Today was a big day - three churches, two chapels and a punt trip down the River Cam. There are so many photos that I have decided to split the day into morning and afternoon. So... in the morning...
Just near the bus stop was this magnificent spider web covered in dew drops. I hope you can make it out.
Great St.Mary's Church is the official church of Cambridge University. Some interesting things about it are that Cambridge University undergraduates are to live within three miles of it and its clock was the first to chime the "Cambridge Chimes" also known as Westminster Chimes.
Cambridge has SO many bikes! You can see just a few parked around the church. It is difficult to drive in Cambridge because of the narrow streets and lack of parking so most people, especially the students and young people ride bikes.
Inside Great St.Mary's
The Quire and Sanctuary
The Organ
She's making a list and checking it twice...
A wooden lectern this time
One of the "must do" things when in Cambridge is to go punting on the River Cam. Our "captain" was Joseph.
It was a very relaxing 45 minute trip for us. Not for Joseph though, as punts are moved by putting a long pole into the river and pushing hard! It was a little tricky to take photos as we were in the rear of the punt and the people in front had heads.
King's College Chapel
The garden of Clare College which includes, as you can see a very exotic plant for England... a banana palm! Apparently it has only ever produced one banana and that was about three or four years ago (despite being carefully tended by the gardeners).
A beautiful old Weeping Willow. You can gauge its size from the people in the punts.
This bridge is known as the Bridge of Sighs. We were told that when Queen Victoria visited she requested that the bridge be given that title after the original in Venice (which she had never seen). The bridge in Venice is called the Bridge of Sighs because prisoners who were to be executed had their last view of daylight as they crossed it. In Cambridge, some students cross over it on their way to exams!
One of the courtyards in Gonville and Caius College
And another
The Chapel of Gonville and Caius (pronounced "keys") College
This window depicts events in the life of St.Paul
This window depicts events in the life of St.Augustine of Canterbury who is considered to be the founder of the English Church. He was the first Archbishop of Canterbury.
The ceiling of the chapel
St.Michael's Church is all that is left of Michaelhouse College, the 2nd college to be established at Cambridge. It existed between 1323 and 1546, when it was merged with King's Hall to form Trinity College.
The Chancel is the only part of the church used for worship these days. The remainder is used as a café.
The ceiling of the church is impressive.
I am convinced that the toilets of the café are the only toilets anywhere to include a gravestone! (Yes, it's real.)