{"id":1256,"date":"2014-07-21T13:46:22","date_gmt":"2014-07-21T17:46:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/svetanyc.com\/?p=1256"},"modified":"2015-09-11T18:08:03","modified_gmt":"2015-09-11T22:08:03","slug":"cambridge-england-july-2014","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/192.168.2.119:1984\/svetanyc\/2014\/07\/cambridge-england-july-2014\/","title":{"rendered":"Cambridge, England. July 2014"},"content":{"rendered":"

July 16, 2014<\/strong><\/p>\n

My husband and I started off our 7 week European vacation in Cambridge<\/a>, England<\/a>, where he, at the time, was undergoing his company’s week-long training. We just got married and planned to visit Oxford<\/a>, a place where we met and went to school, along with a dozen of other destinations in England, Greece<\/a>, Belarus<\/a> and Russia<\/a>.<\/p>\n

I admit, the only reason I bought Norwegian air<\/a> flight from New York<\/a> to Gatwick<\/a> was the price, indeed, it was relatively inexpensive. The truth is – you get what you pay for – since I brought my dinner with me on the plane (and didn’t pre-order it with the airline), the flight attendants refused to serve me, and dozens of other unfortunate passengers, even water. Somehow, the stereotype of Norwegians as a prosperous and generous nation, died right there. Well, Norwegian air – business no more, at least not from me.<\/p>\n

I arrived to Gatwick and realized that commute to Cambridge wasn’t as straightforward as I thought it would be. At first, I had to take a train from the airport to London,\u00a0then\u00a0change at Victoria Station<\/a> in London and take the northbound Victoria (light blue) underground line to King’s Cross mainline station, from where I took a train to Cambridge. Apparently, you can make this journey in 2 hours, but traveling with luggage and during the morning rush hour, it took me about 3.5-4 hours to get to the Cambridge Railway\u00a0Station<\/a>. From there, a 10 minute taxi ride got me straight to the gate of the Christ’s College<\/a>, an over 500 years old institution, where I was staying for the next 3-4 days.<\/p>\n

\"IMG_0625\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Cambridge<\/strong> is most widely known as the home of the University of Cambridge<\/a>, however, the history of Cambridge goes back to Bronze age and Roman times.\u00a0Settlements have existed around the Cambridge area since prehistoric times<\/a>. The earliest evidence is the remains of a 3,500-<\/span>year-old farmstead discovered at the site of Fitzwilliam College<\/a>.\u00a0The principal Roman<\/a> site at Cambridge is a small fort (castrum<\/a><\/span>) named Duroliponte<\/a> located on Castle Hill<\/a>, just northwest of the city centre and around the location of the earlier British<\/a> village.<\/p>\n

Following the Roman withdrawal from Britain<\/a> around 410, the location may have been abandoned by the Britons<\/a>, although there is evidence that the invading Saxons<\/a> had begun occupying the area by the end of the century.\u00a0Their settlement\u2014also on and around Castle Hill\u2014became known as Grantebrycge. Vikings arrived in 875 and the\u00a0Danelaw<\/a>\u00a0(Viking rule), had been imposed by 878.\u00a0The Vikings’ vigorous trading habits caused Cambridge to grow rapidly and during this period the centre of the town shifted from Castle Hill on the left bank of the river to the area now known as the Quayside on the right bank.\u00a0After the Viking period, the Saxons enjoyed a return to power, building churches such as St Bene’t’s Church<\/a>, wharves, merchant houses and a mint<\/a>, which produced coins with the town’s name abbreviated to “Grant”.<\/p>\n

In 1068, two years after his conquest of England, William of Normandy<\/a> built a castle<\/a> on Castle Hill.\u00a0Like the rest of the newly conquered kingdom, Cambridge fell under the control of the King and his deputies. Henry I<\/a>\u00a0granted the first town charter to Cambridge between 1120 and 1131.\u00a0 And in 1209, Cambridge University was founded by students escaping from hostile townspeople in Oxford<\/a>.\u00a0The oldest college that still exists, Peterhouse<\/a>, was founded in 1284.<\/p>\n

