Punting

Lots of pictures of Cambridge are coming at you in days to come. But for now, here's a little trip down the river Cam. Tony thought it might be a nice way to end our visit to the city.

Iain wasn't so sure, at first.


Mommy tried to convince him, and after dipping his fingers in the river a few times, Iain changed his mind and got on board, so to speak.

Bart found the whole enterprise rather zen. The trip took about 45 minutes, and floated us past 7 of the colleges of Cambridge University, and 9 of the beautiful bridges the University boasts.

This is our guide, Tim. He's Welsh. When Tony and Bart revealed that they live in Milton Keynes, he mocked MK a bit. Bart replied, "You're from Wales, right?" "Yeah?" "So shut up." Nice, boys. But he took it well, which I figure means either that Wales isn't that cute or that when the passengers are tipping you just laugh no matter what they say.

We had a brilliant, beautiful day for our ride. The sun shone, big fluffy clouds floated across the sky, and Tony turned his face up to soak in some rays. BTW, the other people on the boat (see the lady below?) live in San Diego. Their son is starting at USC in the fall. Small world, no?

Never let it be said that Cambridge folk have no sense of humor. Here, they throw bubbles at us from windows.

A lovely bridge across the Cam.

It was all very picturesque. And it had a lot in common with Oxford. A winding river with boats (complete with half-naked, drunken students basking in the sun), gothic architecture, Christ College and Jesus College (both names at both schools), etc. Most importantly, Cambridge has the same population of young women who ride bicycles while wearing short, floaty dresses. If you're wondering, "doesn't that make their undies visible?" the answer is YES!

It's no wonder so many tourists come for a visit.