London & Cambridge

London, November 26-27

Revisited London and then travelled to Cambridge from there. Manoj was giving a talk at LSE and then Cambridge.I did not do much in London as I worked remotely and in the free time decided to go shopping on Oxford Street. My noteworthy observations:
1. We took the Eurostar train to London. The picture below displays the boarding instructions for the Eurostar train from Paris to London. It takes under 2 hours to reach London, the train goes under the English Channel.

2. London is already very decorated for Christmas. In US the decorations go up after thanksgiving. This is the Covent garden Xmas tree and the mall.When we visited London for Christmas in 2017, there were street performers entertaining people in this square, we saw a man performing circus to the famous Queen song Don't Stop me Now. People looked very happy and the four of us felt happy too, Happiness is contagious.

3. Some beautiful square on the way to covent garden.

4. I wanted to eat some decent chaat and Indian snacks food so that's what we did for lunch and dinner. Chaat is Indian street food. Nothing like it in the world! The place we visited had decent chaat with unlimited chai. What a combo, right!

For dinner we wanted to go to Dishoom again. Dishoom was an amazing culinary experience when we visited London in September for Sarosh's 60th birthday party. Unfortunately, the long line and wait time of an hour prompted us to look for other options. There was a Masala Zone nearby. Manoj can be seen patiently waiting for his Chicken 65. The lamb sliders were absolutely delectable filled with many flavors (ekdam chatpata!!).

5. Some London city pictures from our morning walk. We crossed the Blackfriars bridge to the south side and then walked around and returned to our hotel near LSE by Waterloo bridge.

Cambridge, November 28-29

Travelled from Kings Cross station in London to Cambridge. The Cambridge town is very quaint and filled with history. Such big names and all of them very clever and intelligent, I did feel like a wasted life there.

Interesting facts about Cambridge University:

Cambridge was started by a bunch of scholars who left Oxford after a dispute with the townspeople in Oxford. Cambridge has many colleges. colleges are not where the students are given instruction rather a place where students reside. Its like a grand dorm with library, dining hall, formals hall, chapel and lecture halls. Its like the fraternities in US universities. 

1. This below is Trinity College. Henry VIII founded this college. King Henry is depicted holding a golden orb in one hand and the foot of a table in the other. The golden orb in his hand symbolizes King Henry's power over the church. He was in constant conflict with the Catholic church and eventually his reformations led to the creation of Church of England. The sword in his left hand was replaced with a chair leg by some prankster sometime in the early 19th century.

Sir Isaac Newton is an alumni of this college. He resided here and later became a master at Trinity. Poets Lord Byron and Alfred Tennyson were undergraduate students here in early 19th century. I was very excited to learn that Jawaharlal Nehru the first Prime Minister of India is an alumni too!

Prince Charles is an alumni too. Legend has it that he and his chauffeur gave the same finals and his chauffeur scored higher than the prince in the exams.

2. This is the river Cam. Visitors as well as Cambridgeshires enjoy going punting here. A punt is a flat-bottomed boat with a square-cut bow, designed for use in small rivers or other shallow water. Punting is boating in a punt. The punter generally propels the punt by pushing against the river bed with a pole. Wikipedia

3. Next is the Kings College. Notable alumni who I have heard of before are Salman Rushdie and Alan Turing. Salman Rushdie is known for his book Satanic Verses for which Ayatollah Khomeini declared a fatwa on him.The allies' victory in the second world war is credited to Alan Turing's code deciphering skills. He is considered the father of modern computing. The movie Imitation Game is based on his life.

4. This is St. Mary's Church. This is where the funeral of Stephen Hawking was held. Stephen Hawking taught at Cambridge. Here is an deep thought provoking quote from him:

"No one created the universe and no one directs our fate, this leads me to a profound realization that there probably is no heaven and no afterlife either. We have this one life to appreciate the grand design of the universe and for that, I am extremely grateful.”

  

5. This is the famous Cavendish laboratory. The electron was discovered here and as was the double helix structure of the DNA. 

 

6. Corpus Christi College. This is the only college founded by the townspeople. This college is rumored to be haunted by ghosts. According to local legends, many tragic deaths have happened in this college. 

7. This is the Corpus clock. Designed by an alumni and inaugurated by Stephen Hawking. It was named one of the best inventions of 2008. The grasshopper on the top is eating away time symbolizing that gone (or eaten time) time will not return.

A very educational trip indeed! I think the Cambridgeshires are very lucky to live amongst the spirits of some of the brightest minds that inhabited on this planet. This is a fascinating place, I think I suffer from mild anglophilia.