In July I enrolled in an international summer programme at the Institute of Continuing Education, Cambridge University. I had already participated in such a programme in 2018, before the pandemic, and enjoyed it so much that I wanted to renew that experience one day. As I just got my Master degree at Lorraine University in June, I decided to treat myself with a two-week course of study centred on Shakespeare, from 7-20 July. I selected two classes, “Kings, families, revenge: Shakespeare’s King Lear and The Tempest” and “Poets, painters and musicians in Shakespeare’s England”. In addition, plenary lectures on various subjects took place every day. See International Summer Programmes | Institute of Continuing Education (ICE) (cam.ac.uk).

Thanks to this programme, not only my understanding of both Shakespeare’s plays and their historical and cultural context has increased, but it also gave me food for thoughts and inspiration for several future articles, to be posted on the section “English literature and arts” of this blog!

However, what I would like to share with you in this post is an in-depth exploration of the cultural and natural treasures of Cambridge, from its colleges and museums to its skillfully maintained gardens and pastoral surroundings. I have split it in three parts, each photo-album focusing on various themes in a chronological narrative.

Part 1: A weekend in Cambridge

I arrived at Cambridge two days before the beginning of the ICE programme, to meet an English friend and explore together Cambridge at leisure. We saw some of the oldest colleges in the heart of the city (St Catharine’s, Jesus, Christ’s, King’s, Trinity, St John’s, and Magdalene Colleges) and their backs looking on the River Cam; we visited the Fitzwilliam Museum, walked to Grantchester and had tea at The Orchard… I invite you to follow our footprints in this first photo-album, that could inspire you if you want to spend a weekend in this beautiful city.

Part 2: First week of my summer programme

In this part, I explored in detail two Victorian Colleges, Selwyn and Newnham, and visited the Wren Library in Trinity College. These visits triggered some personal thoughts about the struggles of women to get a superior education until the second half of the 20^th century, especially at Cambridge University, and some memories of movies and TV series filmed in Cambridge that I would recommend watching.

On Saturday 13 July, I ended this first week of summer course with an excursion to Stratford-upon-Avon. You can read the account of this journey on my blog: https://eternal-student.com/2024/07/14/an-excursion-to-stratford-upon-avon/

Part 3: Second week of my summer programme

In this part, you’ll find a photo album of the gorgeous Botanic Gardens of Cambridge University, that I visited during a sunny Sunday, and of Cambridge University Library, another impressive “temple of knowledge”, where I visited an entertaining exhibition, Murder by the Book.

That week I also visited Downing College and several science museums in Cambridge. The photo-album of these visits is now available here: https://eternal-student.com/2024/10/26/scientific-cambridge/

Recommendations:

Last-minute tip:

Be careful when you travel in England now: most of the cafés, pubs, tea-rooms, and small shops do not accept cash anymore, only card payments…

Note:

All photos are my own, unless otherwise specified. The photo illustrating this post shows one of the flower gardens in Newnham College, Cambridge.