So, I went punting in Cambridge, England, where I also viewed the sites of scientific history.
I traveled with a relative last spring to Great Britain, and she took me “team building” with her coworkers.
I’d never considered going punting before, but they did!
“It’s a cultural experience.”
We had fun traveling for a few miles up the River Cam.
Our punter was a strong young man, the day beautiful.
And then we got wet.
First, the scientific history
Cambridge is one of the two oldest and most famous universities in Great Britain.
I’ve visited Oxford, but never this ancient university.
For an American who attended a more modern college — UCLA, founded in 1881 — Cambridge is a marvel.
It was founded in 1201.
(When my ancestors most likely couldn’t read and were hoping they wouldn’t starve.)
Many scientific discoveries were made here, including by Professor Isaac Newton and his apple.
(Okay, the fallen apple didn’t happen in Cambridge proper, but we were able to replicate it during our visit. His college planted an apple tree so people could remember how it helped him figure out gravity.)
(Sir Isaac Newton formulated his theory of gravity by watching the fall of an apple from the tree. The theory (without apples) was published in Newton’s Principia in 1687.)
We also admired the building where Francis Crick and James Watson — with colleagues Rosalind Franklin and Maurice Wilkins — discovered DNA.
(And we dined at The Eagle, the restaurant where they announced it to their brainy colleagues!)
But what about the punting in Cambridge?
As four women, we hired a handsome young man to take us punting!
He polled us along and told stories as we traveled the River Cam.
An ancient town looks a little different from the water!
Supply deliveries to the kitchens often came through the water gate. We saw many while punting in Cambridge.
Dormitories often lined the water, and the church above had a problem with the left steeple.
As a prank — this is a college town — students placed a trash can on it one night.
I think a Santa hat also made an appearance.
What are you going to do with students?
More sights along the water
It is a waterway!
We traveled the River Cam for about 90 minutes. As we punted along, we saw other punts and often waved.
Along the way, we heard stories.
Punting began around 1903 in Cambridge.
Marcus Stone’s painting “Punting along the Thames” popularized the idea in 1863
Traveling down a river with pretty women lounging in the back soon spread to Oxford University.
The wide flat-bottomed boats make them stable and thus easier to carry items up a river. Traditionally, a cargo ship offloads supplies to a punt for delivery along a shallow river.
This tends to make them less likely to tip over — unless you’re standing up and tipsy, too!
Then, it’s into the shallow water! (With or without your beer or wine bottle. Looking at you, college folk.)
Since bridges cross the River Cam, punts can deliver goods and not worry about having to squeeze beneath.
All good things come to an end–especially in the rain!
We clouded late on a cloudy April afternoon.
The sky was clear when we started (see above photos).
But, by the end, well, we were in England after all!
(We tipped our young and able punter well! Especially when he handed us umbrellas!)
Thoughts? Reactions? Lurker?