A class for Rob at Le Cordon Bleu brought us to London for a week, a city we love to explore. As a bonus, we added a trip to Cambridge for two days to see another part of England. Exploring London and Cambridge is a wonderful combination.
We love meeting up with Rob’s extended family when we’re in England and Scotland. It was great to see some cousins that we know, as well as meeting some for the first time. And, when we found the Skinners Arms, we enjoyed a meal and a pint hoping that the owner was a long lost cousin. He is not.😂
Around Rob’s class, we explored some parts of London that we’ve never seen. Chinatown and Leicester Square were crowded and fun. The Camden Town neighborhood has a unique look with a 1980’s punk scene.
London is always a wonderful city to visit, with interesting sights around every corner. The variety of great restaurants and pubs is such a treat!
A new experience, we booked tickets to see a play in the West End, Fawlty Towers – The Play, adapted for the stage by John Cleese. The production does an excellent job of matching up to the original famous TV show, as they recreate a number of skits. It is laugh-out-loud funny, with all of the beloved characters. A super round of applause for the actors playing Manuel and The Major, they were especially outstanding.
Cambridge
For the weekend, we took a train to Cambridge, an easy one-hour direct trip from Kings Cross station. This university city is lovely, with many winding streets to explore, each one more beautiful, historic, and quaint than the last.
The Eagle Pub, from 1660, is a warren of pub rooms, fireplaces, and history. One of the rooms in the back is named ‘The RAF Bar,’ where WW2 pilots wrote their names and squadron numbers on the ceiling, fascinating to see. Also making The Eagle famous, Watson and Crick ran to this pub to announce their discovery of the structure of DNA, after working from the initial findings of scientist Rosalind Franklin, another Cambridge alum. Definitely make a reservation to eat here.
Fantastic friends met up with us for a fun dinner at The Eagle, followed by a fun run to the station so they could catch their train home. Memories to treasure for a lifetime.
Tour guide Sonya from Footprints Tours led us on an excellent 2-hour walking tour of the University and King’s College Chapel. Sonya is a natural presenter, and through her entertaining stories we learned so much about the University, the history of England, and famous alums. We don’t often sign up for these types of tours, but we can highly recommend this one.
Going punting on the Cam River is a must while in Cambridge.
There is the option to self-punt, but there shouldn’t be! It’s painful to watch an amateur try, and it causes terrible traffic jams on the river.
Ewan from Traditional Punting Cambridge gave us a great tour up and down the Cam, with lots of funny stories about the colleges.
Meeting up with more friends in the area, we had an excellent time comparing notes about being expats in Germany versus in England.
Our short time in Cambridge was fantastic, and hopefully someday we’ll be able to return and explore more of England. We feel so lucky to have had this week in London and Cambridge.
london and Cambridge Logistics
| Flights from Germany | British Airlines, direct round trip Stuttgart (STR) to London Heathrow (LHR) |
| London Hotel | Euro Hotel – Recommend!! Very comfortable, large rooms, breakfast included |
| London Restaurants | Taste of Chongqing – Highly Recommend!! Authentic Chinese food The Pitted Olive – Highly Recommend!! Perfect lunch, Turkish, a small space, they also do take-aways |
| London Pubs | All Recommended!! The Skinners Arms The Lord John Russell The Norfolk Arms Tapas menu in a pub decor Saint James Tavern Piccadilly Waxy O’Connors – an Irish Pub in London, a maze of a pub with fantastic decor |
| Train from London – Cambridge | Booked through Trainline.com |
| Cambridge Hotel | Arundel House Hotel – Highly Recommend!! Quaint with perfect location |
| Cambridge Pubs | The Eagle – Highly Recommend!! |
| Cambridge Tours | Footprints Tours: Cambridge University and Kings College Tour – Highly Recommend!! Private Punting Tour with Traditional Punting Cambridge – Highly Recommend!! |
| National Express Bus from Cambridge direct to LHR | Booked through National Express – Highly Recommend!! |
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