Cambridge in early spring

I started the day walking toward Downing College. The light was the first thing I noticed, really bright against the pale stone, everything feeling clean and open. There were flowers starting to come through, tulips I think, and people moving through the space in a pretty quiet, unhurried way.

Walking on toward King’s, it got busier. It was a Saturday so the market was in full swing, stalls packed in with people drifting between them. You had students, tourists, locals all mixing together. At one point the bells from the chapel started ringing and just carried across everything, which felt like one of those small moments that kind of defines the place.

Down by the Backs it was a completely different energy again. The river was packed with punters, just one after another moving past St John’s and under the bridges. There was a rhythm to it, the poles hitting the water, people calling out, others watching from the grass.

Later on I ended up wandering through the gardens, which felt much calmer. Lots of flowers, thick greenery, and that same stone catching the sunlight in a softer way. It slowed everything down a bit.

The whole day felt like moving between those two moods, busy and social in one moment, then quiet and still the next.