Cambridge seemed like a good compromise. It’s only an hour train ride from London but not too far from East Anglia’s English Heritage sites. John picked our AirBnB, in part, for the free parking, a real luxury in this college town. It’s also within walking distance of the train station and many direct trains to London where our visas for Ghana are waiting. And except for the four flights of stairs the flat is just fine.
Getting to London for our visas took up most of Monday. Today, with Mission #1 accomplished, we walked to town to have a look at Cambridge. Cambridge University was founded in 1209 by some disgruntled Oxford scholars who had problems with the “townies” and the town grew up around the school.
The Fitzwilliam Museum is Cambridge’s answer to the Ashmolean at Oxford but I was more interested in the building itself than its contents, especially the Palladian entrance hall and staircase. John was soon captivated by “Men Looking at Women,” a selection of paintings of women created by male artists. One of the best curated galleries we have seen, it shows how the male artists “gaze” has shaped so many of our ideas about gender identity and sexual desire. A++!
