August 22, 2001 Heathrow Airport, London It has been a dizzying few days. One could properly say that things did not go smoothly at first. To begin with, I had failed to do my research properly. Though I had correctly inquired as to how many bags I could check with British Airways, I rather ignored
August 22, 2001
Heathrow Airport, London
It has been a dizzying few days.
One could properly say that things did not go smoothly at first. To begin with, I had failed to do my research properly. Though I had correctly inquired as to how many bags I could check with British Airways, I rather ignored the question of how many I could carry on. To any Americans, used to a two carry-on bag allowance: be warned! One bag is the order of the day. Fixing this rather unpleasant situation costs in the vicinity of $100 USD. I do not advise this.
Poetically, after paying this rapacious fee to check my third bag, I was met in London by only two of my bags. Please allow me a brief aside at this point: my brief visit to England in the past two days has been purely Utilitarian. Fly to London. Bus to Cambridge. Drop bags in Cambridge for use during the year. Return to London. Fly to Kyiv, burdened by only one of the four bags I came to London with.
Naturally, the one bag which BA managed to misplace was the one I needed for my trip to Kyiv. I could have predicted this situation when the check in lady in Chicago cheerfully sent the bag down the baggage shute with no name tag to the cheerful chorus of "Don't worry, bags never get lost on direct flights between Chicago and London". Well, I will spare you the details, but my bag was finally recovered and I am now sitting in the international departure lounge awaiting my flight to Kyiv.
On a much more positive note, Cambridge must be one of the loveliest and most charming places on Earth. It is a place where the history is palpable in the air. You can hardly venture a few blocks without being in some way reminded of the great minds and personalities that have graced it cobblestone pathways, sweeping architectural wonders, and hallowed halls. You feel it. Every one talks about it. It's unreal. Cambridge has been operating as a university for nearly 800 years. A place can develop quite a history in that time.
The most obvious attraction in Cambridge is the buildings. At Trinity College, my future home, the great court is graced by towering perpendicular architecture. Just down the road from Trinity is the most famous building in Cambridge, the King's College Chapel. The chapel is a place of ethereal beauty. No amount of hype could prepare me for the wonders of this amazing place. It is perhaps the grandest bit of Gothic architecture anywhere in Europe (hence: the world). Its vaulted ceilings soar at 80 feet above the floor. The detail of the brilliant stained glass windows running the whole length of the building was unlike anything I've ever seen. In short, it was spectacular.
I was blessed with sunny, warm weather for both of my days in Cambridge. This is probably a claim few get to make. I made the most of the weather by being outside as often as I could. My first day I spent a couple hours just sitting on the quaint and peaceful banks of the River Cam, reading a Paul Theroux book and watching the punters go by. Punting is an interesting phenomenon. I assume it exists elsewhere than at Cambridge though I have never seen it. It essentially involves propelling a large, flat wooden boat slowly down the river primarily by stabbing a very long wooden pole into the riverbed. I tried my hand at it the next day. I must say it was extremely pleasant, though something of an arm workout to say the least.
I feel as if there are many more things I could say right now about Cambridge. However, with a year to live there, many of them may be better said once I have had the chance to poke around a bit more. Similarly, I long to start trying to analyze the British people, but perhaps two days is too soon to jump to conclusions. Besides, with a 3am bus to London this morning and no alarm clock to ensure that I woke up, I have been up for over 24 hours and am frankly ready for a nap.