Day #101 - London, England (Cambridge University)

World Cup soccer - pub in Cambridge

Punting on the River Cam

St. John's College

King's College

One of the many colleges that make up Cambridge

Wednesday, June 23rd


Thanks all for the inspirational comments. It's taking me a little bit to get back adjusted to being on my own after coming off the great trip in Peru. The other thing, I think the weather conditions in London have a major effect on my allergies. I normally get some allergy stuff going in the springtime - not a big deal. I live with it. Over here, it's like I'm dusting a room all the time. I'm continually sneezing. Not sick - just something in the air. I even notice other people sneezing all the time as well. Along with this, I feel like I'm paralyzingly tired all the time. Bottom line - I just need to suck it up for the team. There could be worse things in this world.


Today was a really good day. I had to move hotels again this morning. Not by my choice, but the hotel I was in - all booked. (I typically only book 2 days in a hotel at a time and will re-up if I like the place). Wimbledon has really increased the number of tourist to the city. I'm now staying at this place on the very east of the city. Not great - that's for sure. I'm thinking this is the area of town where you shouldn't go. I'm good - precautions are in place - I won't be staying here long.

Why am I staying in London so long? There's really 3 reasons: ONE - I need to stay in the UK for a certain number of days to stay within my Schengen requirements. TWO - when I learned that I had stayed in 48 different locations in 97 days - that's too much change. Continually switching locations adds to additional stress. I can still go different places - but maybe do more day trips. THREE - London has alot of things to do. My eurail pass does not work in the UK; therefore, it's better for me to day trip from London. The cost is actually better versus buying individual rail tickets.

Midday on Wednesday, I took a train north to Cambridge. (anywhere between a 45 minute to a 1-1/2 hr train ride pending the type of train) Cambridge is home to Cambridge University - the other very prestigious college in the UK.

Cambridge is very similar to Oxford in that it has 31 different colleges that make up the university. Cambridge is not as old as Oxford - dating back as far as 1284 (Peterhouse College) right up to 1974 (Robinson College). The town and university were very impressive. I particularly enjoyed the area around King's College, Trinity College, and St. John's College. These areas are just south of the River Cam. A popular activity on the river is punting. This is the equivalent of taking gondolas on the river - just with wooden boats and wooden oars. Very similar to Oxford - just with the fancy title.

I don't know anyone that has attended either of these universities. So, I have nothing more than my days spent to see differences. For my money; however, it's Oxford hands down over Cambridge. Why - I'm old school. Oxford has a certain mystique, a certain tradional feel about it. Cambridge is trendier, it's more hip. I think alot of people may enjoy Cambridge more. The first sentence of the Cambridge map says it perfectly -- "Cambridge is a wonderfully vibrant city that blends history with contemporary culture" I don't like the blend - I like the tradition. I just googled 'differences between Oxford and Cambridge". I think I may have nailed it after 1 day at each university. Very interesting when you really get into the details. Any way you look at it, both are exceptional universities.

About 3pm, I found my way into a local sports pub in Cambridge. England was playing Slovenia and the US was playing Algieria in the World Cup. The atmosphere was electric. I always wanted to watch a World Cup game in Europe. If you think soccer is boring, come over here to watch it. People hang on every single play, every pass, every kick. It was like watching a Stanley Cup hockey playoff game -- you could feel the tension in the air.

England ended up winning 1-0. The US game was not on; however, they were providing updates. The US was still tied at 0-0 with just minutes to go. If things ended up this way, both England and Slovenia would move forward and the US would go home. Just at the conclusion of England's game - they came over with the announcement that the US had scored. The whole crowd was going nuts with the victory and then started to boo at the US result. I just felt a strong feeling of national pride. Both England and the US will be moving forward to Round #2 - great stuff.

I took the train back into London. I then transferred to my 'hotel' for the night and called it a day.