Because there’s more to Cambridge than Punting!

This weekend saw me and my blogger best pal Absolutely Lucy jumping on a train, opening some prosecco and heading off in the sunshine for a day in Cambridge.  Lucky for us, our little town is very well connected to it’s surrounding cities, so we had just enough time to catch up and fill each other in on our gossip before we pulled into the station and joined the bustling crowds of Cambridge City Centre.

We had originally planned this as a shopping day with a lovely little restaurant review thrown in for you guys however, Lucy had received word that the restaurant was having oven troubles that day so we had to reschedule.  Not deterred at all, we followed the crowds to the green in the city centre and low and behold stumbled across the Cambridge Thai Festival, which was in full swing and smelt divine!

Two massive queues stretched out in both directions from the main gate, but as we approached to ask where the box office was so we could buy tickets, a little Thai lady ushered us through the gates and just like that, we were in! Nice and cheap as well, just £3 on the door! Lovely job, we thought as we wandered past Buddhist Monks offering to bless us, stalls of satin shorts and woven hats and market stalls all lined with brightly coloured packages of sweets and food produce. Each vendor was happy to talk to you and so helpful, stopping to chat about why they were there and how far they had come.

There was a nice atmosphere for the size of the crowd. This did mean that the quintessential British queue was in full force; each stall had its own caterpillar of people lined up as far back as you could see and I was surprised that they didn’t all meet in the middle of the field!

Not known for our fondness of waiting, me and Lucy wandered to the front of the stalls to look at the food on offer before we decided which one to commit to and I have to say the choice was a difficult one!  Tempura prawns, calamari, red and green curry, pickled vegetables, sticky rice….it all looked and smelled amazing and I was just about to ask Lucy what we should have when she struck up a chat with the stall owner and ordered our food!

Grabbing two beers on the way, we dodged through the people and found a little patch of grass in the sunshine and started to nibble.  Tempura prawns and Thai noodle soup; both of which disappeared all to quickly, due to the fact that they were absolutely delicious and the earlier prosecco and quick Pimms in the local had left me pretty hungry!

Two more beers and we headed over to the main stage where we were treated to a display of authentic Thai dancers, with little fans rimmed with brightly coloured feathers and traditional dress, gracefully stepping from foot to foot to the plinky plonky music that drifted through the warm summer air.

The un-disputed star of the show however was Lady Boy Beyonce, who bum wiggled and lip synced her way into our hearts. She was more of a woman that I could ever hope to be and she nailed Queen Bey’s particular style of fierce!

After a quick toilet stop (where we made friends with an every so slightly crazy Thai lady that made me laugh so hard I almost didn’t make it to the portaloo!) we headed over to watch the Thai Boxing demo.  As Lucy had recently traveled to Thailand and had taken part in Thai Boxing classes whilst there, she was chomping at the bit to see some sparring so she was a little disappointed when it was controlled moves rather than an all out fight.

A quick look about told us that the queues weren’t going to get shorter anytime soon so we headed into the city centre for a look about and to try and find some sorbet!

Tummy’s rumbling, we headed down towards the river for a quick look at the Punting (well, when in Cambridge) and we stumbled upon a lovely little Vietnamese restaurant called Pho.

All matte black walls and wooden tables, it was very stylish and the smell of the food was inciting us in off the street.  A deliciously fresh mix of lemongrass and coriander hit my tongue from almost every dish so if you aren’t a fan of either, then I would stay clear, but I adore both so was in heaven!  We shared one main, 2 starters and a side with 2 cocktails and our bill was a very reasonable £40, with generous portion sizes and excellent service.  Next time I am in Cambridge I will be popping back for more!

We wombled back towards the train station, only stopping to pick up some sorbet for me and some drinks for our train journey back, both full, content and looking forward to cocktails back home with the boys!

 

Photos courtesy of Absolutely Lucy since Snapchat didn’t back up mine 😦