Cambridge: A Day Trip That Didn't Quite Deliver
Cambridge (and Oxford as it happens) has always held an interest for me. Maybe as an aspirational place for education of just the historic university buildings, picturesque riverside walks, quirky shops and traditional pubs.
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It should have been an easy win for date day as it’s a reasonably comfortable drive from Northampton. But, in reality, the day turned out to be a bit of a mixed bag.
We had a few reasons for visiting Cambridge.
there was the city itself, with its historic university buildings, people watching and watching the punting on the river.
we had some points to use at The Ivy, along with an email telling us that their points club was closing. It was very much a case of use them or lose them.
it was a date day, and Cambridge seemed to tick all the boxes.
Getting there was straightforward. The drive from Northampton was comfortable, and parking at Grafton West car park was easy enough.
From there, it was a short, scenic walk into the city centre.
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Breakfast at the Ivy
When we got into Cambridge we went directly to the Ivy for breakfast. Honestly I think it’s the best meal that they do and when paired with a couple of pots of English Breakfast tea, for around the equivalent of £40 in points, it’s very hard to beat.
My traditional breakfast was considerably larger than I expected - so lunch was starting before we managed to get out to walk off our breakfast.
We walked around Cambridge with very little purpose or plan - heading toward what looked interesting, before heading down to the river. We had a good stretch of the legs and time to take in a typical weekday in Cambridge.
The punting looked interesting if a little dangerous - given the number of self-guided boats out on the water. That said we didn’t see anyone in any trouble.
The shopping experience was poor. Maybe I wasn’t in the mood for it, but the expected quirky shops were bland and didn’t hold our interest.
Beautiful chaos, or an accident waiting to happen?
The views of the historic buildings were excellent.
I know this will sound a bit odd - but the number of visitors in Cambridge, on a random Tuesday in October, was too much for me. And yes I do get the irony.
We were either blocked, or tripping up over the other visitors as they seemingly randomly sped up and slowed down, stopped, and changed direction.
And if that wasn’t enough the locals on bikes were speeding along the traffic-free roads within the centre.
I’m not clear why the speeding cyclists had so much trust in the randomised visitor movements and why we didn’t see some spills and falls.
I’d like to have called it a beautiful chaos - but it wasn’t - it was an accident waiting to happen and I tensed up more than once.
Bring back the cars - it would be safer.
That's probably an unpopular opinion in a city that has made so much space for pedestrians and cyclists, and I appreciate that cars bring their own problems - I’m only being half serious. But the current arrangement didn't feel particularly relaxing or safe.
By this point, I wasn't enjoying Cambridge.
The buildings were beautiful, especially in the warm autumn sunshine - the setting was lovely, but the experience of actually walking around the city had become more frustrating than enjoyable.
I didn’t enjoy Cambridge and won’t be rushing back.
Cambridge American Cemetery and Memorial Cambridge American Cemetery and Memorial
A quieter stop on the way home
On the way out of the city we took a small diversion to visit the very neat and tidy US military cemetery.
I don’t have a massive interest in war or history but I do find military war graves fascinating. I think it’s maybe the order that is maintained even in death - headstones placed perfectly in line and manicured lawns, bushes and trees.
The more recently built visitor centre was also an informative and interesting walk around.
And then we were on our way home before the evening traffic built up.
Cambridge - Box ticked - but not in an entirely enjoyable way
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