and visited the King's College Chapel.  And what a chapel it is.

Stained glass windows at King's College Chapel

This is an impressive organ here.  Someone was noodling around on it but, at one point, whoever it was played a huge chord including some really low bass notes that gave us a hint as to what that thing could do.

This is an organ

One of the most beautiful things about this chapel is the fan vaulting which, by the way, is at an altitude of 80 feet.  It took three years to install from 1512 to 1515. According to an exhibit on display about the construction, the stones are mostly held together by gravity.  I got a little nervous about that until I reflected that the roof has not collapsed over the last 500 years and most likely would not be crashing down today.

Fan Vaulting

This way to heaven

How many feet do you think it took to wear down this stone over 500 years or so?

A lot of people have stepped on this. I did too and removed a few molecules of my own.

Apparently, all of the stained glass was removed during WW2 in case of German bombing and was re-installed after the war. And by the way the original installation of the glass took 30 years.

There was also many, many stone carvings on the walls including multiple variations on this theme:

Dragon and Greyhound.  They were everywhere.

Here is what King's College itself looks like:

Regal isn't it?

Walking around later we crossed a bridge over the River Cam (Cambridge! now I get it!) where much punting was going on.  In fact, just walking down the street near the river one is accosted repeatedly by strapping young men wanting to take you punting. Sadly this wasn't in our plan.

Punting on the Cam

And B, this one's for you:

So far, no actual Hawking sightings however.

After lunch at a place called Aunties Tea Shop (the restrooms or, as the locals put it in their straight-talking way, toilets, are labeled Aunties and Uncles), we headed back to Christ's College to claim our rooms.  It turns out he favors luxurious accommodations for his undergraduates.  The room is large and has its own shower/toilet room across the hall.  Here it is after we thoroughly despoiled it with our belongings:

Livin' large in Christ ('s College)

One student gets a single bed, a desk, TWO dressers, TWO bookshelves, FIVE chairs, and a closet.  And some people think American college students are spoiled.  And here is the view from our window:

A Room with a View

This is high living.

The high living does not include decent WIFI service however.  The internet refused to load my pictures last night, but has decided to behave today. So here they are.