Happy Friday y’all! I’m starting to feel caught up on sleep and back in routine again. It feels great! Today I’m going to share a little bit about our first stop on our Europe trip: The University of Cambridge. It was such a treat and a great first spot for our adventures! Brit and Lili flew out Saturday night and I left the following evening. I was anxious about getting from Heathrow airport to Cambridge but I figured it out (eventually). After an eight hour plane ride and nearly four hour bus ride (and two hours of being lost and confused), I have to say that Cambridge and its Hogwarts resembling campus immediately gave me the energy and excitement I needed as I entered town. Brit’s friend Stephen is a student at Cambridge and we were so lucky to have him show us the ropes. I missed a sensational hike to High Tea in the morning but the sisters were good at not bragging (too much) about it. We had like, zerooo fun (smirk smirk). When I arrived, we walked around campus, dropped my stuff at our adorable Bed & Breakfast Victoria House and picked up a bottle of rosé, cheese and crackers, and delicious scones for our boat ride… Well, not exactly a boat ride, but a fabulous thing called ‘punting‘ which is essentially the same thing as taking a gondola ride in Venice. Because Stephen is a student, we had free access to borrow a punt and take it for a ride down the river.
Is this not the most magical campus you have ever seen? My sisters and I had to pause every few steps to snap pictures. Thank goodness Stephen is super patient because we couldn’t get enough… I mean, our muggle dreams were coming true! Doesn’t it resemble Hogwarts?! All you Harry Potter fans would do the same thing ;) Now, you’ll notice I’m wearing a plaid long sleeve shirt. It was quite cool when I got there (mostly because the AC on the bus was freezing) but I was pumped to be wearing plaid, as any Autumn Girl would. We were blessed with gorgeous weather in Cambridge and plenty of sun! I guess rain is a norm. As we strolled into town, many different companies were offering their punting services. It costs €30 a person which is quite expensive so we were super lucky to enjoy it for free! Thank you, Stephen!
Scones with clotted cream and jam are a must in England. We bought some at the local grocery along with our other snacks and it was a perfect little meal for our ride! Although we couldn’t move around in the boat… that wasn’t really thought through. Punting is more difficult than it looks. It takes a lot of arm strength and balance. Both Brit and Lo tried but I was just happy dandy sitting and enjoying the views. Man, what a perfect afternoon.
After punting, we grabbed some beers at a local pub with some of Stephen’s classmates. Students at Cambridge are from all over the world. We met a girl with such a great American accent that I was totally surprised to find out she’s actually from Milan! We also met a guy from New Zealand and it was interesting talking about accents, their studies, and all of the different places we have been in the world. I think it’s so fascinating that people in Europe are exposed to so many languages and learn it so much more thoroughly than we do in the States. Or maybe they get to practice more. I’m not sure. But us sisters were envious of so many people we met that spoke not only 2 languages, but often 3 or 4!
If you ever have an opportunity to visit Cambridge, you are in for a treat! We had so much fun and I highly recommend the Bed and Breakfast we stayed in that I tagged up above! I’ll be sharing snippets from London, Cinque Terre, and Florence soon here on the blog :) Enjoy your weekend!
adventure cambridge cambridge university punting travel united kindom
