Arriving in Cambridge, England.....

Wow. Stepping off the bus outside of Cambridge city center was an out of this world experience. I mean  don't  get me wrong I had expected the old brick buildings that I was looking at but actually seeing things for the first time that have only been in your  mind's eye is strange and wonderful.

We gathered our bags from the underside of the bus and counted ourselves lucky as we overheard a woman talking to the driver. Her bag had not made it onto the bus. Drama. I knew that after traveling so far, being so tired and  bleary  eyed a baggage snafu would've sent me over the edge! Before now I've only ever traveled with a wheely suitcase so carrying everything packed on your back was a new one. To my great surprise when we practiced packing before we left there was  somehow extra room in our bags. I've never experienced that before. I'm always toting a bag that is packed carefully but to the brim. I wasn't sure if that was a good sign or a bad one. :)

Strapping our packs on and doing a little adjusting of straps, cinches and buckles we were soon vectoring towards our accommodation: Fitzwilliam College. We took the long way around but eventually were able to find it, gather our room keys and stumble into our "twin" room. At this point we were totally delirious and thinking back I figure that it's a major miracle that so many people travel all over the world and manage all the time changes, sleep deprivation and overall wear and tear that travel puts you through. Happily, we showered the grime away and spent some time settling into our room. So a "twin" room at Fitz consists of beds to accommodate two  people; two twin beds, wait for it, at two different heights. Apparently, for two people staying in one of these rooms it is essential to keep things PG. :)

We were lucky to have an en suite bathroom that was something like a pod that you would expect to see on a ship. With not an extra inch anywhere there was only room for one person to stand in front of the tiny sink and mirror. The toilet was partly wedged under the sink and the shower stood on the other side of the 'pod'. The entire place was coated in plastic  like they just dropped a bathroom mold in there, slapped in the sink and toilet and called it good. While we were happy to have our own bathroom it was interesting to say the least. :)

Photos from  Fitzwilliam College campus: