The Cambridge Chat Thread - it&#x27;s over 90,000!

Original post by ukebert

This is true, and racks are expensive, as are panniers. I still think that rucksacks are a better option, unless you have a particularly sweaty back.

I used a rucksack for many months before buying my basket. The problem I had, though, was that sometimes I wanted to do a particularly large Sainsburys shop. E.g. for two or more weeks. I had a freezer this year, so I could buy things in bulk and store. On occasions like this I needed more space than I had in my fairly large rucksack.

The other thing was that my daily bag wasn't a rucksack - it was usually a shoulder satchel, a handbag, or my laptop backpack with little free room. This meant that if I spontaneously shopped, I had nowhere to put things except in a shopping bag on the handlebars. I bought a basket after deciding that it was happening too often and getting dangerous.

Well the heat has a lot to do with it, but ultimately it is the most uninteresting of the seasons. I have a sort of idealised day for spring, winter and autumn, but none for summer. Maybe it's just that summer weather doesn't appeal to me.

In fairness, English summers are poor. If it were warm and sunny all the way through it might be better. But in addition to the horribly hot days, there are also groggy overcast or rainy days where you're still stifling yet have bad weather :hmpf:

Reply 2023

Slumpy

16

Original post by Topaz_eyes

Is it bad that on Starter For Ten I'm cheering for Queens, Cambridge rather than Bristol Uni (who the characters come from)? :biggrin:

Well, we wouldn't want a cheat to win, eh? :p:

Reply 2024

Zhen Lin

12

Original post by Groat

Ah, I do remember them mentioning they supply foreign supermarkets with their own brands. I guess at the end of the day, the typical Asian consumer won't know the difference between the brands. :colondollar:

I hope you're being sarcastic about that.

Reply 2025

Original post by The West Wing

I had a look on their site and the said tin of chopped tomatoes seems to be the equivalent of £1.55. What a rip off!

You think that's bad? See if they have the price of mascarpone on their website...

Original post by gethsemane342

I hear Clowns does do good coffee. The smell of coffee certainly pervaded my house enough this year to suggest it :tongue:

I was put off Clowns by having the room next to their storage room. I don't know what that wall was made of but I could hear them going up and down the steps. And having the occasional party...

(The owners usually waved to us when they saw us though :smile:

)

If Clowns is the place I think it is, then I remember it being a bit of a dump.

Reply 2026

Original post by alex_hk90

If Clowns is the place I think it is, then I remember it being a bit of a dump.

Its nothing to look at, but the coffee is the best in Cambridge and the food is very inexpensive. And the handmade desserts are very good. And it has free wireless.

Reply 2027

Original post by Craghyrax

Its nothing to look at, but the coffee is the best in Cambridge and the food is very inexpensive. And the handmade desserts are very good. And it has free wireless.

Is it the place with the upstairs part that has an open-air balcony type thing for smokers/druggies?

Reply 2028

jjarvis

14

Original post by Craghyrax

Its nothing to look at, but the coffee is the best in Cambridge and the food is very inexpensive. And the handmade desserts are very good. And it has free wireless.

Where is Clowns, and how have I never been there? Tend to go to CB1 or Benet's when I get coffee out, but to be honest I usually just drink instant or the swill they have at the law fac/Sidgwick buttery. I appreciate good coffee, but rarely can be bothered to actually pay for it/go any distance for it.

Reply 2029

Tortious

16

Original post by jjarvis

Where is Clowns, and how have I never been there? Tend to go to CB1 or Benet's when I get coffee out, but to be honest I usually just drink instant or the swill they have at the law fac/Sidgwick buttery. I appreciate good coffee, but rarely can be bothered to actually pay for it/go any distance for it.

It's kind of near Sainsbury's and on the way to the Grafton - the easiest way to get there is probably to walk right out of Sainsbury's (Sidney Street) towards Christ's, then cross to the other side of the road and turn left down the passageway near Costa. Cross the road and head left around the corner, and it's about halfway down that really long road. :p:

Reply 2030

jjarvis

14

Original post by Tortious

It's kind of near Sainsbury's and on the way to the Grafton - the easiest way to get there is probably to walk right out of Sainsbury's (Sidney Street) towards Christ's, then cross to the other side of the road and turn left down the passageway near Costa. Cross the road and head left around the corner, and it's about halfway down that really long road. :p:

Bloody miles from Hughes then! Still, have to try it at some point.

