Sunday, December 6, 2015

Quiet Sunday Morning in Cambridge

Cambridge, considered one of the top 5 universities in the world, is about 50 miles north of London.  

It's also the third oldest university in the world:  a group of scholars left Oxford and started Cambridge in 1209; it officially received a charter as a university from King Henry III in 1231.  It operates on a college system which separates the students into 31 established institutions scattered in the town of Cambridge, which Doug and I visited one Sunday morning - too early to see punting (riding in small boats) on the River Cam.


The Theory of Everything - the 2014 film celebrating the life of physicist Stephen Hawking - featured the historic city, the university and campus.  (Eddie Redmayne won an Oscar for playing the role of Stephen Hawking.)



One of the university buildings had a plaque recognizing Cambridge student Alan Turing, recruited to work at Bletchley Park to crack Nazi codes, including Enigma.



Doug and I visited one of the larger pubs in Cambridge:  The Eagle opened in 1667 as The Eagle and Child; it's owned by Corpus Christi College and managed by Greene King brewery.





Apart from the main bar and beer garden, the RAF bar (at the rear) has memorabilia of WWII airmen covering the walls and ceiling.



A flyer across from the entrance to The Eagle promotes a Mensa event.


Since it was Sunday morning, most of the activity was in the Market Square - not on campus.








It was helpful to check out the metal map (about a block from Market Square) for the location of university buildings throughout the city.


(blog entries by Heidi Hutson)

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