| Holiday in your Hometown
Cambridge, UK
Stood on the steep arc of the stone bridge, overlooking a
twist in the placid river, collections of tourists arrange
themselves around you for the obvious picture-postcard shot,
whilst locals whistle past on bicycles, dipping out of reach
of the camera. As the sun blinks on the water, and ducks in
between the shadows thrown down by towering gothic buildings
and delicately weeping willows that reach down and stroke
the river, it’s hard not to pause and take in the beauty.
This could be a scene from any popular European City; this
City, however, is on your doorstep.
Having been born and brought up
in Cambridge, I for one am too often brutally blind to the
stark and unique beauty of the city. Driven by an agenda of
shops to visit and people to meet, it’s only when you
stop for breath that you can stand back and take in what a
wonderful tourist destination Cambridge is. Every summer,
hundreds upon thousands of holiday-makers descend on the city
from around the world, all arriving to soak up the history,
the art and the architecture that we take for granted. So,
if it’s not the contents of the new and shiny Grand
Arcade, what are the Chinese, Taiwanese, Japanese and Europeans
here to see?
Cambridge is, of course, renowned
for its academic excellence, having produced 13 of the country’s
Prime Ministers and a total of 78 Nobel Prize winners, as
well as nine Archbishops of Canterbury, and the collegiate
buildings that encapsulate the University, founded in 1209
by rebellious Oxford scholars, are fundamentally picturesque.
It’s now only along Granchester Meadows and the backwaters
of Sheep’s Green where you can still capture what Cambridge
must have been like prior to 1284 – a sleepy Saxon settlement
until the first Cambridge College – Peterhouse –
was founded. Today, Cambridge City Centre is littered with
exquisite colleges, chapels and their surrounding grounds
which float toward the river Cam and their moorings –
home to the city’s infamous water transport, the punt.
Perhaps most famous, and most beautiful,
is King’s College and Chapel; its spires puncture the
Cambridge skyline on even the dullest of days. So famous is
its choir that at 4am on Christmas Eve – sometimes even
earlier – hundreds of people snuggle in their sleeping
bags to shrug off the bitter chill, sharing mince pies and
thermos flasks, hoping to be one of only a few people allowed
into the college to hear the Nine Lessons and Carols. It’s
the best way I know to welcome Christmas, and the choir’s
echo in the chapel is as piercing as its soaring spires.
The best time to arrive in the
city is early morning, and not only to secure a parking space
along the Backs. As the sun rises, the river’s mist
hangs over the early-morning rowers, who take advantage of
the quiet before brave punters make the Cam reminiscent of
the A14, and the ducks stroll quietly along the banks. Here
too, you’ll find the best view of the city – a
panorama of gothic architecture - John’s, Trinity, Clare
and King’s: Cambridge at its most photogenic. Through
the impressive row of colleges and you’ll find the city’s
core: the uneven paving stones of Trinity Street, home to
historic book stores and already-humming coffee shops, leading
you toward the market square and its eclectic array of wares.
There are plenty of options for
the sight-seeing tourist: with downloadable audio guides available
online, you can stroll the streets at your own pace, listening
to historic guides on your iPod. The city’s open-top
bus will also take you along the main tourist route, allowing
you to jump off at any of the attractions along the way. Key
attractions include the American Cemetery: a heart-breaking
reminder of the sacrifices made in the Second World War; and
the Fitzwilliam Museum – home to a vast and impressive
collection of both art and antiquities.
So remember, there’s more
to Cambridge than Robert Sayle and Marks and Spencer. And
with the increasing pressures imposed on us by the credit
crunch and carbon emissions, this weekend, why not treat yourself
to a travel guide, and take a holiday in your hometown.
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