In early October I visited Croatia. I’ve wanted to go to Croatia for several years, so was excited to land in Zadar, a coastal city with classical ruins and buildings made of white stone. After exploring Zadar we travelled inland by bus, across beautiful misty mountains and moor. The climate and scenery changed, as we […]
The Pitt Building on Trumpington Street in Cambridge has been the headquarters of Cambridge University Press for over a hundred years. The back of the building is covered with Virginia creeper and is one of the best places in the city to observe the colour change into autumn as the foliage changes from green to […]
In the heart of Tintagel village, on the Cornish coast, lies this 14th century cottage. The building was a yeoman’s farmhouse for centuries. It became a post office in the Victorian period, when it acquired a licence to be a letter receiving station for the district around Tintagel. Inside the Old Post Office are Victorian […]
The world’s third largest city, with a population of over 17 million, Mumbai is also home to the Bollywood film industry. Capital of the state of Maharashtra and the financial powerhouse of India’s economy, Mumbai is a trilingual city with Marathi, Hindi and English as official languages. Mumbai is a peninsula city that has expanded […]
Lucy Cavendish is not a well-known college, perhaps to the delight of its students. It is not on the tourist trail, but set among the ‘hill colleges’ near the Castle mound. Even there, it is not a large, obvious college like Fitzwilliam or Churchill, and is tucked away off a little side road. Lucy Cavendish […]
Robinson College is the youngest college in Cambridge. It was founded in 1979. Robinson College was created after a £17 million gift was made to the University of Cambridge by Sir David Robinson, a British entrepreneur and philanthropist, for the purpose of founding a new college in Cambridge. Constructed entirely of distinctive red brick, Robinson […]
An incredibly photogenic college, Newnham lies a little way off the beaten track. Newnham College was founded in 1871 by Henry Sidgwick, as Cambridge University’s second college for women. The first women’s college in Cambridge was Girton College, which was founded two years earlier. In Cambridge, Newnham is both the name of a college, and […]
Clare Hall is perhaps the most unusual-looking of the Cambridge colleges, and makes for a surprising visit. Designed more akin to a block of 1960s flats than a traditional college, Clare Hall nonetheless has an interesting history. Clare Hall was founded in 1966 directly by Clare College, as a college of advanced study that would […]
Founded in 1326, Clare College is the second oldest college in Cambridge. Clare College has perhaps the best location of all the Cambridge colleges: a site that spans both sides of the river, and is right in the city centre, off the pedestrianised and picturesque Trinity Lane. Set in the heart of the old University […]
I was lucky enough to pass St Catharine’s College on an open day in June. It happened to be a beautiful day as well. Many Cambridge colleges were open on this day to invite prospective students and the public in to look around, including nearby Peterhouse, Pembroke and Corpus. I knew I had to take […]
Regent’s Canal in London runs through the heart of the King’s Cross area of the city. I stumbled across the canal at the weekend, on my way to the Guardian offices. Although only a stone’s throw from the busy hub of King’s Cross station, the canal forms an amazing nine mile waterway through London. The […]
A remarkably friendly and open college, Pembroke is also beautiful, and very old. The delights of wandering its grounds – noticing another Gothic archway, a cat-flap cut into a modern door in a medieval building, or simply enjoying the gardens – do not diminish no matter how often you visit. This college lies directly on the […]
One of the newer colleges of the University of Cambridge, Darwin College nonetheless possesses old buildings, including this beautiful old granary on the banks of the River Cam. An interesting fusion of modern and old buildings, Darwin’s real delight lies in its pretty and secluded riverside gardens. The gardens are separated into alcoves that run […]
The City Palace in Jaipur is an exquisite maharaja’s palace. I wandered around the complex amazed that each section seemed even more impressive than the last. Built in the 18th Century for the Maharaja of Jaipur, the palace is still a royal residence today. In an inner courtyard called Pritam Niwas Chowk, there are four […]
A Roman temple sits on a hill above the old city, on what would have been the eastern edge of Cordoba in Roman times. From there it would have been easily visible for miles around, and a striking symbol of imperial power. The temple’s construction was begun in approximately 41 AD and completed in 81 […]
We arrived in Cordoba by train. It was 34 degrees when we arrived so not as hot as Seville. The train had been spacious, clean and air-conditioned, and heading for Malaga. We were impressed as it was much nicer than British trains. We caught a bus from the train station and after a quick journey […]
The Alma mater of Charles Darwin and John Milton, Christ’s is an established older college in Cambridge. Christ’s was founded in 1505, by a woman, Lady Margaret Beaufort, which makes it something rather special. The Founder Margaret Beaufort was one of the richest women in medieval England, the mother of Henry Tudor (Henry VII), and […]
Seville was stop one on my tour of Andalucia, the southernmost region of Spain. We flew from Stansted, over the Pyrenees mountains, laced with snow. Further south the land became brown and dry, despite the presence of rivers and large lakes. There were fields and fields of orange trees, planted in orderly rows. Near Seville […]
The day after Easter Monday I took my camera and walked into the city. It was beautiful weather and felt like the first day of summer. I had just been to buy a new backpack for my upcoming trip to Spain. In the shop they just cut off the tags and I didn’t have a […]
While walking in the city yesterday evening, I stumbled across a light show at Senate House. Senate House lies in the old city centre of Cambridge. It stands between King’s and Caius, behind the market place and the University church of Great St Mary’s. The Senate House provides an important function of the University, as […]