I Have Split This Post Into 2 Parts,

as there are so many photographs,

today is the day, we left the flat early, we had to be in Croydon with only a 15 minuet window for Diana to hand all of the paperwork in,

so we were off to the tram station to take the tram to Croydon, have I ever mentioned before how anything electrical to do with me always goes wrong? well today was no exception, we arrived at the tram station and after buying our tickets found that the tram service had been suspended, apparently a tram had dug its wheels in a few stations down the track, what is it with me and electrics? so over to the cab office where one person was already queuing, then a tram arrived, so they hurried off to the tram, we decided to stay for the next taxi which thankfully soon arrived, as it happened it was a wise

decision, the tram that arrived was only going 3 stations down before it had to stop, so everyone descended on the cab office, just as we left! 

£15.00 later we arrived here, where Diana joined the queue to hand the paperwork in, we had no idea how long this would take,

so I walked back to Croydon station,

we had arranged to meet in one of the coffee shops there,

there was so much building work going on in Croydon,

this tower now finished,

whilst others had just started,

it took Diana 42 minuets and cost £2,400 for the fee, also I should point out that last time, that is two and a half years ago we paid this, we sent all of the paperwork in by registered post for a few pounds, this has now stopped, you have to make an appointment and call in personally, there is no choice to do anything else, and the cost of making the appointment? (which you have to make), another £112.00 and I nearly forgot the extra £70.00 for scanning our documents, I just hope the fees do not go up in the next two and a half years, when we have to do all of this over again, all we have to do now is wait for a minimum of 12 weeks, up to a maximum of 26 weeks for the decision to be made if Diana can stay for another two and a half years in the UK. the good news was that we had time for a coffee,

a cold one for Diana,

coffees finished,

we were soon hurtling through London,

to arrive here for our day out,

having visited Oxford in May 2016, we thought we would look at the competition in Cambridge,

during the day we would see many of these,

cowsaboutcambrodge.co.uk it is a public art trail,

this one right next to a bar, but it was before 11.00AM

moving on, we passed the war memorial,

and queue to go into the towns garden,

in the distance,

the catholic Church of Our Lady and the English Martyrs,

the doorway,

and close up of it,

the Cambridge Eye,

we continued,

walking towards the town centre,

with a minor detour,

I took the left fork towards the river,

Diana caught me up,

so we continued walking,

although there were a lot of bicycles here,

unlike Oxford there were not many people riding them,

the streets in town have been pedestrianised, but I saw a few close calls as pedestrians did not realise that what was the road is now meant for bicycles and electric scooters,

one of Diana's favourite shops,

but today a no sale,

bunting over one of the streets,

I seem to remember seeing Neon Sheep before,

then it came to me, we had seen one before on our visit to Eastbourne back in January 2020,

in these narrow streets, driving a lorry like this would be my worst nightmare,

one of the many small side streets,

I am not sure of the name of this church,

or this one, 

one of the many Tudor style buildings,

the top floor overhanging the pavement below,

handy for getting around town, electric scooters for hire,

we looked at a few restaurants,

and decided on this one,

Middletons,

we sat inside,

time for a pose,

and a glass of wine,

Diana had a sip, but it was not to her taste,

our starters arrived, beef on skewers for Diana, a prawn and crayfish tail cocktail for myself,

'Cheers!',

a dash of lemon and it was eyes down and tuck in,

form Diana's main course macaroni cheese with chips,

and another touch of wine, for myself a 8oz sirloin steak, and nice it all was too, the bill came to £62.00 including service charge,

we made our way to the river,

admiring the view,

and watching people punting,

watching this chap,

it all looked so simple,

but I had a sneaky suspicion it was not,

there is always one that makes it look too simple,

time for a pose,

and a video from Diana,

despite punting looking so simple, I decided not to try, we went to the professionals,

we could join a group of four or six,

but we decided to hire the punt and punter, if that is the correct word, for just the two of us,

here was ours,

so all aboard the Skylark!

Diana made herself comfortable,

and then it was the turn of Theodor to take charge,

this was just so great,

we made our way to the first bridge on our tour,

with Theo giving us details of the bridges,

and buildings that we were passing,

note to self remember to duck!

what a lovely way to see Cambridge,

we were told that evidently the brickwork of this building was considered so ugly,

a vine was planted to cover the brick work up,

we neared the Bridge of Sighs,

passing under it,

in the distance a triple arched bridge,

crossing the river,

remember to not hit the bridge with your quant,

naturally we did not hit the bridge with ours,

we passed colleges,

and many fine buildings,

the sides of the banks, 

covered in old weeping willows,

I nearly forgot to duck, luckily Theo gave a me a warning, 

I was just too busy taking photographs,

of the buildings as we glided past them,

another triple arched bridge,

a detail,

from two of the supports,

a bit crowded up ahead,

as we passed one of the oldest punt yards,

we continued our journey,

what could be better? 

well a bit of sun truth be told,

but hey, this is England,

it could be raining!

opps! I will not try to tempt fate again!

the sky was a bit dark,

but the rain held off,

luckily for us,

then something in the distance caught my eye,

a mobile bar!

this was just like being in one of the floating markets in Thailand,

where as you were sightseeing,

a vendor would offer to sell you food,

or drink,

that is the way, a nice touch of bubbly,

we neared the Mathematical Bridge, 

going into the oldest building on the river at Cambridge, containing parts of the President’s Lodge, (ca.1460),

a detail of the bridge,

the building itself is interesting, particularly when you look at the windows, more of those later,

we have just about reached the half way point of our punt, if you wold like to see more of our time in Cambridge, and hear yet again more of my bad luck with things electrical, please just click the Older Posts button on the bottom right of the page.