Cambridge, UK

This is the second post from my recent trip to the United Kingdom.  If you'd like to see the previous post, just click here.

As I indicated in the last post, I was in England to interview with a company that is headquartered there.  I spent an entire day meeting with folks from that company, and we have some great conversations.  I finished in the late afternoon, and was going to return to the U.S. in the morning.  I decided to use the few remaining hours to go into the heart of Cambridge, to see what this university town had to offer.  All of the students were gone, as it was "Easter Week" - the equivalent of Spring Break.  That meant the the buildings were closed to visitors.  However, I managed to capture some beautiful architecture while walking through the streets.

Some background on Cambridge.  It's mostly known for its historic university, especially if you've seen the recent movie The Theory of Everything.  From what I've read, the colleges that make up the university were started in the 1200s, with the first college founded in 1284.  From then on, various colleges were started and combined to form Cambridge University.

As I walked along the main street - called the King's Parade - I saw an eclectic mix of architecture styles.  This makes sense, as the colleges were built over several centuries.  It's really interesting to see the mix of gothic, victorian and modern styles live in harmony with each other.

This is Great St. Mary's Church, built int he late 15th century.  On the side of the tower, you'll find a beautiful clock.  I don't know if it was added in 1679, or not:

  

This is the Kings College Gate, and it's probably the most striking building of the group.  Even though it looks ancient, it was built in 1824 to blend in with the surrounding buildings.

This is the Kings College Chapel, built from 1446-1515.  It's an impressive Gothic architecture example.  It must be HUGE inside...

You can't get too far in England without seeing some English scones.  These looked particularly tasty!

This is what I love about most of Europe...the tiny little streets.  They have so much history around every corner...I just loved the courtyard walls of the two colleges, on either side of the street:

This is a picture of the entrance to Trinity College.  The gate was built from 1490-1530, and is older than the college itself.  The statue in the middle is Henry VIII, who was the king at the time the gate was finished:

This is the gate to St. Johns College, built around 1516.  The sculpture includes mythical beasts with elephant tails, goat heads and horns.  Despite the fantastic nature, it's a beautiful piece of artwork:

As you can imagine, there are plenty of book stores surrounding the University.  This is a snapshot of the Heffer's Bookshop, located right near Trinity College.  I loved that it had several levels...and was just crammed with material.

There is a river that runs beside most of the colleges - The Cam.  They actually changed the name of the river to match the name "Cambridge".  One popular attraction is called punting - or rowing down the river - much like the gondolas of Venice.

Anyone who knows me, understands that I appreciate local food.  That certainly includes candy.  I found this delightful candy shop called Hardy's:

Inside, they had a great selection of local sweets.  They also had a special section of "imported" treats.  See what they considered special enough to import:

Now, I have to talk about some English treats.  I found these fun little sweets called Millions.  They're tiny, but delicious.  The best way to describe them is like tiny Starburst balls, with a harder candy-coating on the outside.  They came in a variety of flavors - I started with "cola" and was hooked:

No trip to the UK is complete without having at least one Crunchie.  I love these in Australia, too...basically anywhere that Cadbury Chocolate is able to ship them.  A crunchie bar is like a chocolate-covered honey comb.  A light and tasty candy bar.

I supposed that I'm not alone in my appreciate for Crunchie, as they now make Crunchie Rocks - by adding rice krispies to the Crunchie, resulting in a perfect snack.

Another favorite, while traveling in Europe, is the Daim Bar.  It's a Swedish candy that is very close to a Heath Bar.  Because it comes from Europe, it must be better ; )

They too, have jumped on the backwagon and added texture to the Daim Bar, to get Daim Snax.  These were also tasty...and can be found in most of the Duty Free shops:

I think I'd better stop there.  I could go on for quite a while, when it comes to candy.  Let's just say that I finished my trip to the UK on a sweet note.  I had a wonderful time, and loved the quiet town of Cambridge.  I actually wouldn't mind living there for a while, if the job required it.

Good bye for now!