A rainy day in Cambridge, UK, in June 2014

Wanting to get out of London for a day, we booked train tickets from London Liverpool Street to Cambridge for our last full day in the UK. Sunday morning was an easy time to get across London from our hotel on Piccadilly Lane in Mayfair and we were in our comfortable first class seats in no time. Catherine is an excellent traveler and adapted to her ride on the train like a champ.

We were in Cambridge in about an hour and fifteen minutes, but couldn’t help but notice that the beautiful, sunny morning we had in London had given away to very low, ominously dark clouds in Cambridge.

The rain starts

By the time we made our way to the center of town, the rain had begun to fall and we had to make a purchase we won’t have too many opportunities to use…a umbrella. There were no shortage of umbrellas for sale as Cambridge was full of tourists and the stores, knowing the weather, had their waterproof clothing and gear right at the door. Soon after the umbrella, we were buying a waterproof jacket as well. Shoes, however, were going to get wet…

After a delicious lunch at Jamie Oliver’s Italian, we found excellent shopping that solved two problems…quality, British shoes for Catherine to grow into and a chance to get out of the rain for a bit. Just as we found in France, every store was running great sales, though we had to be careful about price with the British pound at $1.70.

Walking Cambridge

Eventually, though, we had to venture back out into the rain. Cambridge isn’t a destination for shopping, after all, it is an amazing university town dating back to the 13th Century and we had places to see. We walked the whole of the center city before finally finding a college, St. John’s, open for a tour. What we saw inside, however, was worth the search.

First, the buildings were amazingly elegant and extremely well cared-for. Just the fact that students walk the same halls as some of history’s most famous scholars is remarkable. The flower beds are beautiful and the lawns are better than many expensive golf courses (with lots of “No walking on the grass” signs). We both talked about how great it would be if Catherine could some day attend college at Cambridge, knowing that an American father and French mother sending their child to England, and Cambridge in particular, would produce a very international adult.

A remarkable town

Cambridge is a remarkable town of 38 colleges that together make up what we think of as Cambridge University. It was certainly worth the trip, even in the rain and leaves us wanting to visit Oxford the next time we’re in London for a weekend, rainy or not.