It is a truth universally acknowledged that the closer you live to a tourist destination, the less likely you are to have visited the tourist spots. I don’t know why it is, it just is. So, yes, it has taken us three and a half years, but we have finally ticked off some of the key sights of Cambridge, a city just 12 miles down the road from us that we have wandered in and out of several times. Such is life.
There is more to see but over the course of two weekends (nothing like having guests to force you into researching your local area more), we ticked off the Mathematical Bridge, the Corpus Clock and The Backs in between having brunch at The Old Bicycle Shop and having incredible hot chocolate at Cenu Cacao (highly recommend both). But the two main destinations that have been on the top of my list for a while now are Fitzbillies to try their famous Chelsea buns and seeing the wonder that is King’s College Chapel.
King’s College Chapel really was worth the wait. Perhaps the most iconic building in Cambridge, the internal architecture genuinely took my breath away. The vast vaulted ceiling with the sun shining through the ornate stained-glass windows was utterly stunning. It’s worth going for the chapel alone but your ticket also gets you access to the grounds behind the chapel, and King’s College bridge. You feel distinctly separated from this when walking through The Backs so it’s nice to get the full effect. Cambridge really shines in the autumn I think, and the punts going up and down the river lined with golden leaves is lovely.
SO, about those Chelsea buns. Fitzbillies started in Cambridge in the 1920s and apparently has been the shop of choice for university scholars and townsfolk ever since. They claim to do the best ever Chelsea buns which is a bold claim, but they sell an awful lot of them so something must be going right. I have always been a bit unbothered by Chelsea buns but the marketing and the appealing sticky, golden buns sat in the window of the shop persuaded me to give them a go (along with my go-to hot chocolate order – excellent hot chocolate made with leftover chocolate ganache from the bakery). And well, yeah, it was the best Chelsea bun I’ve ever had. I don’t know what is in that ultra-sticky syrup pooling over the soft dough and juicy currents but man it was delicious. Really, really delicious.
If you’re planning a trip to Cambridge, I would highly recommend a visit to the King’s College Chapel and sinking your teeth into a Fitzbillies sticky bun.
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