Reply 2031

gethsemane342

11

Original post by alex_hk90

If Clowns is the place I think it is, then I remember it being a bit of a dump.

I've only actually been inside once (I hate coffee). It's quite nice in there. Food isn't brilliant though. And we were all put off after we thought it gave one of our friends food poisoning (turns out that person actually had a stomach virus so Clowns really wasn't to blame). And the staff are all lovely. Even the girl who dropped a box of glasses on my foot was very apologetic about it.

jjarvis

Where is Clowns, and how have I never been there? Tend to go to CB1 or Benet's when I get coffee out, but to be honest I usually just drink instant or the swill they have at the law fac/Sidgwick buttery. I appreciate good coffee, but rarely can be bothered to actually pay for it/go any distance for it.

Easiest way, if you ever get the Christ's code ( :ninja:

) is to walk through Christ's, right to the back, go through the back gate, turn right and walk for 30 seconds. Be aware that the people in the rooms above it can hear your conversations on the street :tongue:

If you're loud enough, the person facing the courtyard can hear too :wink:

How have you never been there? Bill definitely knows it. Do the Hughesians (I still think Hughes Hallers are better) not have a coffee-solidarity thing going on?

Reply 2032

Original post by gethsemane342

I've only actually been inside once (I hate coffee). It's quite nice in there. Food isn't brilliant though. And we were all put off after we thought it gave one of our friends food poisoning (turns out that person actually had a stomach virus so Clowns really wasn't to blame). And the staff are all lovely. Even the girl who dropped a box of glasses on my foot was very apologetic about it.

Either I'm thinking of the wrong place or you didn't go to the upstairs part.

Reply 2033

gethsemane342

11

Original post by alex_hk90

Either I'm thinking of the wrong place or you didn't go to the upstairs part.

I didn't. That may be where I lived next to though. The temptation to start cheering back when they had parties was sometimes quite immense :tongue:

Reply 2034

Original post by jjarvis

Where is Clowns, and how have I never been there? Tend to go to CB1 or Benet's when I get coffee out, but to be honest I usually just drink instant or the swill they have at the law fac/Sidgwick buttery. I appreciate good coffee, but rarely can be bothered to actually pay for it/go any distance for it.

Yeh but you're at Hughes and a first year.
Don't listen to gethsemane about directions :p:

From Hughes, depending on whether you live IN Hughes or in a house off Mill road, its easiest to take a back route to the Grafton centre (e.g. via Gwydir street and Norfolk st.) and then cross right through the Grafton. Cross the road to Christ's piece, but not where all the shoppers cross. Cross at the pedestrian crossing that is just to the right of the road access to the Grafton (so right on the very edge of Christ's Piece) keep walking down that footpath. At the end turn sharp right and you'll come out onto King street next to the King of the Thames (or something similar). Turn left, and there's Clowns.

Original post by alex_hk90

Is it the place with the upstairs part that has an open-air balcony type thing for smokers/druggies?

A very small one, yes. And you can't be thinking of a different place. Its covered in pictures of Clowns!

Reply 2035

Original post by Craghyrax

A very small one, yes. And you can't be thinking of a different place. Its covered in pictures of Clowns!

I honestly did not notice the pictures of clowns... I think I need to improve my observational skills. :sadnod:

Reply 2036

Original post by alex_hk90

I honestly did not notice the pictures of clowns... I think I need to improve my observational skills. :sadnod:

But you noticed it being 'a dump' :p:

I assumed that the mismatched arbitrary clown pics were an integral feature of that judgement.

Reply 2037

Original post by Craghyrax

But you noticed it being 'a dump' :p:

I assumed that the mismatched arbitrary clown pics were an integral feature of that judgement.

No, it was just a general feeling I got (the atmosphere wasn't great), and the passive smoke I was subjected to - I'm not even convinced the smoke was all tobacco... :sadnod:

Reply 2038

Original post by alex_hk90

No, it was just a general feeling I got (the atmosphere wasn't great), and the passive smoke I was subjected to - I'm not even convinced the smoke was all tobacco... :sadnod:

I'm not a fan of the dire Italian pop music, but it adds to the authenticity. As to smoke; you must have gone on an unusual day! Or did you sit outside?
I've never been affected by smoke while sitting inside the upstairs bit! And I've been loads of times.

The cafe certainly has loads of the owners' friends, family, etc. hanging about all the time. But I like that. Makes it feel more real and less pristine-city-centre-Cambridge.

Reply 2039