A Day for Downing

Downing, originally uploaded by Neorelix.

Dragged a couple of Godchildren (15 and 12) round with me today. They're great girls and are happy enough to humour me on my 'I love Cambridge so you will too' excursions. I love that they still manage to dredge up a look of enthusiasm when I suggest a day out with me - even though they know they'll be traipsing round colleges and dusty old museums. heh. So I bought their goodwill with hot chocolates out of the torrential rain at CB2 (4 of 6 soon) which always goes down well and then we had lunch at Zizzi - nice location and views yet you'd eat the same but better at Pizza Express. Then came the dull stuff. Downing College which has the largest and most beautiful court in Cambridge (more tomorrow) and continues to build new buildings in its classical style but with a modern edge. This shows the pristine Maitland Robinson Library (1993) through the pillars of the end of the North Range (1950s). The most famous alumnus is probably John Cleese who supposedly thought up The Ministry of Silly Walks while watching passers-by trying to negotiate the large puddles which appear in the college's gravel paths during wet weather. Then the torture continued as I forced them next door to the Fitzwilliam Museum - only to find it closed on Mondays. 'Oh no!' cried the 12 year-old, 'I'm really gutted....'