Touring Norfolk in a motorhome

 Day nine: still getting there via a tour of Cambridge with our own tour guide

Expenditure: £5 for coffees; £21 for three meals at lunch

There are advantages to having children. Sometimes you strike lucky and they turn out to be nicely rounded, intelligent beings when they grow up. In our case, our daughter is an ecologist and a walk anywhere with her is done at a snail’s pace as she darts back and forth into the undergrowth alongside roads and footpaths, suddenly emerging a bit further down flourishing some obscure plant or insect. She gets very excited about grasses and amphibians, a hangover from her Master’s degree and she is, without doubt, the inspiration for our wildlife gardening at home. A walk with her is one of intellectual curiosity and scientific joy.

Our son, on the other hand, is a history geek. A walk anywhere with an iota of historical significance is to step back in time, to be entertained by a natural, well-informed, story teller. His enthusiasm and knowledge of the minutiae details about ordinary medieval life are captivating. He brings places to life.

And so it was, with our tour of Cambridge. All the colleges are closed and we forgot to book the Polar Institute much to my annoyance, adventurer that I am.

https://www.spri.cam.ac.uk/museum/

Our son, however, comes to the rescue. We walk and walk the back streets and medieval alleyways and never once does he let up in his fascinating commentary. Facts flow out of him. Hardly surprising given he has a Master’s in History and has studied at the University here. From passing by the ‘alleged’ Newton’s apple tree to skirting famous colleges such as Pembroke and St John’s, we walk the river Cam, admire the rowing and punting skills on display and stand on the ‘bridge of orgasms’ (yes there really is a bridge named this in Cambridge, unless of course, our son is pulling one of his famous trickster pranks!!). Then we sneak off to a vegetarian street café for some lovely food.

We found Cambridge to be delightful, a city of young people and lively minds, of stunning architecture and awe-inspiring views. It didn’t worry us too much that the colleges were all closed due to covid restrictions. The CCC campsite is on a direct bus route into the city centre. It is an easy 20-minute bike ride along cycle lanes.

The tourist information for Cambridge can be found at https://www.cambridge.gov.uk/tourism-in-cambridge-information-for-visitors#:~:text=Cambridge%20is%20a%20vibrant%2C%20modern,drink%2C%20and%20places%20to%20stay.

Also, https://www.cambridgetouristinformation.co.uk/ and finally https://www.visitcambridge.org/