On Sunday, the International Admissions team at the University of Cambridge, led by the intrepid Nathan Lamb, treated NAFA to a much needed day of leisure and culture. Arriving at the river Cam, which winds itself through college and university buildings, medieval and modern alike, we boarded our punts.

Our cruise along “the Backs,” or the structures that back up to the river, stretched from the Magdalene Bridge to the Silver Street Bridge. Our punter and campus tour guide, Will entertained us with stories about the origins of the colleges and their history: was the foundress of Clare’s College a black widow? Is the Erasmus Building a modernist masterpiece or a “monstrous carbuncle”? Tempted only momentarily by the Pimm’s punt, like Odysseus to Circe’s banquet table, we arrived safely to shore and walked through town to the Fitzwilliam Museum.

Left to their own devices, NAFAns by and large found the galleries that housed art from their period of interest or they found the gift shop. From antique coins to impressionist masterworks to Frank Bowling’s meditations on the Sublime, the Fitzwilliam is a world class museum in central Cambridge. But we shan’t tarry! Evensong calls.

I will be upfront here. This was a highlight of the trip for me, second only to the final scenes of Cole Escola’s Oh, Mary!, running now in London’s West End. Coincidentally (or not?), both prominently feature dramatic and gender bendy gowns. Choral evensong at King’s College Chapel runs every day through the academic year and is open to the public after a brief queue. The soaring harmonies set against the backdrop of 15th century stained glass, illuminated by candlelight, resist description. Within minutes, you are transported, enraptured, spellbound. It’s no wonder then that the daily service has survived five centuries. Oh, and there’s a scholarship for that!

After a musical encounter with the divine in us all, we proceeded to a drinks reception at St. Catherine’s College (or Catz) accompanied by a delightful recital from a talented undergraduate violinist. Proceeding to the formal dinner, team NAFA was welcomed by Mike Nicholson, Director of Recruitment, Admissions, and Participation, who shared his thoughts about the importance of academic exchange between Cambridge and North America and particularly in our contemporary moment when research resilience has become so paramount to universities on both sides of the Atlantic. Flanked by Renaissance portraits typical in Cambridge college dining rooms, we toasted our exceptional hosts at our final destination and thanked them for their generous hospitality.

Laura De Furio, (she, her, hers)
Director of National Fellowships, University of Delaware