Cambridge, England

punting and pastry parties

To escape the stresses of reading week (yes, it's a 10-day holiday but yes, we have to do a lot of actual reading) the Indonesian kids at Goldsmiths decided to take a short trip to Cambridge. I was excited that we had 14 people with us that day, which is way more than what I expected. But I think not a single one of us knew a lot about Cambridge, except that it's full of smart Asians. 

Our train left in the morning from Liverpool Street Station in London, and we had the whole carriage to ourselves (hashtag #partytrain). After an hour of typical British scenery consisting of grass, grass and more grass, and a heated discussion about politics and the future, (because that's what Goldsmiths students do in their spare time, apparently) we finally got to Cambridge. We took a bus to the city center and started off the day exploring the local markets and a row of charming, small shops. 

 

We find ourselves at the King's College Chapel, which was beautiful from the outside, but simply breathtaking from within. The walls of this tall church was fully decked out in colourful stain-glass paintings that reminded me of those cellophane art projects they used to make us do in the 3rd grade, only ridiculously nicer. There was also a small exhibit explaining the history of the chapel, something about Henry VIII (his name popped up a lot that day) and the style of the architecture. We exited the church to a big open green space with beautiful buildings that looked way too nice to be used as colleges. Upon taking pictures near the river, we saw a punting boat make its way across. We knew we had to go on a punting experience after that! 

After haggling our way into a cheaper group price, 10 of us entered the punting boat and was introduced to J.J, our tourguide and boat-driver (I really don't know what they're called..) He was pretty cute, so us girls got giddy along the way while he used a long metal rod to direct the boat in the waters. Now punting is apparrently the 2nd most wanted tourist activity in the United Kingdom, coming after visiting London's Tower Bridge. It was definitely a fun experience! We passed by different colleges, starting from King's College, Queen's College, Trinity Hall, Trinity College, and St. Johns College while listening to their history. We passed by the student's accomodation too, in particular one looked like it was flippin' Hogwarts. It looked even nicer than the Buckingham Palace, and we just sat there in awe of how beautiful their dorm is, quickly comparing it to shoddy New Cross.

Our group continued to explore this tiny but charming town, finding our way through the Museum of Archaelogy, Museum of Anthropology and Museum of Zoology. Although we didn't have any clue about fossils and stuff, but it was nice to be able to see what Cambridge has to offer. We walked back to the station and returned back to London shortly after the sun has set that day. 

 

It seems like everyone in Cambridge rode their bikes, there were not many cars at all but a plethora of bikes parked everywhere instead. I guess this town is really the definition of endearing, with its insanely gorgeous architecture, charming book shops and little streets that were filled with students and old people walking around. Cambridge taught me that sometimes, change is good. Although we're all used to the always-busy-so-crowded-you-feel-bedazzled London, at the end we agreed that this town is a nice breath of fresh air. Cambridge taught me that nothing brings people closer together than traveling. We were all relatively new friends, but exploring through museums and architectural sites together really made me so much more comfortable in sharing with each and every one of them. Cambridge taught me to appreciate the little things in life. Like the way the hazel-coloured cobblestones fit comfortably in the pathway, or the stillness of mallard ducklings in the river, or the warm sunshine after a cloud of rain passes by. It's in these small things that you find yourself once again, falling in love with a place you've never been before.

//photocreds: Astri Arifin, Yanti Sastrawan, Tito Imanda//