Okay, I'll say it: I could live here. IF I had no family, no DOG, no commitments, no ties, no work, and plenty of money. This city is really a dream come true for anyone who revels in the life of the mind. It has its share of tourists, of course, and it's summertime so there are no undergraduates around, but the majesty of the buildings, the hundreds of years - actually centuries - of history, the traditions, the absolute dedication to study and learning simply for its own sake - all of this is just right in my wheelhouse. Plus the food and drink are priced for students, which doesn't hurt.
Anyway, today featured another wonderful lesson in Cambridge architecture from our equally wonderful instructor Dr. Will. (We have now learned that Dr. Will has been known to allow gullible people to assume that he is Prince William, to whom he has an uncanny resemblance, probably resulting in great hilarity all around. This of course was in his undergraduate days, and not now that he is an esteemed professor of medieval architecture. However, he's about the age of many of our grandsons, so we are allowed to tease him a bit.)
We walked from Corpus Christi down to King's College to take in the beauty of the King's College Chapel. This is certainly worth a Google for everyone. My feeble words cannot do it justice. The soaring fan vault is pretty awe-inspiring all on its own. Dr. Will takes such care to point out the carving details, the difference in the choir screen (early Renaissance) and the choir area itself (medieval) and even the changes that have occurred in the actual area of the altar due to the donation of an enormous Rubens depiction of the Adoration of the Magi that carried one important requirement - it must be placed at the rear of the altar, never mind that the beautiful paneling would have to be ripped out. Such a startling contrast between the plain block walls that were never meant to be seen(where the paneling was until the 1960s) and the luxuriant painting. We're all hoping that someday the paneling can be returned ...
After a quick lunch sandwich in the Pelican Bar (student hangout) we gathered for our second Churchill class. Today our OLLI folks really got into the class, making some interesting observations and asking good questions. We hope our instructors appreciate how much we bring to the learning experience!
After class, a blessed hour to just fall onto the bed and rest a minute, then we were back out into the very hot street (86 degrees in Cambridge today) for a walking tour of the city. Anya was our leader - she is a PhD candidate here at the university, studying under the same master as Dr. Will once did, and just a lovely young woman. She has been in Cambridge since sixth form (the final year in high school here in Britain), through her undergraduate years and now into her graduate program in - you guessed it - medieval architecture. With Anya we visited the Magdelene College (pronounced Maudlin), the Round Church, and St. John's. (That is St. John the Evangelist, author of the Gospel of John and Revelation.) This college was once a leper hospital and was meant to be the first college in Cambridge, although that didn't work out. However, it did become a college and is very old - 13th century. Again, breathtaking architecture and lots of interesting Cambridge history. The Magdelene bridge over the Cam is the oldest in the city, spanning the river at the original site of the Roman bridge. Its street is the Via Devana, the main street of the city, so named for the Roman road, the original Via Devana (the Chester Road). One never forgets that history is an unbroken ribbon here. If you listen, you can almost hear the horses and see the peasants in carts. It's a pleasing and pretty thrilling combination of ancient and modern.
After a brief look into a couple of shops and a stop at a fruit slushie stand, we returned to our room and collapsed in the dim coolness for a bit of toes-up until our second and final Formal Hall. We gathered at 7:00 p.m. on the Old Court Lawn, a quadrangle of perfectly manicured grass that one is absolutely forbidden to walk on - except for drinks before a Formal Hall. I took photos, but they certainly won't do it justice. We drank a lovely sparkling wine, chatted with each other and with Andy, Nick, Dr. Will, and Dr. Eoin (Churchill instructor, Gaelic for "John," pronounced "Owen"). How charming that they joined us! How brave! Their combined ages might equal the age of our oldest participant - maybe. But how brilliant they are!
After drinks, we proceeded to the Hall for dinner. Such good food and wine, such wonderful conversation, such a lovely evening. We are back in the room now, totally exhausted and bracing for an early morning. The architecture class will meet at 8:30, and we will walk to the Wren Library, which is quite exciting. Dr. Will has arranged a private tour for us into the precious collections and I, for one, am really pumped Did I mention that this place is a library-lover's dream!
So, to bed. Tomorrow, the Wren Library, Churchill gets to World War II, and we stroll to Grantchester.
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