In 1349 Cambridge was affected by the Black Death<\/a>. The town north of the river was almost wiped out and according to a few surviving records 16 of 40 scholars at Kings Hall<\/a> died. After a second tragic epidemic in 1361, a letter from the Bishop of Ely<\/a> suggested that two parishes in Cambridge be merged as there weren’t enough people to fill even one church.\u00a0With over a third of English clergy dying in the Black Death, four new colleges were established at the University over the following years to train new clergymen, namely Gonville Hall<\/a>,\u00a0Trinity Hall<\/a>, Corpus Christi<\/a> and Clare<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Cambridge played a significant role in the early part of the English Civil War<\/a> as it was the headquarters of the\u00a0Eastern Counties Association<\/a>, an organization administering a regional East Anglian<\/a> army, which became the mainstay of the Parliamentarian military effort prior to the formation of the New Model Army<\/a>.<\/p>\n

In the 19th century, Cambridge expanded rapidly. This was due in part to increased life expectancy and also improved agricultural production leading to increased trade in town markets, but also due to construction of the initially resisted train station in 1845.\u00a0During the WWII<\/a>, Cambridge was an important centre for defense of the east coast as well as an\u00a0evacuation centre<\/a> for over 7,000 people from London and also parts of the University of London<\/a>. The town itself escaped relatively lightly from German bombing raids – 29 people were killed and no historic buildings were damaged. In 1944, a secret meeting of military leaders held in Trinity College laid the foundation for the allied invasion of Europe.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"IMG_0615\"<\/a><\/p>\n

But of course,\u00a0Cambridge is first of all a university town, tightly packed with ancient colleges, the picturesque “Backs” – college gardens and leafy meadows (at least in summer), year-around students and visitors.<\/p>\n

Let’s start with a brief (if possible) history of University of Cambridge<\/strong>. Established in 1209 it is the 4th oldest (after University of Bologna<\/a> – 1088, University of Oxford<\/a> – 1096 and University of Salamanca<\/a> – 1134) university in the world.\u00a0By the late 12th century, the Cambridge region already had a scholarly and ecclesiastical reputation, due to monks from the nearby bishopric church of Ely<\/a>. However, it was an incident at Oxford<\/a> which is most likely to have formed the establishment of the university: two Oxford scholars were hanged by the town authorities for the death of a prostitute, without consulting the ecclesiastical authorities, who would normally take precedence (and pardon the scholars) in such a case, but were at that time in conflict with the King John<\/a>. The University of Oxford went into suspension in protest, and most scholars moved to cities such as Paris<\/a>, Reading<\/a>, and Cambridge. After the University of Oxford reformed several years later, enough scholars remained in Cambridge to form the nucleus of the new university.\u00a0In order to claim precedence, it is common for Cambridge to trace its founding to the 1231 charter from King Henry\u00a0III<\/a> granting it the right to discipline its own members (ius non-trahi extra) and an exemption from some taxes.\u00a0<\/sup><\/p>\n

A bull<\/a> in 1233 from Pope Gregory IX<\/a> gave graduates from Cambridge the right to teach “everywhere in Christendom”.\u00a0After Cambridge was described as a studium generale<\/a><\/i> in a letter by Pope Nicholas IV<\/a> in 1290,\u00a0<\/span>and confirmed as such in a bull by Pope John XXII<\/a> in 1318,\u00a0it became common for researchers from other European medieval universities<\/a> to visit Cambridge to study or to give lecture courses.<\/p>\n

Cambridge is formed from a variety of institutions which include 31 constituent colleges<\/a>\u00a0(in comparison to Oxford’s 38 colleges and 6 Permanent Private Halls) and over 100 academic departments organized into six schools. Many colleges were founded during the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, but they continued to be established throughout the centuries to modern times (Homerton College<\/a>\u00a0achieved full status in March 2010, making it the newest college).<\/p>\n

In medieval<\/a> times, many colleges were founded so that their members would pray for the souls of the founders, and were often associated with chapels or abbeys<\/a>. A change in the colleges’ focus occurred in 1536 with the Dissolution of the Monasteries<\/a>. King Henry VIII<\/a> ordered the university to disband its Faculty of Canon Law\u00a0and to stop teaching “scholastic philosophy<\/a>“. In response, colleges changed their curricula away from canon law, and towards the classics<\/a>, the Bible, and mathematics.\u00a0Although diversified in its research and teaching interests, Cambridge today maintains its strength in mathematics.<\/p>\n

