By bmlee18
Last week, I had a friend take the morning Eurostar train from Paris to visit me for the day at Cambridge. It still baffles me how easy and painless traveling from one country to another can be here. Within 2 to 3 hours, you can find yourself picking up a baguette and a cup of coffee at a Parisian boulangerie to being served a steaming pot of aromatic tea and buttery scones with clotted cream and raspberry jam at a London cafe (add another hour to your journey, and you can find yourself at Cambridge).
Together, my friend and I were able to explore and visit the main attractions of Cambridge, and I thought that I would relay some of what we did that largely exemplifies what one should do when visiting this historic college town.
1. Grab a Chelsea bun and a cup of cappuccino at Fitzbillies. The signature pastry at this famous cafe would certainly be the Chelsea bun, which basically tastes and looks like a fancier version of a cinnamon roll. Who doesn't love a hot cinnamon roll to start off the morning? If you're wanting something less sweet, go for a scone, which couples very nicely with the cafe's excellent and rich cappuccino and/or latte. If you come later in the day, why not think about going through the whole ritual of afternoon tea (tea, scones, cakes, and finger sandwiches galore)?
2. Get lost at the Fitzwilliam Museum. This museum has a fantastic collection of art, ranging anywhere from ancient Egyptian and Roman sculptures to medieval European paintings to contemporary antiquities. In addition, my friend and I visited the Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, which similarly had a very fascinating and wide array of artefacts from all around the world. What I thought was really unique was how numerous faculties had their own museums to exhibit research conducted and discoveries made thus far.
3. Marvel at the King's College Chapel. The chapel can easily be called one of the finest examples of Gothic English architecture and a symbol of the city of Cambridge. It's truly amazing to think of how the chapel continues to be a place of worship to this day, having been constructed approximately 500 years ago. While we were unable to attend King's Evensong, a sung chapel service particularly famous for its renowned choir, we were nevertheless lost for words as we walked around and marvelled at the beautiful architecture.
4. Take lots of photos by River Cam (especially at King's and St John's Colleges). While my friend and I did not go punting (boating) due to the rather poor weather (typical of England, of course), we made sure to walk through as many colleges as possible and to take stunning shots with our phones by the River Cam. Because each college takes great pride in keeping its lawns lush and freshly mowed, and with stunning buildings from hundreds of years ago serving as the backdrop, we could only be pleasantly satisfied with the photos that we took.
5. Dress up and experience a unique dining experience at Formal Hall. This is about as closest you'll ever get to experiencing Hogwarts as a muggle. Every night, my college hosts a candlelit dinner during which students are served a three (sometimes even four) course meal. I think that Brits look for every opportunity to dress up, and formal hall certainly seems to be the perfect excuse to don a nice dress or suit. College members also wear a gown over their attire, which only reinforces similarities with the magical world of Harry Potter. Formal hall largely sums up the Cambridge experience - one grounded upon a multitude of distinctive traditions that have carried over from hundreds of years ago, but continuing to change and be shaped with the passage of time.
6. Your night wouldn't be quintessentially British without a trip to a pub. We wrapped up our night at a particularly interesting pub where we could grab a board game from the counter to play at our table. Having not played Scrabble or Monopoly since childhood, we struggled to remember the rules of the games, but nonetheless had a great time rewriting the rules according to our own terms.
Obviously, this list is not exhaustive, and among my other recommendations would be watching a student production, catching a comedy show, or attending a screening of an indie film at the local theatre. It's always exciting to be able to show someone around your town, and I can only say that I'm really looking forward to my friend taking me around Paris when I visit next month!