Day 13 of London: Cambridge

Hello!

So today was our day trip to Cambridge! We usually have day trips on Wednesdays, but for some reason we had this week's today. I got up at 6:45 and then we had to set-up breakfast and bag lunch stuff and then we had a pre-departure meeting at 8:15 and got on the bus at 8:30. We drove for 2.5 hours to end up in Groton, England (pronounce Grow-ton, not Graw-ton like in CT) where there is a small church that John Winthrop (of the Massachusetts Bay Colony- City Set on a Hill, etc.) frequented. The professors had never been there before and were hoping to show us something "off the beaten path". This church certainly was. It was at the end of a long and windy road, in a little town with some small cottages. It was a cool little place, but I wish the road to get there wasn't so windy and nauseating. For those of you who know me (I've been using this phrase a lot lately- sorry) I used to barf on pretty much every car trip over 2 hours taken before the age of 13ish. My siblings hated it and I hated it- throwing up into garbage bags to be thrown away at our next stop. Ick.

Since then, I have felt ill in the car before, but I have not thrown up. Last week's day trip and this week's day trip were sorely pushing that limit though. After the little church, we got back in and drove for 1.5 hours to Cambridge- that makes 3.5 hours on the bus on these tiny English roads that were making my stomach a little angry with me. I was glad to get out at Cambridge- but luckily I wasn't the only one- there were quite a few other people on the bus that were not enjoying the road travel.

So the church was cool. Professor Holland gave a lecture about John Winthrop while we were all in there. There was a plaque on the wall from Groton, Massachusetts on the 300th anniversary of Winthrop's founding actions and they were writing to thank the little town and church, with their same name, that raised Winthrop and fostered his intellectual growth. That was kind of interesting. They also had a sign that said the church is maintained with the generous donations of the Winthrop family in America which I thought was interesting too.

So then, on to Cambridge. We got to Cambridge around 2 pm. We were walking along, trying to decide what college to pay (1.70 pounds) to see, when a girl came up behind us and asked if we were BYU students. We said we were, and she said she used to be a BYU student and wanted to show us around. She was a member of King's College, but could only take 2 guests in with her, so we just all paid to get into St. John's instead. Cambridge is just a convenient name given to the group of colleges there- you get accepted to a specific college, you take all your classes there, you live with the people in your college, and you eat your meals there. You are allowed to visit the others, but not allowed to stay or anything. It is interesting. And apparently BYU has a two month semester program for students to study there if they want. So we took a ton of pictures of the buildings there, which are amazing.

We then paid 8 pounds to go punting on the River Cam (Cam-bridge...) and that was fun too. They take you out for 45 minutes and bring you up the river, which goes through all the colleges, so you get to see the courtyards and buildings of all the ones you didn't want to pay to see. You could have paid a flat fee of 14 pounds for the boat if you wanted to do the punting yourself, but I was glad we paid the extra for the historical guide- he made the ride much more enjoyable and educational.

We also saw the library where some of the original Newton and Crick manuscripts are held, which is cool.

The grounds there are beautiful! There are signs everywhere saying to keep off the grass and the girl was telling us only fellows (faculty, etc.) get to walk on the grass, so it's a big deal. If you're on the college grounds studying or something and you see someone walking across the grass, everyone speculates as to who they are and what they're doing. The girl said one of the biggest honors you can get is when your professor asks you to walk on the grass with him/her. Interesting. And the flowers were amazing and beautiful too :)

We then went to Evensong (a Catholic worship) at the Chapel of King's College. The church was amazing. There are pictures of it here, but they don't do it justice. This picture might help you to understand what the inside looks like...

It was so humongous! Though I am a Mormon girl, and therefore I most likely won't be walking down an aisle to get married, I imagined a wedding in this chapel. Can you imagine that?! It would be so ... grand! The sound, as I've mentioned before about these churches, was cool too- though not as spectacular as St. Martin-in-the-Fields. At this ceremony they had a boys' choir which was really cool to hear because I've never heard one in person before!

"First we have to be patient and relaxed enough to allow a long tradition to have its say. Then we should allow our own thoughts and feelings to become closer to us than life outside admits. These two things are not separate. In the tradition there are, along with what is strange, strong expressions of our basic feelings about ourselves and God. And it is precisely the cool and ancient order of the services which gives a space and a frame, as well as cues, for reflections on our own regrets and hopes and gratitudes. The best analogy of it is in relation of love. There, as here, we find ourselves by attending to another. So we may learn here a little of what we need and enjoy everywhere." -King's College Chapel Services book, Evensong text

I love to read through the service book at these types of things. It is interesting to see the way other people worship and to see the way they word their services. I think sometimes Mormon world gets caught up in who is and is not Mormon, while things like this remind us that though we are of different religions, we all believe some of the same basic things. There is a God who loves and cares about us and presides in Heaven. I think that's kind of a cool thing to remember- yes, we have different beliefs, but we also have some that are the same. We are not completely out in left field.

The service was really good and, as I said, the building was really impressive. It was just sooo cool!

And the weather was beautiful!!! We were worried because it was raining at the church in Groton, but in Cambridge, it was sunny/partly cloudy for the day! It was perfectly warm and there was a lovely breeze and it was beautiful!! I LOVE the weather here when it's not raining!

After that, we went to a couple shops (but I didn't have time to buy anything- sad, I know.) and then made our way back to the bus. It took us 2 hours to get back to the Centre, where we were given 5 pounds for dinner. A few girls decided to go to KFC and I went with them. We got there, and this KFC didn't have meal numbers. And didn't have biscuits, or mashed potatoes, or any other side dish besides baked beans and french fries. It was so weird and disappointing! So we went to McDonalds, thinking you can't really mess with McDonalds, but their menu was completely different too! The only thing I found was a quarter pounder and I ordered that hastily, half worried that if I didn't, it too would disappear off the menu. It was kind of strange. But, on the bright side, the McDonalds is quite fancily decorated and everything and the cashier brought my food to my table and the burger was really hot and fresh. Still, it was the first time I've eaten fast food here and I didn't know it could be so different!

After that, we came back to the Centre and I changed my clothes and got ready for bed and here I am! I have classes tomorrow, so I should get to bed. I hope you're all doing well wherever you are. I have many more pictures, but I won't post them all for you- I just chose the ones I thought you might like to see. So there you have it- a long and exhausting day in Cambridge, but it was pretty darn cool.

until again,
mollie