By the 14th century, the royal, nobility, church, trade guilds and anyone rich enough to court the prestige founded their own colleges, but it was 500 years later that the female students were allowed into the hallowed grounds, though, and even then in women-only colleges Girton College<\/a> and Newnham<\/a>, founded in 1869 and 1872 respectively. Women were allowed to study courses, sit examinations, and have their results recorded from 1881. By 1948 Cambridge minds had broadened sufficiently to allow the women to actually graduate.<\/p>\n

\"IMG_0846\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The university occupies buildings throughout the town, many of which are of historical importance.\u00a0The university has 114 libraries<\/a>\u00a0(compared to the University of Oxford which maintains the largest university library system in the UK;\u00a0and, with over 11\u00a0million volumes housed on 120 miles (190\u00a0km) of shelving, the Bodleian group is the second-largest library in the UK, after the British Library<\/a>).\u00a0The Cambridge University Library<\/a> is the central research library, which holds over 8\u00a0million volumes. It is a legal deposit<\/a> library, therefore it is entitled to request a free copy of every book published in the UK and Ireland.\u00a0<\/span>In addition to the University Library, almost every faculty or department has a specialized library.\u00a0For example, Trinity College’s<\/a> Wren Library<\/a> has more than 200,000 books printed before 1800, while Corpus Christi College’s<\/a>\u00a0famous\u00a0Parker Library<\/a> possesses one of the greatest collections of medieval manuscripts in the world, with over 600 items.<\/p>\n

Cambridge University operates eight arts, cultural, and scientific museums, and a botanic garden.\u00a0The Fitzwilliam Museum<\/a>, is the art and antiquities museum (its rivalry – he Ashmolean Museum<\/a>\u00a0in Oxford, founded in 1683, is the oldest museum in the UK, and the oldest university museum in the world), the Kettle’s Yard<\/a> is a contemporary art gallery, the Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology<\/a> houses the University’s collections of local antiquities, together with archaeological and ethnographic artifacts from around the world, the\u00a0Cambridge University Museum of Zoology<\/a> houses a wide range of zoological specimens from around the world (some of them\u00a0collected by Charles Darwin<\/a>\u00a0himself) and is known for its iconic finback whale<\/a> skeleton that hangs outside.<\/p>\n

It is “the other place” for me, since I am a proud Oxonian, but I was thrilled to spend 3 days discovering and learning more about this “other place”, a place that wouldn’t have existed if not because of Oxford. A town of\u00a0123,867 people, 24,488 (almost 20%) of which are students had a very similar vibe to the town of my own Alma Mater. Cambridge is a place of\u00a0one of the world’s most influential and prestigious university, a home to\u00a0many notable alumni, including several eminent mathematicians, scientists, economists, writers, philosophers, actors, politicians, and 90 Nobel laureates<\/a>\u00a0(unfortunately, Oxford isn’t that entitled, as it has educated only\u00a027 Nobel laureates, 26 British prime ministers,\u00a0many foreign heads of state and it is home to the Rhodes Scholars).<\/p>\n

\"Screen<\/a>*<\/p>\n

*map taken from the website of the University of Cambridge<\/a><\/p>\n

So, I arrived to the gate of the Christ’s College and let the college’s porter direct me to my room. Luckily, my husband and I were housed in the college accommodations, so we got to experience a true Cambridge student life first hand. Of course, don’t mind me throwing a few comments here and there comparing Cambridge to Oxford.<\/p>\n

The Christ’s college<\/strong> grew from God’s House, an institution founded in 1437 by William Byngham<\/a> on land now occupied by King’s College Chapel<\/a>. It received its first royal license in 1446 and by 1448, after receiving its second license, it moved to its present site. It was renamed Christ’s College and received its present charter in 1505 when it was endowed and expanded by Lady Margaret Beaufort<\/a>, mother of King Henry VII<\/a>, and her confidant St. John Fisher<\/a>.\u00a0Along with Jesus<\/a>, King’s<\/a>, Trinity<\/a> and St John’s <\/a> colleges, it has also provided several of the well known members of the\u00a0Cambridge Apostles<\/a>, an intellectual secret society.\u00a0The college is renowned for educating some of Cambridge’s most famous alumni, including Charles Darwin<\/a> and John Milton<\/a>.\u00a0The college has also educated Nobel Laureates including Martin Evans<\/a>, James Meade<\/a> and Alexander R. Todd, Baron Todd<\/a>.\u00a0Some of the college’s other famous alumni include comedians Sacha Baron Cohen<\/a>, John Oliver<\/a> and Andy Parsons<\/a>, Lord Louis Mountbatten<\/a> of Burma, South African Prime Minister Jan Smuts<\/a>, historian Simon Schama<\/a>, theologian William Paley<\/a> and the former Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"IMG_2104\"<\/a><\/p>\n

