It was fun... but Henry the IIX is probably Shakepeare's play that I am least familiar with. Top that with their British accents and I was pretty lost. The seats we had were hard wooden benches so after an hour and a half of sitting uncomfortably, I was ready to go. Still, it was really cool to imagine that people would come here and watch what I was watching back in the day.Fast forward to Wednesday... Spain vs Germany semifinals. Everyone thought Germany was going to win, I wanted them so they could bash it out against their rivals the Netherlands. Still the Oracle Octopus was right (google it if you haven't heard about him!) and Spain won. Well it was so crowded we didn't actually get into a bar - I guess we still haven't figured out that arriving late during the World Cup doesn't work. However, after the game ended we found ourselves smack dab infront of... a Karaoke bar! I didn't sing, but it was so entertaining and something I've been wanting to visit... forever. Awesome.On Saturday we woke up nice and early for our trip to Cambridge. It was probably my favorite city in England. It was so old and historical and of course, like most of the time here so far, the weather was perfect.
The program had set us up with and air conditioned private bus (Yes!) to take us the 2 hours outside the city. I guess I didn't realize (what's new?) that it was such a touristy spot. Hundreds of people in tour groups were wandering around the campuses. All speaking different languages.We started off with a walking tour of Royal Cambridge. Cambridge University is actually made up of a bunch of different colleges. We went past Queen's College, King's College and Trinity College.
In front of Trinity College there is an apple tree that is a direct descendant of the apple tree where Newton discovered Gravity!
Because of course, he went to Cambridge. We also went past the pub The Eagle, where that historic conversation about DNA was discussed. After the walking tour we had some free time, so we tried to go find a cheap place to eat. We found this yummy Asian fusion restaurant that had an outdoor terrace and a large portion of food for only 5 pounds. Score. After Lunch, we made our way back to the river because we were going Punting! Punting is where flat boats are steered by people on the back with long poles. It was so hot out that I was definitely ready to be close to the water. Here is a picture of Jenni and I waiting to go punting!
Punting was so much fun. We had a tour guide that was a student (although ironically, he went to Oxford) and he told us the history of the canals, bridges, and the colleges. It was fun to be on the water, but since it was such a nice day the canal was really crowded. That, and you can rent small boats and punt (?) on your own, but these people clogged up the canal because they had no idea what they were doing. Needless to say there were quite a few accidents. 
As we headed back to the dock where we started, we passed under a bridge where people were jumping off into the crowded canal. One of the guys in my program, Bill, asked our guide if it was ok for them to jump off, the guide said yes and Bill instantly knew that he was going to jump off the bridge. We got out and went up to the bridge which was crowded with 14 year old local boys jumping off and into the water. However, they had to wait until someone below gave them teh go ahead since there were boats and people everywhere. They were so excited that an American guy wanted to do it with them! Bill did a backflip into the water, and not a minute went by before all the boys scattered. There was police woman on her way over. She intercepted Bill and asked him if he had went for a swim, Bill (not knowing that it wasn't ok) told her all about it. She whipped out something official and started asking Bill for his information. Right then about twenty 14 year old boys swarmed her, and she let Bill off the hook. Word for the wise. it is not ok to go bridge jumping in Cambridge, no matter what the locals tell you.We got back to London fairly early, played some ultimate frisby, and geared up to write our papers the next morning. Sunday was the final game of the World Cup, but by this point I was already over it. All my teams were out of the competition. In case you didn't watch it, Spain won in overtime.
This week I finished my final paper about the Carbon Market, which I think is pretty good, let's see what my professor says! I wrapped up my second to last week of work... only 2 more days next week. And after I post this blog, I am going to try and get a few things because I leave for Nice, France early tomorrow.
So hopefully, another post early next week. Things will probably get busy, but I will try my best!
Have a wonderful weekend!
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