United Kingdom
Cambridge University Botanic Garden

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    • Cambridge lock down, part 1 - Town

      June 2, 2020 in England ⋅ ☁️ 19 °C

      Helen and I thought we would walk around Cambridge mid-week during the Covid-19 pandemic lockdown to enjoy a local and tourist free experience - it was not disappointing.

      The town centre was virtually deserted, as you can see from the pictures of Kings Parade, Trinity Street and the Market Square. The statue is William Harvey (he discovered blood circulation, apparently) and the final picture is something we had never visited before - the Ascension Parish Burial Ground located on the outskirts of Cambridge. It was formerly the burial ground for the parish of  St Giles and St Peter's and includes the graves and memorials of many academics.Read more

    • Urban Ramble, part 3

      August 13, 2019 in England ⋅ ☀️ 17 °C

      We went next to Mill Road Cemetery where it is hard to believe you are close to the centre of Cambridge. Walking down Mill Road and along Parker's Piece brings you to the Catholic Church (Church of Our Lady and the English Martyrs); here you can divert to the War Memorial.

      Heading back to the church and left down Lensfield Road takes you to Hobson's Conduit, named after Thomas Hobson who financed the conveying of fresh water into Cambridge in 1610 (he is better known for the expression "Hobson's choice"). We passed by the Botanic Gardens on this occasion and then walked through the Empty Common Allotments and its community garden.

      We then proceeded through the tiny Clare Woods and along side the Guided Busway with views of Addenbrooke's Hospital before entering Trumpington and heading to the beautiful village of Granchester.
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    • Day 21

      Day 5 Cambridge

      May 6 in England ⋅ ☁️ 18 °C

      Today we decided to go to the Botanical Gardens. It was a cloudy morning, but quite warm. It was about a 20 minutes walk from here, and the Google maps told us the best way to go, so we obediently followed instructions. The gardens were quite extensive, and we didn’t attempt to cover the whole area, but we had a very enjoyable walk around. There was a lovely water area, with lots of ducks and other water birds. Wok was sitting on a bench having a rest, when a man nearby asked him if he could identify an unusual bird swimming past. Wok said he didn’t have a clue, and the fellow said he thought he might have been one of those bird-watcher people because of the hat he was wearing. He was obviously not only ignorant of bird species, he also didn’t know what twitchers looked like, because Wok was wearing his Virgin Airways bucket hat that he’s had for years.

      There were also extensive glass houses with noticeably different climatic areas inside. We were surprised to find them open, as on the gardens website it said they were closed. There were lots of orchids, which made a beautiful display, and they were the most spectacular. But of course other rooms were of equal interest in their own right.

      I was surprised and quite proud, as though I was personally responsible, to see a Wollomi pine specimen growing. It was labelled as endemic to NSW, but I thought they could have given it a lot more interest if they’d told the full story.

      There was also a nice place to eat, and it was while we were there, under a big umbrella, that we noticed a few spits of rain. We decided it would be prudent to make for home, and the weather held beautifully for us until we were the warm and safe, before a nice heavy fall of rain came down. I confess I didn’t hear it, because I’d nodded off while reading, but Wok told me about it!

      Tomorrow we plan to take a train trip to a nearby village, called Ely.
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    • Day 2

      The first school day

      April 19, 2022 in England ⋅ ⛅ 14 °C

      Since my last post, a lot happened.
      Yesterday, after arriving in Cambridge Station and being picked up by Guy (a funny and nice Guy from the language school, and yes Guy is actually his name) we got distributed to five different cabs, which took us to our host families.
      My host family is very nice. The mother is very charming and cool. The dad is a liverpool fan and cool, too. I don't know anything about the son yet, because he stayed in his room all the evening gaming. But since at home I do that too, I can pretty much relate to him.
      So that evening we talked a lot and then I went to a comfy even a bit too soft bed.
      I slept more or less good, but my room got very cold.
      In the morning I got up at 7. My host mom had prepared a variety of different cereals and some sweet croissants she had bought at the local Spar. After I had finished my breakfast I was ready to leave the orange brick house.
      The first bus has never arrived at my bus stop but luckily, the second one did. It is very frustrating to drive in a bus at the morning, due to the many traffic jams. At least I had a great view on the yellow number plates since I sat at the 1st floor.
      In the school we all had to do an exam. And this exam was 100 boring multiple choice questions long. Afterwards we received some informations and got split up into classes. I made it into the advanced one. In our class 9 from 11 students can speak german and 8 of them are swiss, so everything felt pretty normal. The teachers were nice and we talked a lot about random things with them. This school has not a tight schedule as the Kanti has.
      We passed the noon break near the train station searching something eatable which was also payable. Eventually we found a supermarket with a nice student deal.
      The afternoon lesson were rather boring, so we had to entertain ourselves and involve the teacher in more interesting conversations.
      After classes were done, we got a guided tour through the many colleges and old houses of cambridge. Generally speaking, it is a wonderful city with very charming narrow streets and an interesting architecture style.
      The only downside of the city is its public transportation. Since I arrived none of the two busses were on time and I had to wait 60 minutes on just one day. It was a gamble wether the bus will take you to the right place because even the bus drivers didn't knew were they're heading. And they were very stressed.
      Now I am eating a strange ham-salami-minced meat pizza and later I'll be watching football in a pub or here at home.
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    • Day 1

      Cambridge University Botanical Gardens

      June 1, 2023 in England ⋅ ⛅ 15 °C

      After walking in the wrong direction for a bit we arrived at the gardens! Entry was £7 per adult which didn't seem too bad at all.
      We made a bee-line straight to the café for lunch. The prices here were also very reasonable with a can of apple juice costing £1 and pasta of the day £5. The pasta was garlic, cream and mushrooms and was very nice, it just could have been a bit hotter.
      The gardens themselves were really beautiful. Around every corner there was some different to see. I particularly enjoyed the green houses although I did get way too hot inside. It was quite a lot busier than when I visited with mum just after COVID. The people were more of an issue inside the greenhouses where there wasn't as much space, outside it wasn't as bad as there was plenty of space to walk around and you could lose the world fairly easily.
      Once we had walked our socks off we visited the café again for a drink and cake. I had the yoghurt and raspberry flapjack and it was amazing! 😍 And then the shop where I got my obligatory magnet for the fridge. We then hopped back onto the park and ride to go into town.
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    • Day 14

      Cambridge

      February 16 in England ⋅ ⛅ 54 °F

      Did a self-guided tour instead of the student tour I did before when I came here solo, so I saw a few different things (including an alleged descendant of the "Newton" apple tree)😁

    • Day 2

      Botanical garden

      September 4, 2020 in England ⋅ ⛅ 18 °C

      Cet après-midi, on a visité les jardins botaniques de l’université de Cambridge, un très grand parc près du centre-ville! Enzo a adoré suivre tous les petits sentiers et regarder la carte: un vrai petit explorateur!
      La grande serre était partiellement fermée malheureusement. Le temps a heureusement été clément et les averses prévues nous ont épargnés!
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