Oxbridge

Tane and I are lucky to have friends that live in both Oxford and Cambridge. That way we can visit them both, get a local insight to each of the two cities, and hear about why each of the "Oxbridge" University towns are better than the other.

With David and Holly in Oxford earlier in the year

Now, don't tell them we said so, but on the face of it they don't seem all that different. They both have fabulous architecture, stone buildings, impressive colleges, and a high hit- rate of overhearing a really plummy accent. They do have differences. Oxford has a smaller river, but a lovelier centre. Cambridge has a great river for punting. But, in general they are very similar, and both worth a day trip from London.

Oxford

We went to Cambridge last weekend, which was a fabulous day out. As well as having a good look around the city, we went punting. I don't know who thought up punting - it's a strange water activity, cruising down a river at about 2 km an hour with a giant stick and a boat that is hard to steer and prone to getting in traffic jams. Tane got the hang of steering fairly quickly.

Well, mostly got the hang of it.

I, on the other hand, could only go around in circles, and decided that it was much more fun to sit in the punt eating strawberries rather than make an effort. It was a great day out, and I recommend punting. My only regret was not getting a photo of Dean when he fell in the water. But, unfortunately, I was too busy eating strawberries to reach for the camera in time.

With Dean and Deborah in Cambridge