Cambridge: Travel diary #4

Today we were able to sleep in again after yesterday's somewhat exhausting evening. Nevertheless, we couldn't take too long over breakfast because we still had a lot planned for the day. So we drove straight to Cambridge's central car park.

What we didn't realise was that the Grand Arcade shopping centre next door has some really nice shops. Of course, we couldn't resist them. John Louis is very well known in England. It's usually a slightly larger shop selling cosmetics, stationery, clothes, etc. If you love interior design and fashion, you shouldn't miss Oliver Bonas. The shop is very colourfully decorated and all the items are incredibly cute and make great souvenirs. Especially since Oliver Bonas doesn't deliver to Europe.

Once we had finally finished our shopping, we moved on to a cultural must-see in Cambridge: the Fitzwilliam Museum. Like almost all museums in Great Britain, it is free of charge and you can enter at any time without any problems. Inside, there is a wide variety of artworks to admire. From ceramics to classic paintings by Monet, everything is there. And the building itself is worth a visit.

Depending on how closely you examine the exhibits, you can walk through the two floors in about 30 minutes to 2 hours.

We were rather quick today, as we had to make one more stop before we could finally set off for Ely. This stop was, perhaps somewhat unexpectedly, Jack's Gelato ice cream shop. Every day, they attract visitors to the small town with new creations.

In addition to classic ice cream flavours such as strawberry and cream, there are also more unusual ones such as cucumber and gin. Nevertheless, all flavours are of high quality and taste really excellent.

Back at the car, we set off on the 40-minute drive along bumpy country roads and through small villages to the little town of Ely. As soon as we drove into the centre, we spotted our first destination.

The bakery shop was highly recommended to us by the waitress from the previous day. And indeed, there is a book in the shop listing the best bakeries in England, with the bake shop naturally among them. As we were feeling a little hungry, we not only shared a kanelbullar and a cookie, but also a very tasty sandwich filled with delicacies from the shop. In general, the products selected in the adjacent shop are from small, high-quality producers in the surrounding area. We therefore had to take a few varieties of the delicious tea with us.

Once we were well fed, we explored Ely some more. At the end of a nice shopping street, we came across a small market square that was crowded with locals and visitors from the region. The delicious smells and the many stalls made it immediately clear to us that we had stumbled upon a food market. If we hadn't already eaten, we would certainly have found something to our liking among the selection on offer. But in general, it's good to know that Ely hosts a series of cool events every summer. These include musical evenings and food festivals. The town is generally very well maintained and, despite its modest size, there is always something going on.

Passing the food festival, we followed the road down to the water. A small river runs through Ely, where the residents of this small town keep their houseboats and leisure boats. Unfortunately, it started raining again on the way, but this gave us a beautiful double rainbow. Somehow, that always makes you a little happier.

After taking a few photos as evidence, we continued our tour. From the water, we headed back towards the centre to the cathedral. Although we passed some super cute and authentic little shops like ‘The Eel Catcher's Daughter’, we couldn't indulge our shopping mood as the shops were already closed. In general, shops in Ely close very early. The shops close at 5 p.m. and the church at 4:30 p.m.

We were only able to see the inside by chance. That evening, there was a David Boey light show. And although we didn't have tickets, we were able to take a look inside the huge building when we arrived. It was well worth it: the ceiling paintings and the immense size alone were definitely worth the wait. I mean, even from the outside, the huge church seems a little out of place in this rather inconspicuous little village.

Since everything was already closed, we headed home and cooked ourselves a delicious dinner in our holiday flat.