We came, we saw, we Cambridged!

I went here!!!

And so on to the next part of Dr H's Reminiscence Tour 2024 - the part where the Dr of the H was born.  Cambridge is a bit of a weird place, tbh.  I was here from 1993-1996 (as part of the University when I was doing my PhD) so clearly it was a few years ago and I had no idea how much I would remember.  I was, of course, pretty confident I'd remember Downing College, as well as the Department of Pharmacology and Lensfield Road, which is where I spent the bulk of my time, but the rest of it? Not so sure.

We were lucky when we'd arrived yesterday as we'd managed to find a parking space directly outside the Hotel Du Vin.  I was able to extend our parking until 10.30am (6 GBP for 2hrs - yikes!!) before having to move the car, so we had time for a nice leisurely breakfast. It was average - the yolks of ManpanionTM's egg benny were hard (a cardinal sin in my books!) and I had to request baked beans for my full English (!) but the little fly I found baked into my fried egg was a definite lowlight.  Bleeurrgghh.  

Not what you want to see towards the end 
of your meal....

Though I did appreciate their toaster had
a specific BUN mode!  I felt really quite special...

Busking, Cambridge style...

Anyway, as we weren't able to check in to Downing College until 2pm, we took a short drive into the city center and parked up in the main car park next to the big shopping mall.  Nothing looked familiar.  From there is was a short walk to the market square (OK- vaguely remember this) and past Rose Crescent (where I rented a room for a short period of time before moving into Downing College). We didn't have anything specific booked for the day and the weather was a bit cooler, but still nice enough to amble around, so we spent a couple of hours wandering around, enjoying the sights.  Of course, we had to visit Kings College and because I had picked up my Cambridge alumni card the day before, we were able to access the public areas of any college free of charge (academic douche pass - yey!).  As part of our visit, we went into Kings College Chapel which was still as impressive as I remember - but I didn't know until later that day that it's actually the largest private chapel in the world.  It was founded by Henry VI in 1512 and took 30yrs to build - obviously there is a TON of history here, and there was an interesting exhibition in the chapel that went over the main highlights of its founding.  As well as being the largest private chapel in the world, it also has the largest fan vault ceiling in the world - a breathtaking accomplishment then and still amazingly impressive today.

This was "new" - am sure this was  
where the University clothiers used to be

Loopy - remember this place?!

ManpanionTM getting all excited by King's College

The engineering nerd in him also geeked
out over the vaulted ceiling

Punts ahoy!

After we'd oo-ed and ah-ed sufficiently, we made our way out and through the back gardens, towards the river.  As the sun was still shining, we decided to do the Touristy Thing and take a punt tour along the Backs.  ManpanionTM had not done one before, so we found a tour that was leaving in 15 mins and sat and waited by the river banks for it to start.  We were the first to board the punt and I made the classic schoolboy error of choosing the seats at the back, closest to where our punter would "drive" the boat.  I had clearly forgotten that those seats - while appearing desirable on the surface - are actually the worst seats in the boat as they are in the prime Drip Zone where you get sprinkled regularly with big globs of cold River Cam water, as the punter pulls his pole in and out (steady) of the water behind and above you.  Ah well - it added to the immersive nature of the experience, I guess!!

Chillin' in the glorious sunshine

The boat trip lasted about 45 mins and took you past 7 different colleges.  Our tour guide was a bit of a grumpy git (former English teacher who "hates" Harry Potter) but did share some knowledge about the provenance of this building and that building as we floated past.  It really is gorgeous and the range of architecture is a historian's wet dream -in one stretch of river, you have buildings from 4 distinct periods butting up all against each other - Brutalism, 16th century, 18th Century and 20th Century, all smushed up and jumbled together.  He didn't regale us with some of the classic fake stories we used to hear punt guides tell tourists ("this 'ere Kings College is founded on the site of an old pie factory in the 1800s) but it was a very enjoyable way to spend an hour.

The Mathematical bridge

Classic picture postcard view of the back
of Kings College

The Bridge of Sighs - supposedly
named after the fact it leads to the 
examination halls

Cambridge is not short on bricks, that's 
for sure

Smiling through the impromptu
punt juice shower!

