Goodbye Scotland and on to Cambridge

My last day in Edinburgh was memorable for a number of reasons. I had decided to spontaneously get a haircut as my last one had been by Shyla somewhere in a forest in France. She had done a good job too, but now it was looking rather sad. I found the cheapest place which was mysteriously named 'Sip and Snip' and after ringing I had an appointment booked for the afternoon. There was a reason behind the odd name as it turns out; the lady ran a one-woman hairdresser shop and was Polish. The deal was you took a shot of vodka and then she cut your hair, it was an interesting experience and the aptly named Magda was the best hairdresser I've ever had. New haircut!

Then, because my bus wasn't until 10pm, I hung around at the hostel with my giant backpack and looked longingly at the events of Hogmanay which I had not realized were happening until it was too late to book another night as all hostels were full. That's what I get for travelling on the 30th/31st/1st of December/January I suppose. I did manage to see some of the awesome fireworks from the hostel window at least.

I then took my hellish overnight bus which had no toilets and very few stops. I didn't sleep and it made the 12 hour journey very long indeed. However at last I arrived in Cambridge, on the 31st of December, and promptly took a nap. Once awake and feeling more refreshed that afternoon, I began my exploration of Cambridge.

It was an unpleasant, cold and rainy day which made the adventure not as fun as it could have been. The other major problem was that it hadn't occurred to me that on the last and first days of the year (the only two days I had in Cambridge) absolutely nothing was open.

I did enjoy wandering around the universities and their beautiful architecture, even if I couldn't see inside.

It was a cute town, and on a nicer day I think it would have been really nice. As it was I stared longingly into many shops and places that were sadly closed.

On the walls of some of the buildings were some really cool signs and carvings, a few of which I took photos of, but there were many more that were too high up to photograph, including the home of Alan Turing at one point.

This extremely impressive building was only a high school but it was so austere I decided it was worthy of a photograph. 

I also passed the oldest still surviving bookshop in Britain, next to the Cambridge University. It had soon super cool and quirky cut out art made from the pages of books. There was even a Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe one of Mr. Tumnus with his umbrella leading Lucy through the woods away from the lamp-post, unfortunately it was too far at the back to photograph successfully. 

I finally made it to the famous river which Cambridge is so known for, and saw its willow-trees over its banks as well. Unfortunately punting was out of the question due to the rain.

I enjoyed the narrow cobbled streets, the beautiful architecture, the giant and mysterious medieval doors, but I hardly touched the surface of Cambridge. There were so many museums, so many buildings I couldn't go. It is definitely be a place I will be returning to.