15
Sep
2009
Cambridge University
The University of Cambridge (informally Cambridge University) is the second oldest university in the English speaking world. It was established in 1209 and consists of 31 colleges dotted around the landscape of modern Cambridge.
Kings From The Cam
The Backs is the view of the colleges from the River Cam. The chapel on the right is quintessential Cambridge. This Chapel is both the symbol of Kings and the logo of the city council of Cambridge. Although locally the college is simply referred to as Kings, this is King’s College of Our Lady and St. Nicholas in Cambridge. Established in 1441 by Henry VI, the gothic styled chapel took a hundred years to complete.
Kings
This is the street side view of Kings – you can really feel that gorgeous gothic style in this black and white print. The exterior height of the chapel is 94 feet tall and the interior ceiling contains the largest fan vaulting in the world.
Emma
This college is known as “Emma” locally – it is Emmanuel College. It was established in 1584 and intended to be a place of religious training for puritans. It’s scope has broadened over the years, but it had strong ties to the Puritans of New England. In fact, Harvard University was named for an alumni of Emma, John Harvard. The baroque building in the center is the chapel and was designed by the renowned English architect, Sir Christopher Wren in 1677. The care of the lawn here is apparent down to the little green garden tractor you’ll see waiting parked in front of the chapel!
This is only a taste of Cambridge. It would easily take days to document all the colleges never mind the rest of the architecture in this city. I hope I get the opportunity to some day. To see more of England and the UK, please check out my Britain Prints Gallery.
20
Aug
2007
Weekend In Boston
Thursday I flew up to Boston for a Friday meeting for work. Seeing as the airfare was the same Friday afternoon or Monday morning, I was lucky to be able to take advantage of the opportunity to stay through the weekend on my own dime and take a half day off work today.
Accommodations
It should surprise few that once I was spending my money, I was booking a Hostel. There weren’t many options in that category in Boston, but one of the handful had some of the best ratings I’ve seen. The HI Boston Hostel is located in the Back Bay neighborhood of Boston. Fairly typical hostel fare but easily accessible by Subway (or the T as it’s known in Bean Town) or by foot for the ambitious walker. Not the most social place I’ve stayed, but then I was hardly there so maybe I don’t know from where I speak.
While the hostel was typical enough, I had a little fun with room-mates. Nothing that approaches epic proportions, just funny. On day One, I checked in and they assigned not only room but bed as well. Okay, I’ve been to far more hostels that just assigned the room and it was a first come first served thing on which bed you got. Of course, I get up there and once I discern where the # is on the bed, realize that someone has actually already set up camp there… Oh well… one left, I don’t really care. If it had been a top bunk with the walking boot, I MIGHT have had more concern.
Day two, I was first out in the morning. When I meander back in around 9pm, there’s been a complete (save me) turn over of occupants in the room. In fact, at this point, it looks like there’s just two of us in there. I did think it was a little odd that ALL of the beds had been re-made including mine. Not sure what was up with that as typically you dump your linens on the way out and they just bring up fresh ones. Not sure about long term stays… Now, mine was also made up… decidedly not as I had left it. New linens and made up… Odd… The other roomie heads out for awhile and I read and eventually change for bed. Flash forward to 1 or 2am and someone is waking me up… huh.. wha… To inform me I’m in her bed… uhm… Half awake and totally unable to see, I explain that night one someone was in my bed so I had ended up there… She then complained she had “prepared that bed…” Okay… and I’ve slept in it for like 3 hours now… what sane person would want a bed after a complete stranger has slept in it for god knows how many hours?? I didn’t say that part, I just turned over… c’mon… there are four empty beds, tuck the top sheet in, pull up the comforter and go to bed… geezzz… Okay, so my karma points may be in danger… but I didn’t complain when I came in and had to adjust to a different location… goodness…
Never saw the mystery waker-upper after that. I was up bright and early on Sunday and there was a lump in another bed. When I got in at 11:30pm, that lump was gone and I had another new roomie who got maybe a grunt and a wave out of me as I set about to quickly getting my bags prepped, etc. as I had to be up at 4am and the more I did then the less everyone would hate me at 4am…
Of course, it turned out to be a full room the last night. What else would one expect? Probably 12:30am or so, I hear a small group come in and quickly prep for bed. I normally sleep through such things but my brain was preoccupied with listening for my cell phone alarm. So I jerked awake when they came in and, as is the ritual, they tried to imagine that every zipper and velcro sound is more silent if drawn out ten minutes longer by doing it slowly. No worries, I returned the favor a few hours later…
The City
This was a perfect time to visit. I left temperatures hovering around 100 degrees Fahrenheit… Friday it was around the mid 80’s, and everyone described it as hot… hah! As if to delight me even more, the next day, the highs fell into the 70’s and it was super windy! YES! It was like taking a vacation from the season back home. I swear, it was autumn!
