Cambridge wanderlust,

Photojournal: Cambridge

2 May 2013

My virgin trip travelling solo out of London entailed much fuss about amendments on the pre-trip tickets and a two hour bus ride from Central London. We stop halfway at Stanford to pick up more passengers, and I got all confused and groggy from my nap. But it was worth the wait, for I got to enjoy the beautiful English countryside and the not-so-English summer, here are snippets of my written travel log ♥ 

We reach Cambridge and I get off the bus....only to almost be run over by an oncoming cyclist. Phew, I tell myself but when I look up - bicycles are everywhere. Reminds me of a second Amsterdam, really. I walked down without an aim (not having an itinerary at all) to where my feet takes me, through Parker's piece. The sun is out in full glory and the tulips are in full bloom, much to my delight after a cold winter, praise the Lord! Oooh a John Lewis, nature's call.

Cambridge is such a beautiful city - keep walking in any direction and you bound to reach any one of their parks in no time. The sun's out and so are the people - basking in its full glory. Decided to make my way to The Backs, got slightly lost through the back alleys but stumbled into the courtyard of Trinity college. Punting looks easy (post travel log: Did punting in Oxford, punting is noooot easy!) and the college guys make it look effortless (We'll see in summer when I'm in Oxford, after all I couldn't row a boat well in Norway) Walked along the river and ended up at Clare's college, snapped a few postcard worthy shots because I couldn't resist! Even the birds came out to say hello :')

Perched myself on one of the park benches, my prepared pasta beckons. The weather's getting a lot warmer and I'm glad to only be wearing a simple dress and a denim cropped jacket so I don't have to keep shedding layers (this layer thing is definitely not a necessary skill to have in sunny Singapore). Flies buzz around my ears (why not my food, I still wonder), and I get reminded of the advent of summer.

I walk back to the historic city center, and must have walked past King's college at least a dozen times that the warden gives a nod of recognition each time. The heat is getting to me and I get a Toni's cubes ice cream - they have push carts at every other corner that it's hard to resist. It's heavenly (post note: reminds me of the ice cream you get back home from push cart aunties) and also marks the first time I've tasted ice cream outdoors for months. The girl in front and I strike up a conversation about how the push cart was in such a strategic location under a sun hotspot that we're getting it....external attributions, I could deal with that.

We parted and I wander along an off-beaten path....walking into a humongous crowd of flies. There are cows grazing in the fields to distract me, but the flies grew horribly annoying - the kind that incessantly fly around your ears, eurgh! Strolling along the path was therapeutic but flies VS cows/serenity? Sad to say, the flies win and I run down the path back to the refuge of the historic center, covering my ears the entire time :< But it was a blessing in disguise because I ended up at the Fitzwilliam museum, which houses various arts and antiquities of the University of Cambridge. Worth the visit albeit having a humble collection.

Wanted to explore further North to the American memorial cemetery, but it's quite a distance from the center so I gave it a miss on this day trip. Headed back to Market hill for some grocery shopping (fresh veggies yumz) and proceeded to sprawl myself on the grass for a 2 minute nap before boarding the bus back home ♥ Had an interesting exchange with an Indian lady from Eastham but studying Medicine in Cambridge - it's been a long day but these small exchanges really make my day, travelling solo isn't so bad after all ♥

Ciao, Cambridge! You have provided me with enough sunshine to sustain me for the next few months of London.