Cambridge Autumn Tour

The clock was pointed at 8 on saturday morning when I rushed to The Barber Institute of Arts, Birmingham University. I was going to Cambridge, a place where I called a 'romantic-science' city, along with at least 200 'tourists' from Birmingham University.

Cambridge is a wonderful fusion of the everyday and the extraordinary, a living city that has shaped history, that today reflects the best of historic and contemporary life and is continuing to make its mark on the future.

It is the city of crocuses and daffodils on the Backs, of green open spaces and cattle grazing only 500 yards from the market square. The Cambridge of Brooke, Byron, Newton and Rutherford, of the summer idyll of punts, 'bumps', cool willows and May Balls.

Yet Cambridge was important long before the University existed. Here, at the meeting of dense forests to the south and trackless, marshy Fens to the north, was the lowest reliable fording place of the River Cam, or Granta. In the first century BC an Iron Age Belgic tribe built a settlement on what is now Castle Hill. Around AD40 the Romans took over the site and it became the crossing point for the Via Devana which linked Colchester with the legions in Lincoln and beyond. The Saxons followed, then the Normans under William the Conqueror, who raised a castle on a steep mound as a base for fighting the Saxon rebel, Hereward the Wake, deep in the Fens at Ely. The motte of William's castle still stands and Ely Cathedral is visible from the top on a clear day.

The first scholars didn't arrive in Cambridge until 1209 and another 75 years passed before Hugh de Balsham, Bishop of Ely, founded Peterhouse, the first college. Clare (1326), Pembroke (1347), Gonville and Caius (1348), Trinity Hall (1350) and Corpus Christi (1352) were established in the first half of the fourteenth century. Ten more colleges were founded during the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, including Christ's (1505), King's (1441), Queens' (1448), Jesus (1496), St. John's (1511), Trinity (1546), and Emmanuel (1584).
Of all the colleges, the most romantic and beautiful college is King's college. Titi (my guide tour) said that the membership of King's college are mostly 'the haves' since the admission fee is so expensive. Well, it is still worthed to be a membership of a such prestigious college .

Although there was not quite a good weather to travel to at that time, yet Cambridge offered so many beautiful sceneries. One thing that should not be forgotten, The Galloway and Porter warehouse. For 'books maniac' (like me), this place is paradise. We can find so many books with a very low price. All books are sold out at 1 and 2 pounds. My eyes were wide open when I saw so many interested books with lowest price. No wonder why I called it "The Book Paradise".

Well, hopefully, I can spend some time again in the 'romantic-science' city.

The Beauty of London

My third journey in UK is to London. A beautiful and convinience city. At least, that's the first picture that I depict from a 2-nights adventure in London.

Firstly, I was amazed with the underground system which I found out very useful for me. Though it's a little bit complicated, but I could deal with it and easily adopt with the transport system. The Mayor of London has provided a Tube map so that all foreigners can reach every part of London easily. Such transportation was firstly introduce during 1800s. It's unbelievable that when Indonesians tried to struggle from hunger and imperialism, the Brits had developed a very complicated transport system.

It was not by coincidence, though, since the British is blessed with many 'the great Brittons'. Isambard Brunel, for example, he constructed the more functional and profitable Great Western Railway. Well connected, brilliant, and resourceful but also opinionated, autocratic, and impractical, Brunel has come to epitomize for many a brief period when England led the world in technological innovation and its railroads were the envy of its competitors. The other two celebrated projects were the Thames Tunnel and the Great Eastern steamship—were by any measure gargantuan as well as disastrous, and for both reasons have endured as fitting symbols of the age of heroic engineering. Well, by having a rapid changing in technologies, especially those in railway system, Brunel might smile in his grave.

Talking about the area, Greater London covers an area of 1,584 sq km and is the smallest of the England’s nine regions (1.2% of the total land area of England). There are currently four World Heritage Sites - Palace of Westminster, Tower of London, Maritime Greenwich and Kew Gardens and 17 national museums across the capital. Also, there's a popular 'London's eye', which is running by the British Airways. You can see the entire London when you reach the top of London's Eye. Don't forget to share a big smile afterwards because a camera will shoot your picture and hand it as a souvernirs.

Interestingly, London has over 40,000 shops and some 80 individual markets, including Walthamstow Market, Europe's longest daily street market. Also, so many performances available in London. I might say that London is a paradise for performances; opera, theater, music, movie, comedian, and so on. Leicester Square played host to 42 film premieres in 2004, including: 'The Incredibles', 'Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason' and 'The Aviator'. Source; Westminster Events Team . London has 3800 pubs, 9% of those in Britain. There are 233 nightclubs,15% of the clubs in Britain. In Westminster alone there are 330 venues open after midnight.

However, London is the most populated area. Greater London has a population of 7.2 million people and it is one of Europe’s most densely populated areas. It is home to 1 in 8 of the UK’s population and has 3 million households. Well, it is relatively number to Jakarta (the capital city of Indonesia), a home for over 10 million people. If you are used to crowded situation (like me), I prefer London as a home to live in.
Londoners are predominantly white and Anglo-Saxon, more than a quarter of its population is from an alternative ethnic background, making up half of the UK’s total ethnic minorities. This gives London the largest non-white population of any European city and is an important part of its cosmopolitan feel. Over 250 languages are spoken in the city. No wonder that they call London as one of the multicultural city in the world.

Another interesting figure is, London has more women than men and its population is younger when compared to the rest of the country; 47% of its population is aged 16-44 whereas the figure is 40% for the rest of the UK. Maybe that's expalain why it's rarely meeting oldies in London during my visit. In Birmingham, oldies can easily be found.

Well, it's so much to tell about London. If you haven't been to London, then, c'mon, visit London. You might experience the Beauty of London.