Cambridge to London

Our final day of the tour – Day 5:

We say goodbye to York and to half our fellow passengers as they head for Scotland and we head back to London via Cambridge.

Cambridge, the city of crazy students on really fast bikes….

Well, there were a few other little things in this place and those little things were just a little bit magnificent!!! The grand architecture had us ‘oohing and aahing’ at every step, especially Kings College. Pembroke College got our attention too… (as we could get into the grounds easily and have a sticky-beak), with the ivy clad centuries-old buildings, lead-light windows and incredibly beautiful gardens. I’ll just let the photos do the talking.

There is also an interesting perpetual clock; the River Cam with punts and pretty parkland (which includes cheap entertainment watching the uninitiated punter); and the Anchor pub where we had lunch and which was a popular haunt of Pink Floyd. All in all, a great place to visit.

We arrived back in London in peak hour. If you’d like to get up very close and very personal with the locals, catch the overheated and definitely over-populated tube at around 6pm on a weekday… but don’t do it like we did with two suitcases and two backpacks. We also had to change trains, which of course in London means a few sets of stairs, several escalators and a maze of tunnels. I think we worked off a few kilos.

Our last day in London before heading off for Amsterdam… we had grand plans… and you know what they say about the best laid plans. Well, we walked along the Thames with the idea of doing a river cruise to Greenwich, then having a picnic in Hyde Park and generally saying our farewells. We decided to go on a hunt for a decent coffee, which took us miles away. Why is it that you’re surrounded by cafes and toilets when you don’t need them, yet when you really want one, you can’t find one anywhere?? After walking for quite a while Bruce scouted ahead while I sat opposite the Abbey and wrote an email (Jagoda!). Quite a while later Bruce returned with some really awful coffee.

We ended up in court.

The Supreme Court. No, we weren’t in trouble, but someone else was and we got to witness some fantastic free entertainment sitting at the back of the courtroom!! Five Lords sat on the bench firing quite aggressive remarks and questions at the pompous barrister. Riveting stuff!!

Tip: If you’re looking for a good coffee and clean toilets near Big Ben and Westminster Abbey, try the Supreme Court. Belatedly, we found both these things accidentally.

We also visited the Portrait Gallery (thanks Sandra); had a drink at the Waldorf; enjoyed great seats at the musical “Beautiful” – the Carol King Story (thanks for the recommendation Phil & Pat, it was wonderful!)

We were surprised by:

• The large number of homeless
• The price of petrol – the same as ours, except that this is pounds
• The number of e-cigarettes around