Nathan's Insights

World Traveller: 7 Continents, 90 Countries, 871 Days Overseas

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  • World Trip 1999-2000: Day 87 Lincoln, England

    Friday 4 February 2000
    Highlights: Lincoln Castle, Lincoln Cathedral, Magna Carta, Lincoln Ghost Tour

    The hostel we are staying at is a little bit further away from the attractions of Lincoln than we would like but the manager is great and so was the breakfast.

    The Lincoln Cathedral is the real highlight of the town.  Set on top of a hill overlooking the town, construction started in 1072 with the central tower being 81 metres high.  However because of an earthquake in 1185 almost of all of the Cathedral dates from after this date.

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  • World Trip 1999-2000: Day 86  Cambridge to Lincoln, England

    Thursday 3 February 2000
    Highlights: The Round Church, Cambridge University

    We undertook a total of three walking tours as per our Lonely Planet guidebook for a total of 7 hours, taking in picturesque town and historic buildings.

    We completed our visits of Cambridge University Colleges with Christ’s, Jesus and Magdalene Colleges. Like yesterday’s Colleges they were all founded between 1300-1600 and have impressive buildings and chapels which I hope the photos I took do justice to.

    Cambridge

    Outside the Colleges of interest was the Round Church, founded in 1130 in which services have been held consistently and it is actually round!

    At 3.06 pm we caught the train to Lincoln.  I was amazed at how much we had seen in one and half days.  This will be the pace of the rest of the trip, very quick visits and moving on.  Will probably be exhausted by the end!

  • World Trip 1999-2000: Day 85  London to Cambridge, England

    Wednesday 2 February 2000
    Highlights: Cambridge University

    In a rare display of everything lining up perfectly we managed to get to the Britrail train just on time, leaving at 9.15 am and arriving at Cambridge at 10.10 am.

    Cambridge is based around the famous University which is made up of several Colleges.  Today will visited King’s, Trinity, Trinity Hall, Pembroke, Peterhouse and Emmanuel Colleges.  We paid to enter King’s College Chapel which Henry VI created to honour the Virgin Mary in 1446.  The Chapel has had many Royal patrons over the years, including Henry VIII who glorified the interior and as a result has pictures and statues of himself everywhere.  The Chapel is very impressive, especially the high roof.

    The city is awash with students not surprisingly, and heaps of bicycles being ridden everywhere, a very gentle English feel to the place.  We finished the day watching a soccer match in a pub having a bet on the outcome with Ladbrokes and sinking a few pints.

  • World Trip 1999-2000: Day 84 London, England

    Tuesday 1 February 2000
    Highlights: Westminster Abbey

    With our alarm clock off at the insistence of Jon after yesterday’s waking, we ended up sleeping though to 2 pm!  Not a great way to spend limited time in London.

    we quickly rushed to Westminster Abbey in order to make the last entrance time of 3 pm which we just made.  The Abbey was established in 1066 and all but two sovereigns were crowned here.  Most Kings and Queens are buried here and the heads of the Church of England (Anglican Church) meet and discuss religious matters here.

    Notable memorials includes Charles Dickens, William Shakespeare, Winston Churchill and Charles Darwin.  The Abbey also houses the Coronation Chair which has been in use since the 1300s.  The Tomb of the Unknown Warrior (not solider) who died in World War I is also entombed here.

    While magnificent the Abbey seems mostly concerned with honouring the great but not necessarily be a place of religious worship.

  • World Trip 1999-2000: Day 83 London, England

    Monday 31 January 2000
    Highlights:  War Cabinet, West End Show (‘Les Miserables’), Harrods, House of Commons.

    Jon was still suffering from acute jet-lag and wasn’t a happy camper when my alarm went off at 8.45 am.

    Today we started with a visit to the underground War Cabinet (1940-1945).  The whole complex was setup as it appeared in late 1940 when it was first used.  The audio tour included information on the London Blitz, newspaper articles about possible German ground invasions, instructions on gas attacks, and personal letters either sent from or to War Time Prime Minister Winston Churchill.

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