Cambridge

Thomas and I arrived in Cambridge at about 8pm last night, and after checking in to the hotel ,and eating supper, we both headed off to have an early night. I woke up really early, at 5am - a combination of a strange bed and feeling nervous for Thomas. I decided to go out for a walk to see the sunrise but somehow I seemed to miss it? It was already light with a pale pink glow in the sky about 30 minutes before sunrise, but nothing spectacular - but when I got back to the hotel about 15 minutes after sunrise I saw a vivid orange sky from the hotel window. One forgets how long it takes for the sun to actually rise at this time of year, and like wise for sunset - there was a pinkish glow on the horizon already at about 2.30pm although the sun only sets at about 4pm. 

The extra photos were taken pre-sunrise, in that pale pink light. It was a pleasure to see these scenes without hundreds of tourists dominating the foreground!

We had breakfast at the hotel, not that Thomas could eat much. He then went off to his interview. The hotel was full of parents and their children who were going for interviews, and looking around at those anxious yet hopeful faces made me feel a bit sad as it is so stressful for them. His first interview was tough, it was purely technical with challenging maths problems - they were not interested in his personal statement or anything else about him, they said they don't have time to discuss any of that. Two senior engineering lecturers giving him maths problems and seeing how he coped and how he arrived at the conclusion. The same happened at the second interview, two different engineering lecturers and more maths problems - mechanics, pure maths, graphs of functions etc. He is very relieved it is over, he says he enjoyed doing the maths and tried to stay calm. A slim chance of getting a place - out of about 110 - 120 applicants (of those selected for interview) there are only 14 places at this college. Other colleges and other faculties are not as tough, classics for example at this college have 4 places for 7 applicants! But then engineering was always going to be a tough one. What will be will be and we must now forget about it.

While he was having his interviews I enjoyed walking around Cambridge with my camera. Thomas finished by lunch time, and we met Jenni for lunch and it was lovely to see her again - and then the long drive home again!