Five Reasons to Love the Pembroke-King's Programme (With Pictures!)

I have tried to avoid gushing too much about the Pembroke-King's Programme on this blog, largely because I can't find words to express what an honor and a delight it has been to be here.  My fellow students have described their experience with the PKP as "the best summer of my life," "like a fairy tale," and "like a dream."

Here are five reasons to love PKP--for the most part, I'll let the photos do the talking!

(1) PEMBROKE COLLEGE

The oldest part of the College was built in 1355

Pembroke's chapel was designed by the famous architect Christopher Wren, who also designed St. Paul's Cathedral in London

The dining hall

Interior of the library

Exterior of the library

 In addition, Pembroke is known for its beautiful gardens and the quality of the food.  (A blog called "Under Pressure at Pembroke" has the menus.)

(2) KING'S COLLEGE

The gatehouse

The front court, as viewed from the chapel roof

View from across the Cam.  I was sitting on the bank where the King's College punts are moored.

View from The Backs (beautiful area behind several of the colleges)

One cannot talk about King's College without mentioning the magnificent chapel.  It was constructed between 1446 and 1515, and is arguably the most famous building in Cambridge.  Tourists must pay a fee to enter, but as a PKP student I get in free!

Interior of the chapel

Exterior of the chapel, as viewed from the Art Room in the building opposite

(3) THE CLASSES

I get the sense that some study abroad programs let academic quality fall by the wayside--not so with PKP.  At the same time, I didn't feel that I had to forgo "touristy" activities because of the pressure of classes.

(4) THE PEOPLE

PKP students are an interesting, diverse, talented bunch!  In the course of one lunchtime conversation, I have listened to a student from China talk about the one child policy and asked a student from Harvard about his thesis.  Not that every conversation is that intellectual--in the course of a long evening at the pub with friends, I have talked about absolutely nothing of importance and still enjoyed every minute!

(5) THE CITY

There are so many interesting things to do in Cambridge, but one of my greatest delights has been simply walking through the city.  I showed you many of the sights in a previous post, but here are some more...

A pretty street

The daily open air market

SO MUCH BRITISH YOU JUST CAN'T HANDLE IT

Cambridge has many street musicians.  This one performs from inside a rubbish bin!

You know you're in a cool city when you turn onto a random side street and come across this plaque

Punts on the Cam

There you have it: five reasons to love PKP.  I don't doubt that there are more!