As of 2013, it had an endowment of \u00a3138 million, making it one of the wealthier colleges in Cambridge. \u00a0Christ’s College is one of only 5 colleges in Oxford or Cambridge to have its own swimming pool. Recently refurbished, it is now known as the ‘Malcolm Bowie Bathing Pool’, and is thought to be the oldest outdoor swimming pool in Europe (dated from the mid 17th century).<\/p>\n

\"Screen<\/a><\/p>\n

Map is taken from the college’s website<\/a>*<\/p>\n

The original 15th-16th century college buildings now form part of First Court, including the chapel, Master’s Lodge and Great Gate tower. The \u00a0Great gate itself is disproportionate: the bottom has been cut off to accommodate a rise in street level, which can also be seen in the steps leading down to the foot of L staircase in the gate tower. It is emblazoned with heraldic carvings of spotted Beaufort yale (antelope-like creatures), Tudor roses and porticullis. Its founder, Lady Margaret Beaufort, hovers above like a guiding spirit. The college hall, originally built at the very start of the 16th century, was restored in 1875\u20131879 by George Gilbert Scott the younger<\/a>. The lawn of First Court is famously and unusually round, and a wisteria sprawls up the front of the Master’s lodge.<\/p>\n

\"IMG_0623\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Second Court is fully built up on only three sides, one of which is formed by the 1640s Fellows’ Building. The fourth side backs onto the Master’s garden. Passing through the court, there is a gate to the Fellow’s Garden, which contains a mulberry tree under which 17th-century poet John Milton reputedly wrote Lycidas<\/a><\/em>.<\/p>\n

The Stevenson Building in Third Court was designed by J. J. Stevenson<\/a> in the 1880s and was extended in 1905 as part of the College’s Quad-centenary. In 1947 Professor Albert Richardson<\/a>\u00a0designed a new cupola for the Stevenson building, and a second building, the neo-Georgian Chancellor’s Building (now known as The Blyth Building), completed in 1950.\u00a0<\/sup><\/p>\n

The controversial tiered concrete New Court (often dubbed “the Typewriter”) was designed in the Modernist<\/a> style by Sir Denys Lasdun<\/a> in 1966\u201370 and this is where our dorm was located. The building indeed looked like a typewriter and resembled a typical Soviet resort somewhere in Palanga. I have to admit, though, it was one of the most comfortable college dorms I’ve ever stayed.<\/p>\n

\"IMG_0619\"<\/a><\/p>\n

After a 4 hour nap, I caught up with my husband and we went on an evening stroll around town. For a town of 20,000 students, it seemed awfully small and compare to Oxford, terribly “modern”, and by “modern” I mean blocks of gray concrete student accommodations and college facilities. It felt half-ancient and half-contemporary but in an unsettling, unattractive way. It didn’t help that the city was flooded with Chinese\u00a0students and Chinese tourists. I doubt I’ve seen so many Chinese people at one place anywhere outside China.<\/p>\n

D. already familiarized himself with the town so we slowly walked around its main streets lined with traditional homes housing theaters, libraries and bookshops, but also multiple shops, cafes and restaurants. We stopped by the Shopping Mall on St. Andrew’s Street to look for a hat or a fascinator for our upcoming engagement photoshoot in Oxford and later had a simple yet delicious dinner at Jamie’s Italian<\/a>. I love how British servers get so emotional when you tip them the “normal New York” 20%.<\/p>\n

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July 17, 2014<\/strong><\/p>\n

Since I had only 2 days, I decided to go “organized” and booked two tours with Cambridge Tourist Information Center<\/a><\/p>\n