Courts, Colleges and Comparisons in Cambridge

As an Oxford girl, my experience of Cambridge – aka ‘The Other Place’ – has been somewhat limited. Limited, in fact, to a single weekend a few years ago when I visited a friend who was doing her masters over there. For my second visit we had a great reason to swing by: my very clever sister Helen had just finished her masters and had a few days at leisure before she had to leave college. So we spent an enjoyable afternoon with her showing us round, and these photos are a lovely record. Our tour commenced at her college, Jesus, where I was struck by the huge size of the quads (sorry, that’s ‘courts’ in Cambridge speak!) in comparison with St John’s, Helen’s and my college at Oxford.

Now, did you ever see such a magnificent wisteria? It was a little late for inclusion in my wisteria hysteria post, but impressive enough to warrant the next few photos being devoted to it.

This is the main entrance to the college, complete with ubiquitous student bikes.

One of the classic Cambridge views. I like the fact that the river feels a bit more central to the city than it does in Oxford, weaving, as it does, round the back of some of the colleges.

King’s College Chapel, home of the definitive Christmas carol recordings. I think it looks slightly sinister seen from this angle. Kind of like a big gaping mouth.

The famous Mathematical Bridge, which brought back memories of punting in Cambridge on my first trip there years ago. It’s an arched bridge made from a sophisticated design comprising straight pieces of wood.

It’s hard not to draw comparisons with Oxford when you visit Cambridge. I think Cambridge is prettier in many respects, with the university buildings dominating to a greater extent than they do in Oxford. It has a much better selection of shops, too, despite being smaller! That said, I of course remain loyal to Oxford.