Today we thought it would be fun to go to Cambridge and check things out as Kevin's boss, Jason, was in town and we wanted him to be able to experience English Christmas time festivities here. The first place we headed was Market Square and got a little bite to eat. The kids enjoyed just getting to run about after being in the car for so long and sitting still on the bus ride into town.
Kev, Jason and I got some German sausages from one of the places at the market for a quick bite to eat.
We enjoyed some sounds of the season from this brass ensemble made up of what looked like students. They were quite good and the kids enjoyed dancing to the music. Kevin and Jason signed up for a 2 hour walking tour of the city since Kevin hadn't been able to do anything like that in Cambridge (remember I've been here about 3 times more than Kevin has playing tour guide).
As the boys went on their tour, the kids and I did our own exploring around the city centre. With our trip to Disney coming up I wanted to check out the Disney store for some fun things. They closed the shop in Peterborough so this was my chance to get some fun things to bring along on our trip. Well the queue was super long and the store was just packed so I just let the kiddos look around at stuff and dream. Harrison found his buddies, Buzz and Woody.
Addison loved and wanted everything and recognized all the characters and was super excited to even see Handy Manny and the Tools.
We made our way down some fun little alley way loaded with some really cute shops...I just love the look of all the little fish and chip shops as well.
We walked about around the colleges as well. The thing I will always remember well about Cambridge is the shear number of bicycles that are everywhere you look in this city. But that with the combination of the old gates and street signs is just classic.
Kevin and Jason were getting to tour King's Chapel, but I hadn't been there either so I attempted to bring the kids in and take a look around. It is absolutely amazing inside. They started building the Chapel in 1446 by the order of King Henry VII and work commenced on it for the next century. They main things to marvel over at the chapel are the 16th century stained glass windows, the fan vaulting ceiling, the Renaissance wood carved screens, and the painting by Rubens.
All the glass in the windows (except for those depicting The Last Judgement in the West Window and the upper half of the southwest window) are dated back to the 16th century which is actually quite rare for them to be so original. In WWII, all the glass was removed from the chapel in case it was bombed during the war and later all replaced...(what a job that had to be).
On the south side the windows from east to west depict the Resurrection, the Pentecost, Acts of the Apostles , the Assumption and Coronation of the Virgin Mary. The upper lights contain Old Testament scenes that are parallels to the lower lights...for example, the temptation of Eve with the Assumption of Mary. (When I asked Kevin about the windows some time later after visiting Cambridge he said they had to do something with opposites in the Bible, like Christ and the Anti-Christ - yeah, I need to get him back to church to get his stories straight).
The kids really liked the Chapel. I wish I had known about the stories of the windows before going in so I could have looked for them. Kevin also mentioned something about the wood carving of Anne Boleyn was abruptly completed as the carver was taking more time to complete the project than the actual length of her and Henry VIII's marriage.
After going through the Chapel the kids and I checked out the rest of King's college which was actually open today. This is the big green in the middle of the college.
King's Chapel towers over us but my kiddos were towering over me in this pic...
Even in the winter, Cambridge foliage still looks alive. The river Cam is so beautiful and all of the little bridges crossing over it are so amazing. But seriously, people are still punting in the cold...hope no one falls in.
We needed a little sweetie fix so we stopped in a little cafe and the kids got a brownie to share and I got a big piece of Rocky Road...so yummy, but they were a mess. After the boys got done with their tour we went to eat an early supper at The Anchor pub, of course.
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