Cambridge

After taking in Cambridge by water on my punting tour, I took it in by land on my walking tour. The oldest building in the city is St Bene't's (short for Benedict's) Church, dating from about 1025. The university wasn't founded until 1209.



Our guide easily kept our attention for over 2 hours with her stories of people and places connected with Cambridge. Because it is exam time, most of the colleges are closed to the public until the middle of June. We were still able to visit King's College Chapel (but not the rest of the grounds), and we peeked into Trinity College from Trinity Lane.



The rest of the day I spent on my own. I climbed Great St Mary's Tower for wonderful views of the city in all directions. Here we have King's College - again. Can you find the River Cam?



Of the few colleges that were open to the public, I chose to visit St John's because it had looked so pretty from the water. This is New Court, which was completed in 1831, and was the first major building to be placed by any college on the west side of the river.



I finished my day by attending Evensong at King's College Chapel, and staying after the service for a recital by resident organist Stephen Cleobury. If Dave had come along, we would have popped into The Eagle for a drink before heading home. This was the local pub for scientists from the nearby Cavendish Laboratory, and it was there that Watson and Crick announced their discovery of DNA on 28th February 1953.