Fancy fish finger sandwich.  
Jolly tasty!

After the tour, it was time for lunch, so we repaired to The Anchor, which was right by the river and apparently an old favorite haunt of Pink Floyd.  ManpanionTM had a Croque Monsieur (training for Paris) and I had a fish finger sandwich!  Yes - really (though they were posh fish fingers, not the Findus variety).  Suitably fed and watered, it was time to head back to the car park, pick up the car and go check into Downing College.  

The main purpose of our visit was to give ManpanionTM the experience of dining at Formal Hall, at the High Table with the Master and Fellows.  I used to go to Formal Hall every Friday evening when I was doing my PhD and it was always a fun time (sherry before dinner, Downing Port afterwards), so I was keen to share this little bit of my personal history.  We were also staying at Downing in one of the guest rooms - I had no idea what to expect (the most I was hoping for was indoor plumbing) but it was actually really nice - a proper little apartment with a decent lounge/study, bedroom, kitchen and bathroom. 

The Howard Building at Downing

Formal Hall was 7.15pm for 7.35pm and we were invited to join the Fellows for sherry beforehand in the Senior Combination Room.  I had to ask for directions on how to get there (having only been there a couple of times before as a graduate student).  As a student/member of the University, you need to wear a black gown to Formal Hall (there are slightly different versions, depending on your academic status) and as mine had gone the way of the dodo many many years ago, I had rented one for the night from Ryder and Amies, one of the traditional University clothiers that had been there since time immemorial.  I was glad that I did because it would have felt very weird to have been at Formal Hall without one - I had enough residual memory of my previous dining experiences, I guess!  ManpanionTM wore a suit - but did get sent back to put a tie on, so the sartorial standards are still being strictly enforced by the dining hall staff!  

This fancy sign was new

And the Porters Lodge (aka the Plodge) was double
in size!

Krusty is such a rebel.  Honestly.  I 
have no idea where he gets it from
.

ManpanionTM and I at Formal High Table at Downing

Though I didn't expect to know anyone there, amazingly I knew three people - one of whom was a contemporary of mine and in my friend group and who had never left Cambridge and Downing.  He had been there as a student then Fellow then Professor for close to 30yrs.  Up until that point, my imposter syndrome had been giving me a bit of trouble (no matter how smart you are, here there is always someone way, way smarter and more accomplished than you) but in that moment, I felt that my own personal path and the diversity of experiences & challenges I had chosen for myself were more than a match for any Cambridge academic.  Not better (I'm not that self-aggrandizing)- but certainly not inferior in any way.  

Cambridge is still a very hierarchical society, run on traditions and knowing your "place" in the pecking order - from the gong that calls the fellows to dinner (the students are already in the dining hall and have to rise when the fellows enter), to the grace in Latin read by the Master, to the gong and blessing at the end, where all the Fellows file back out again (with the students standing once more).  Back in my day, you were not allowed to get up and leave the hall before the Master and - if you needed the loo during dinner - you had to ask permission to leave the table.  It sounds faintly ridiculous now but I assume the same rules are in place - supplemented by new rules that prohibit the use of your cell phone during dinner (we only found this out after we sneaked one cheeky photo).  The food was about what I remember (passable) and the wine pours were exceedingly generous!  Apparently one of the male stewards (UK name for server) had been there since my time - I didn't recognize him - maybe he had more teeth back then.

After dinner had finished and we had enjoyed a quick port (all part of the ritual) we left the Fellows to their chatter and headed back to our room to pack.  We were off fairly early the next morning, returning the gown, before driving down to London and St Pancras International station, where we were to drop off the car and head to Paris on the Eurostar.  This would then conclude the official Dr H Reminiscence Tour 2024. Its been a really fun few days, full of family and memories (and way too many calories) and I'm very happy I got to share it all with ManpanionTM.  There are, of course, a few more chapters of the story that are still left to be told (Sandwich, Bristol, New York etc) but those, for now, will have to wait.  

Onwards!