Punting in Cambridge

We were so taken with Cambridge, we just couldn't stay away. Everyone told us that we really had to trying punting in Cambridge, so we packed up the kids, and off we went. 

 Notices for upcoming presentations and concerts posted along all the fences. You rarely see the same poster twice. 

So many things to do and learn! I think I would have liked being a student at Cambridge. 

 Two of my very favourite people, waiting for the punting to begin.

Now, in case you're like me, and you have a sneaking suspicion that there is something vaguely naughty-sounding about 'punting', allow me to assure it that it's completely innocuous family fun. A punt is a small flat-bottomed boat, that is propelled along the river by pushing on the bottom with a long (16') pole. There are no oars involved. If you're ambitious and/or experienced, you can rent a punt and push yourself along, but we were travelling with small children and needed all our arms to be free to contain them, so we took the tour version of punting instead.
The punting tour is along the River Cam, and it is about 45 minutes along the backs of some of the major Colleges in Cambridge. It was a perfect tour, learning about the histories and rivalries of the colleges, and admiring the architecture and grandeur of the buildings. The kids were quite taken with the ducks.

See? Punts. Flat bottomed boats. 

A look up the River Cam, from the only public footbridge. 

All of the other bridges are owned by the colleges, and are accessible only to staff and students of that college. 

 Apparently I've never told them the story about how I got my head stuck in the railing. 

 Happy dudes in a punt.

 With my gal.

 The mathematical bridge at Queens' College. 

 Tiny bricked-over windows in the servants' quarters.

 Lookin' down over the Cam. A pretty nice place to be a student, I think! 

Student lodging for a lot of the colleges backs up on the river too. 

Apparently, the better your marks are, the closer you get to be to the river.

 The entrance for the swans.