Cambridgeshire
As Reece gets closer to leaving home and going off to college, higher education is in the forefront of my mind. Cambridge and its university were a must see while we were in England. We had two short nights in a lovely pensione … which is defined as family run lodging establishment. Specifically, we stayed at The Pear Tree Pensione and were hosted by the lovely Cat. Check out the website here!
Cat needed a little extra time to get ready for us … she didn’t have a record of our booking … a snafu on the part of Hotwire. She made some adjustments and fit us in for our two nights. While she was working on that, she encouraged us to go visit the market town Saffron Walden. We plugged the information into the Sat Nav and away we went.
Saffron Walden
Saffron Walden is a market down in the county Essex, near the border of Cambridgeshire, and has a population of about 15,500 residents according to the 2011 census. It really was a pretty and quaint town … helped along with the healthy dose of sunshine and blue skies we experienced that day.
As per our recent habits, we stopped by the tourist information center, picked up a map and, what else, information … and made our way through a walking tour.
We probably didn’t get as much out of the town had we not been literally melting from the heat! After three hours of meandering and the procurement of some groceries, we made our way back to The Pear Tree Persione to relax, have a cider and settle in.
Hildersham and The Pear Tree Pensione
I found this place on Hotwire and it was advertised as one of their Hot Rates so I snapped it up and was not disappointed.
Our host, Cat, an American married to a French chef, is a warm, animated, gracious and inviting individual. I hope we will meet again someday.
Cambridge
Our 2nd and last day in the area was a hot one but we headed into the city of Cambridge and took advantage of the park and ride service. While my driving is much more confident than it was four weeks ago, I still don’t want to have to maneuver along the very narrow streets of a large and busy city centre.
We found the water!
We found the University! We’ve all heard of it but I didn’t know much about it. The University of Cambridge is a research university founded in 1209. It is one of the most prestigious universities in the world with over 100 academic departments organized into six schools: Math and sciences; Humanities, music and art; Literature; Sports; Education; and, Politics. It is the home of Cambridge University Press … the world’s oldest publishing house and it operates eight cultural and scientific museums.
We found a lovely green space, or common, as it is known in England, where we were joined by some cows.
We don’t have much longer now. We head back to the beach for our last few days. It is calling to me and will put us in close proximity of Gatwick Airport … from where we depart England. Reece and I were discussing how it seems like we have been traveling for much longer than we have … and yet, it has gone by so quickly. Here’s to a few more adventures between now and then!
Cheers!
Tree