A Confusion of Punts

This is our day off from cycling. We always have one day during the week where they bikes stay locked up and we explore whichever town or city we are in. This year it was Cambridge.

Breakfast was a typical youth hostel breakfast - a bit of mass catering done on a budget - disappointingly, the eggs were scrambled rather than fried, but there was black pudding.

The first thing I wanted to do was to visit a photo exhibition - it was Clare Park's 'Gathering Light' exhibition and it was at the Li Ka Shing Centre - the Cancer Research Institute.

It was just about in walking distance, so Dave and I set off, while Ian went into Cambridge. We followed the directions, walking for about twenty minutes and then we turned off the road into Long Road - the building should have been just off this, but there were no road signs and we ended up walking the full length of Long Road, which lived up to its name. When we reached the end, we turned back and after walking for about an extra hour, eventually found the Li Ka Shing Centre.

The exhibition was well worth it, and if you are within reach of Cambridge, is well worth a look. A very moving set of pictures and captions.

We caught the bus back to Cambridge and after sitting and watching the circus on one of the commons being set up, found Ian and then a pub for lunch. It was a good deal - a pint from one of the leather hogsheads of beer (Sharks Head Bitter) and a two course meal for eight pounds. Good value. After

Then we had a walk around Cambridge. It was graduation day, so it was really busy. All the colleges were closed to tourists, but it was still a very impressive city to walk around. The bike theme continue from yesterday - a great mix of bikes, cars, pedestrians and buses working well around each other.

Eventually we headed back to the hostel. Having walked so far in the morning and then walked again for most of the afternoon, I ended up with a blister. We had more walking to do in the evening, too. We ate at the hostel, then walked to the cinema - went to see Will Smith's "Earth" which I found a bit disappointing and Ian - who doesn't like science fiction at the best of times - humphed and sighed his way through it. I felt quite guilty for getting him to go and see it - but there was not much else on.

Then it was back to the hostel and our room to force Dave's trainers out on to the window sill again and to bed.