A day out in Cambridge, England

A couple of weeks ago I had a nice little string of 5 days off, and it just so happened that the first day was my mum’s birthday! With a bit of sneaky planning with my siblings I managed to get on the first flight out to London, and Jarett (my sister Lizzie’s boyfriend), managed to come and pick me up from the airport, all while Mum had no idea I was coming home. My brother Matt and his girlfriend Miriam had just been to visit and my other brother Harry had also just arrived, so we almost had the whole family at home!

I was lucky as the weather was the start of the hottest week of the year so far, absolutely beautiful blue skies and sunshine every day.

Actual clouds…a rare occurrence in Dubai!

As I walked through the door mum still had no idea I was coming….and she was just a bit surprised, to say the least! 😀 First things first of course, I whipped up a birthday cake which we sat down and enjoyed with a cup of tea. When in Rome…!

We spent most of the days out in the garden, enjoying the gorgeous sunny weather, picking all sorts of fruits and vegetables, and eating birthday cake!

One day, Lizzie and I decided to get the train into Cambridge, which is our nearest big city, and only around 20 minutes away. From the train station we strolled into the centre, taking in the sights and admiring all of the lovely buildings.

We browsed the shops for a while, before continuing on past King’s College. Cambridge University, made up of 31 colleges (including the picturesque King’s College) is the second-oldest university in the English-speaking world and is currently ranked as the world’s fourth best university.

On flights, when people ask where I’m from and I say Cambridge as the nearest city, 99% of the time I get asked if I went to Cambridge University…if only! 😉 I have to say I don’t think I’d be cabin crew if I did…haha!


Before long we were starting to get a bit peckish, and had been recommended a café called Fitzbillies for lunch. It wasn’t a long walk, so we made our way over and found a table despite the lunchtime rush.

We had a delicious light lunch (which cost half of what it would in Dubai…!) and picked up one of their infamous Chelsea Buns to take away for later. There’s also a huge selection of delicious looking homemade cakes but we resisted temptation and just stuck to the one bun to share. They’re super sweet so unless you’re feeling naughty half is plenty!

After lunch Lizzie and I strolled back through the city, passing by some more of the pretty colleges, along with 1000’s of bikes – absolutely everyone cycles in Cambridge!

We continued on towards some of the other shops, passing through Christ’s Pieces, a pretty park full of shady trees and lovely flowers.

We sat for a while to enjoy the shade from the unusually hot weather and eat our super-sticky Chelsea Bun! Before long it was time to head back to the train station and make our way home.

Despite having visited Cambridge many times, I’ll never tire of the city, and I’d highly recommend it if you fancy a day trip from London – it’s only an hour on the train!

P.s. Follow me on Instagram, Facebook & Twitter for more day-to-day updates of where I am in the world! 🙂

8 Comments

  1. Asher
    March 25, 2018 / 10:46 pm

    Thank you so much for sharing this delightful trip back to England for your mother’s birthday and a wonderful day trip to Cambridge…it is indeed a historical town with fabulous old buildings. By the way if I was your passenger, I too would have asked you if you attended the Cambridge University…….you are an elegant, classy and a very well spoken woman. You carry yourself beautifully as one who is not only worldly but also well educated.

    • thedubaidiaries
      Author
      March 27, 2018 / 10:11 am

      Glad you enjoyed it Asher! I have just had another trip home so will be blogging about that soon as well 🙂 Thanks for your kind words!

  2. Lexie
    August 19, 2017 / 6:57 pm

    Hello. I was browsing upon ways how to travel to Cambridge and ended up in your wonderful site. I will be taking a week-long class at the University of Cambridge and I have no idea how to travel there. 🙂 I am from Dubai like you and it would be great if you can guide me through what airline you recommend and which airport to take. By the way, my name is Lexie and my email address is lexierieza@yahoo.com. 🙂

    • thedubaidiaries
      Author
      August 23, 2017 / 2:23 pm

      Hi Lexie! I would suggest flying to London Heathrow, and from there it is very easy to get to Cambridge. You can either take the bus which goes directly from Heathrow airport and takes just under 2 hours, or if you are planning on visiting London as well you can take the train from Kings Cross. You can buy tickets in advance or on the day, the buses go every 2 hours I believe! Good luck 🙂

    • thedubaidiaries
      Author
      July 27, 2017 / 1:13 pm

      No idea! At the moment I work in first class, the next step would be to become cabin supervisor, after that it would take minimum 2 years to become purser.

  3. Helen
    July 9, 2017 / 10:42 pm

    What a great surprise for your mum! Love your pink dress. And now I am craving sticky buns 😀

    • thedubaidiaries
      Author
      July 27, 2017 / 1:12 pm

      Thanks so much Helen! 🙂 Ahh now this comment has reminded me how tasty they were haha!

Leave a Reply to Asher Cancel reply