Today was mostly getting my bearings, learning how to use a train again, and taking a quick visit to the city of Cambridge.
The Happs
Talk about a long day. My flight was 9 hours direct from Denver to Heathrow Airport in London. It was an overnight flight and I was already sleep deprived, so it wasn’t difficult to find rest in-flight. I also lucked out and got a full row to myself! Laying across 3 seats isn’t as comfy as it sounds though. Try squeezing a pencil into an aux port. And then stab it in the side with a seatbelt.
Anyways — I only had one goal today: make it to my hotel in Whittlesford. Land at 12pm, it’s only a 1.5 hour train ride, then I’m done. Easy. HA! No. The London Tube (subway) system is extremely overwhelming for a small-town, rural guy like me. After 45 minutes of trying to figure out what to do, I did what any reasonable person would do. Find a pair of other struggling American tourists and copy them. It actually worked out alright! I got off at their station and it put me in a position to use the Eurail train planning app. Wait for a bit, hop on the (hopefully correct) train, and try to stay awake.
After checking in at Whittlesford, I took a walk. One of the best things about Europe is how walkable everything is. There were paved walking trails straight through town and leading to the next 2 towns over. I didn’t go that far, but it’s cool that it’s an option. Everything is incredibly green here. Yes, I know what green looks like, Bonnie. The farmland was lush with crops that I’ve never seen before. I’ll have to ask around to see what they are.
After a walk, I took a train ride over to see Cambridge. I was interested in seeing the college that CS Lewis taught at in his final years. The city is roughly the population of Wichita crammed into the area of Dodge City. However, it wasn’t overwhelming because, again, it’s walkable. I saw thousands of people on the sidewalks and on bikes. It was about a mile walk from the train station to the main college, and I enjoyed every minute. The buildings were all old and all beautiful. Storefronts look just like they belong in Harry Potter. One of them actually was a wizarding shop!
Cambridge itself is also gorgeous. Some of the buildings are older than the 13 colonies. Unfortunately, the campus was closed to visitors at the time I was there, so I didn’t get to see any interiors. Still great to marvel at the architecture that so many casually pass by. I ended my time in Cambridge with a stop at a children’s choir concert at St. Mary’s Church across from the main college. It was beautiful to see the faith of people on another continent, worshiping the same God across time and space.
Culture shock
I’m super beat, so I’m going to make this quick. I really want to share a few things though.
Every foreign country will generate some culture shock. Basically, the assumptions you subconsciously make every day about how things should be don’t always apply around the world. Most people know this. However, in every country I’ve visited, there are always surprises despite all my research.
In no particular order, here are some highlights from the day.
Border control is way more efficient than any other country I’ve traveled to. I had to apply for visa-like permission ahead of time, so the “border agent” was just a simply robot-controlled photo and passport scan. No customs, no questions, no stress.
EVERYTHING here is about safety. The Brits have definitely figured out how to make a functioning, efficient, comfortable environment that is very aware of other people. It’s literally impossible to shock yourself on their outlets. All public safety warnings are stated in guilt-free ways (“Mind the step” instead of “watch your step”. People hang to the right on escalators to allow those walking to pass by. Train crossings are full gates, not just beams. On and on. And none of it is intrusive or limiting. It just feels good. You can tell that everything is designed with others in mind.
People are cordial but not friendly. No smiles. No saying hi to each other. So far anyways!
THE HOTELS HAVE TEA MAKERS INSTEAD OF COFFEE MAKERS. It’s really good tea too. Way better than the cheap hotel coffee we have in the States.
Instead of saying “How are you?”, Brits say “Y’ ahright?”. The answer is not “Yes, I’m okay!”. Lol.
There’s so much drinking. Oh my.
Conclusion
That’s it for today! I have plenty more I want to say but I’m getting dizzy from exhaustion. Tomorrow is my day at the Imperial War Museum in Duxford. I’m having some issues with formatting on the blog, so I’ll see what I can do in the next few days. As I said, it’s a work-in-progress.
Thanks for reading this far! Much more to come.