Almost Hogwarts...But Not Quite

Cambridge is an hour train ride from London's Liverpool station, which was where my journey started.

Perhaps it was the rare blue skies and sunshine, the city looked like a fairy tale town.

We strolled down the street and walked into a very well-kept courtyard surrounded by beautiful buildings.  It reminded me of The Secret Garden in some areas!  My friend who studies in Cambridge told me that only the Fellows can step on the grass of their own college.

In the chapel, there was a boy practicing the piano.  He played so beautifully that several people just stood there and listened.

Walking along the streets, we found Trinity College closed for the day.  It was a Saturday, so the streets were packed with tourists and locals.  Cambridge is a very bike friendly city.

Punting is definitely something you won't want to miss when in this town.  The person with the "stick" pushes it on the ground (shallow water) to move these boats.  It was quite funny watching some tourists who insisted on punting on their own and never managed to move forward or backward...we even saw one guy fell into the water!

In the summer, it gets much busier than what you see in the below photo.  It was already very crowded with boats when we were there.

  Apparently some of the buildings cost millions of pounds to build and there had been instances where the school ran out of money.  At another building, each stainglass cost at least £7,000 each!

I thought this building below was gorgeous covered by nature.

Sitting in the boat to tour the university was the most relaxing experience!  Thank you for such beautiful weather in an October afternoon.

The Northern Chinese restaurant we went to (天天美食) had surprisingly tasty dishes!  To note, internet reception in the whole city centre was pretty bad.

We went to Harriets Cafe Tearoom for high tea while waiting for our scheduled train back to London.  My friend ordered their gluten free scones, which she thought tasted terrible.  I thought they were some of the most delicious scones I've had!  Their rose Macaron was also up to par with Ladurée.  I was very surprised and would really recommend high tea there.

Now I understand why two of my friends, who are students there, want to remain in Cambridge even after graduation!  I will definitely return again for visits once I have moved over to London.