Christmas in Cambridge

One of the many things i love about coming home for Christmas, apart from the obvious family and friends, is going into Cambridge. When people ask me where i'm from, i always say Cambridge because i'm only about 20 minutes away but really i live near it. So, when i'm home i love going into the city when it's cold and frosty, when the Christmas lights are up and when the weather is a little grey. I honestly don't think Cambridge can look ugly, even on the dullest of days. I really miss being able to hop in when i'm in Southampton, as it's one of my favourite cities but perhaps i'm just bias.

This Christmas i've gotten in the mood to document my time at home as i brought my DSLR camera home with me and i'd forgotten how lovely the images are produced from it. I generally use my little point and shoot camera for all my blog photos, etc and i have no idea why i've gotten out of the habit of using it. So, anyway, as i was saying i've taken it upon myself to sort of document my Christmas period. With that being said, i needed to pop into Cambridge to do a little Christmas shopping and decided to take my camera with me. I just love the beautiful parks in the city centre, and one of the more overlooked is New Square which tends to just be a through path up to the Grafton Shopping Centre, it's a lot quieter than some of the larger more well known parks and i just love the criss crossing trees and string of lights overhead.

Parker's Piece is one of the larger, more well known parks slightly closer to the town centre and i love the beautiful fallen leaves here. Parker's Piece always reminds of being a teenager, spending long Summers in Cambridge with my friends as this is the place that big gangs of friends come and sit, and spend time during the Summer months. During the Winter it becomes a little sad and empty if you choose to see it that way, but i always think there's something quite magical about Cambridge in Winter and this is just one of the many spots that i think has undeniable yet overlooked beauty.

The marketplace is someone i don't tend to spend too much time, but when you take a moment to appreciate it's individual beauty it's quite a lovely space. It's nice to watch people hop in and out of each stall, browsing the wears, picking up apples, buying juices and bags of old fashioned sweets. It's a really individual place in the heart of Cambridge and it can be seriously overlooked thanks to all the High Street stores around.

As for Great St. Mary's towering over the Marketplace, i've never actually been inside but it's always something i admire and i feel as though it's a real Cambridge landmark. It, again, gets overlooked as King's College is just around the corner and it's one of those spots that i think every Cambridge-ian knows about but probably doesn't know what it's called or much about it.

But it's really quite beautiful, and one of the things i love about it's surroundings is the four classic red telephone boxes situated to it's side. I don't think i've ever seen anyone use them, but they've been in many a picture that's for sure. Again, they're a cool landmark of the city that i think people have come to love. Something else you may know about Cambridge is that it's famous for it's bikes. Everyone here seems to own a bike, and they're practically everywhere. You can't walk far without seeing someone riding one or being chained up somewhere, and they really make for a beautiful picture that's for sure. The ones above are parked just along outside Great St. Mary's and i love the sort of juxtaposition between the then and the now.

Thanks for coming around Cambridge with me, where do you love to visit over Christmas?

K|xo