UK Trip: Cambridge

Why we have random preferences, I have no idea. Why Chris, for example, who grew up in Lubbock, TX, has been a Red Sox fan since he was five years old.... Or why, for years, I've always liked the sound of Oxford more than Cambridge. Maybe because we had some distant family friends that lived there? Or maybe because I had heard that it was older? Or... maybe because I'm just crazy. In reality, I actually found Cambridge much more appealing than Oxford. The town was smaller, a bit more quaint, and had a less touristy feel. Plus, as icing on the cake, we had a local to show us around (and he had a student ID so we didn't have to pay to visit any of the colleges - even better!).

First stop: King's college. The grounds, the chapel, the river - sheer perfection.

King's College was founded by the pious (yet borderline insane) Henry VI, son of Shakespeare's famous Henry V. The chapel was not finished during young Henry VI's lifetime, though, so its construction continued all the way until the reign of Henry VIII (yes, the one with all the wives). Probably my favorite feature was the ceiling, which was apparently not part of the original plans:

The straight rectangular shape (rather than the cross shape so popular especially in Gothic churches) follows the model of St Chapelle in Paris. I felt right at home. :)

One of the most interesting details I noticed was the half-red half-white roses in some of the stained glass windows. This speaks to the completion of the chapel under Henry VIII as his coming to the throne was finally the end of the War of the Roses - a battle of royal succession between the Yorks (represented by a white rose) and the Lancasters (represented by a red one). Since Henry VII (Henry VIII's father, the first "Tudor" king) was of the Lancaster line and he married Elizabeth of York, Henry VIII was technically a combination of the two - hence the red and white rose:

All the stained glass was stunningly gorgeous, though:

And I loved the site of students just strolling the grounds of their historical college on a Sunday afternoon:

The town itself, though not as impressive as the college's grounds, was charming nonetheless:

But we did spend most of our time admiring the colleges. Oxford and Cambridge are both on the "college system," which simply means (in Rachel's simplified-but-probably-not-totally-accurate description) that there are smaller, financially independent entities that admit individual students and then provide housing and student-life amenities. The studies (nowadays, though this used to be part of the individual colleges, as well) are run through the university conglomerate, but all other aspects of college life take place within the college that admits you. Each college has particular strengths and personalities, of course. For example, King's College is particularly famous (and well known) due to its gorgeous chapel. Apparently, though, according to our guide, it is also struggling financially because of the upkeep of the chapel, so its student fees are higher than other colleges. Trinity College, however, is the wealthiest college, and its beautiful grounds and many accolades attest to its success:

Trinity's chapel (and our tour guide):

My favorite stop on the tour, though, was St John's College. It also happens to be the college of our friend Will, which meant that we could access the entire grounds, not just those open to the public. One of the oldest and wealthiest colleges, St John's was spectacular:

With a beautiful chapel (and apparently doctoral students at the college are actually given a key to access the church bell tower which, as you can imagine, provides breathtaking views of the town... unfortunately, we had Oliver in the stroller, so we declined the opportunity, but isn't that cool?!?!):

Though dark, the chapel had a lovely, intense peace about it - probably due largely to the organ music being practiced while we visited:

In the back parts of St John's grounds is a beautiful gothic building that supposedly was a favorite of Hitler's. Whether that's important because, as St John's students purport, his liking of the building kept him from bombing Cambridge during WWII or, as St John's rival - Trinity - suggests, because it reveals that St John's is akin somehow to Hitler... we may never know. Either way, a gorgeous scene, no?

And, next to the above building, Cambridge sports its own bridge of sighs:

Where my hubby and I snapped a photo:

Honestly, I could imagine living in Cambridge - it was adorable. I'm so glad Will and Vanessa get to enjoy it! Thanks for having us and showing us around!!!

And, just to round out the trip (though some more pictures of Oliver with Will and Vanessa's daughter Karis are coming soon), here's sweet Oliver reading books with dad on the train ride home. Poor thing, it was three hours past his bed time, but he was such a trooper!

Definitely a successful jaunt across the Channel.