On top of the weather (which I might not be so gleeful about, in say January, Boston is just a great place to visit. The core city is easily a walkable place. The first afternoon, I walked, aircast and all, from the Back Bay down into Boston Commons in around an hour or so. And it was a leisurely walk filled with beautiful architecture. I’m sure there are unsavory areas of the city to be found, but the ones that surround the typical out of towner seemed pretty tame.
The first night, I took the T out to the Boston Museum of Fine Arts. I had read that they were having a Hopper exhibition and I honestly had no clue who that was until I looked at some of his art and realized that I’d seen his stuff for years and just never connected a name to it. So, I was all set to see that exhibit and the MFA is open late on Fridays. Perfect! Or so I thought… In reality, the exhibit was sold out and the late on Friday thing is for a kind of hoitty toitty arts thing. There was a section of the museum closed off for us interlopers with rock music and people dressed to the nines. Of course, this would be the section with the words “Old world masters” over the top of the door… so I can’t report much on that section of the museum… All told, though, the museum is a credit to the US. The best museum I’ve been to in the states. Pales when compared to the might of the National Portrait Gallery and the British Museum, of course, but what doesn’t?
And this comparison is appropriate because the MFA combines these. You can see Egyptian sarcophagi, Roman statues, and a flock of Monet’s all in the same building. The exhibits are really and truly that varied. That’s why it’s so impressive. All this under one roof. And even though I am miffed at missing the Hopper exhibit and seeing a section of the Museum, that they are making it an active and alive place is to the credit of MFA Boston. A must visit in my opinion.
Boston is, as said, a walkable city, but given the walking boot thing, I figured if I was going to take it all in on a compressed schedule, I was going to have to check out alternatives. There are a number of trolley tour companies, but I ended up going with Old Town Trolleys. While fairly typical, it’s a tried and true business plan, which is why there are so many. The trolley has a tour guide. You can ride the loop and listen to one guide, or you can hop off at your convenience and take in a site and then hop on another trolley coming to pre-determined stops every 15 minutes. There were plenty of stops I skipped getting off as seeing them from the trolley was more than enough. My first actual stop was for my Harbor Cruise, which cost a whole $7 extra! And being on the first boat out meant that it was not at all crowded.
I also spent time touring the U.S.S. Constitution, oldest “active” military warship in the world. Also being early, I was able to get through the line and take the full tour pretty much as quickly as one could expect. Old Ironsides is free to the public and a true must see if you have any interest in history and/or sailing ships.
Also took in Paul Revere’s house… okay, it’s interesting as it’s the oldest wooden structure in Boston, built in the 1680’s . But honestly, I’m not sure the $3 was worth it… Granted that’s not much, but $3 seemed a lot to be mashed into such small quarters with throngs of tourists and what seemed more than anyone’s fair share of children who are at the age they’ve mastered speech but not the art of not speaking… I skipped the last room and just darted for the exit. I’d seen and been hemmed in enough!
Also sat in and listened to the history of Old North Church which was much like the old church at Colonial Williamsburg. I also saw Trinity Church, which I would scarcely have recognized as a church. The park in front of it was the only place I saw that reminded me of Atlanta as the benches all seemed to have been taken by the homeless. Interesting contrast in front of an ornate old church and the tallest building in New England… At least the homeless in Boston were not as aggressive as Atlanta’s on the panhandling. The second night ended in the market surrounding Faneuil Hall – very lively and touristy and just plain fun.
Having seen all the key points in Boston, I had to do my shtick where I find something more touristy and less history on a given trip. I got up bright and early to catch a Ferry out to the Boston Harbor Islands. I only ended up visiting two, Georges Island and Lovells Island. I had hoped to get out to another, but after a couple hours on each, I would have had to have waited two hours to get on a boat from Georges out to one of the smaller ones, plus travel time, plus time on the island, etc. Anyway, I was already sun burned and wind burned and just plain burned out. The Islands are beautiful, but I think I was expecting something a little more like Georgia’s barrier islands. Instead, I found, decaying old forts and rocky beaches. I think I had more fun just ferrying about on the boats part of the day, honestly. I suspect in the right season they are probably incredible places, or I was too tuckered out to enjoy it.
