After a very long pause, this is the next in my series of posts telling the story of our trip to Scotland and back to get married. More entries in this series can be found here.
Once we’d negotiated the Channel crossing from France to Folkestone, we continued our international day and headed through Kent towards the M25 motorway, which would take us around the eastern side of London and onward into East Anglia, where our next overnight stop would see us near the university town of Cambridge. The city, which is conveniently placed near one of the main routes north, lies to the north of the main arterial complexities of London, meaning that we got to see some of the British countryside again for the first time on our journey. After negotiating the notoriously busy Dartford tunnel and the traffic-heavy M25, the satellite navigation system – which we’d named “Dick” in honour of the anticipated problems we’d have with it – helped us to the A14.
From here, we were on our own to find the roadside budget hotel for which we’d elected. Under a glorious sunset, we zoomed up and down the dual carriageway a few times before eventually arriving. A quick check-in later, we were heading back out into the evening to find our dinner. Negotiating our way into the city, we nuzzled the well-laden car through one way streets and back roads, looking for parking spaces, until we found a spot on the side of a fairly quiet main road. From there, we strolled past a couple of pubs, finding that we were there at the wrong time for food. Eventually, we found a particularly current yet puzzlingly empty restaurant next to Magdalene College and settled ourselves onto leather chairs before a crisp, white linen-laid table in a quiet corner to enjoy a wonderful and (of course) suitably priced dinner.
After enjoying dinner, my photographic sense took over and we headed for the “Backs” of Cambridge: an area of collegiate land where mown lawns and copses lead down to the River Cam, which itself famously plays host in spring and summer months to students and locals floating along on punts. The best view of the area, which jumped out from the darkness and which was enhanced by bright moonlight, was of the visually dominant and historic King’s College Chapel. After taking the photo below, we returned to our hotel, exhausted and ready for a good night’s sleep in advance of the next leg of our journey.
More entries in this series can be found here.
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