The rest of my last day, I spent wandering the harbor and the old North End. Boston’s north end has been one time home to most of the city’s ethnic minorities at one point or another. The last wave was the Italians, and it still has a decent sized Italian population. And, I happened to be visiting on feast weekend. Much fun! I had some great pizza (better than what I had in Sorrento!) and some gelato! YAYY!! Then I did my sunset and dusk photos of the city skyline that are probably nothing new or unique but they are my take on the city without having seen any skyline photos before.
The last thing on the agenda was a ghost tour. Not a serious ghost tour, a hokey fun filled horror fest. Black trolleys with tattered old curtains, music from horror and horror comedy movies, and the guides were dressed up as spooky characters. The one for my tour was a demon who was paying penance for writing a story about Unicorns by working with tourists. The tour was also from Old Town Trolleys and was a total riot. Macabre tales on the trolley were combined with more ghoulish tales while visiting the old city burying grounds in the dark. Part of the proceeds go towards the preservation of those sites.
I slept most of the flight to Atlanta. Not the norm for me, but combined with little sleep and a great weekend, it was no surprise. It was happenstance that I got to go, but it’s a trip I’d happily make again, and we all know my predilection is not towards seeing the U.S.
2
Jan
2005
Edinburgh – Last Day
Feeling more well rested today. Didn’t do a lot yesterday. I did go on the tour of Mary King’s Close. It was quite neat. They ham it up a little bit for the tourists – the guides and re-enactors are dressed in period clothes and all and claim to be from the period when the close was where people lived rather than serving as the foundations for the City gov’t of Edinburgh. But it was still quite educational as you see how people in the 1600’s lived. I’ll stick to the 21st century!
Afterwards, I wandered around the city for awhile, but not long. It was a STEADY rain yesterday. And the wind was really blowing. My pants were wet all the way up to my knees when I had lunch. And it had really soaked through all the layers. I don’t recall ever feeling quite so cold and miserable. I know I’ve been physically colder, but it was the combination of cold, wet, and tired, I think. I decided that the day would be leisurely. I did a little shopping for fun. I went in Debenhams (a big department store chain in Britain). They were having sales. I found a new hat to replace the missing one. I quite like it. I’ve seen a few people hearing wearing ones like it. Kind of a cross between a baseball cap and one of those old fashioned hats that has ear muffs built in.
The sales were good enough yesterday that it was comparable to buying it back home with the exchange rate. So, that was nice. I would have been hard pressed to buy anything otherwise unless I just really liked it and couldn’t get it back home. The cap has the stores name in it, so I’m not sure if I could have gotten it back home or not, but the style is “Maine New Englander” – so you sort of have to think I could.
Afterwards, I walked back to the Hostel and did some laundry. I had to do it yesterday anyway, so my need to rest worked out well. After the laundry was done, I bundled up and went back out and caught a movie down the street. I thought it was funny as it’s quite a new theater. Has stadium seating like the ones back home, etc., but the whole theater probably didn’t have but about 6 screens, compared to the one down the street from me in Alpharetta which has 18 screens. I guess it’s a lot harder to build big inside of a cramped old euro city.
Saw Garden State, which is a US film. Not sure if it had been released back home or not before. Very quirky film – if it has, I expect it would have only come through the more “artsy” theaters. But I enjoyed it.
Came out after the movie, and it was SNOWING! Oh my! It alternated between snow and sleet all the way back. It wasn’t sticking, so I knew that it wasn’t much going to matter, but it was still fun to see snow falling between these old buildings. The wind was really whipping it around. I had my camera but was just too cold to stop and take it out. It’s supposed to snow again today and tonight – 80% chance – but it was dry on my way here this morning. I looked at the weather in London for the next two days, supposed to be practically balmy by comparision – mid to upper 40’s over the next couple of days and dry… It doesn’t take long to acclimate in some ways. I’ve about got how to dress down pat and all and if it’s a light rain, barely notice it enough to bother with it. Yesterday being a steady wind-blown rain was the exception. That was miserable.
Not sure what I’m doing today. If the weather holds, I suspect I will walk up to Calton Hill. There are a few monuments up there that I only saw by the torchlights a few nights ago – the procession on Wednesday concluded there. I don’t think I’m going to do Holyrood Palace/Abby. I’ll possibly walk by just to see if it’s something I want to bad enough, but I’m afraid I’ve done so many castles and ruins the last several days that everything is going to be underwhelming. There are some art galleries nearby. I figure that would be fun (and warm and dry – nevermind free). We’ll see.
