At first there was Strawhenge and Woodhenge...

And I do credit Eddie Izzard for that reference, but I've had it stuck in my head all day.

Anywho... An early start to the day. I actually got up later than I wanted for the first time in quite a while... how inconvenient. That said, it was no big issue. I got up, dressed and took the quick hop over to the train station. There I purchased a return ticket to Salisbury and still had time to pick up some breakfast. So, I grabbed a coffee and an onion and cheese pastry. I believe it also had potato in it and it was much like a breakfast minced meat pie.
So, with food in hand I boarded my train and headed to Salisbury. About an hour, and 1 transfer later, I arrived.

I feel now will be an appropriate time to mention some luck and appreciation. I have jokingly complained about the english weather nearly every day. Yet, my day out to see outdoor sites is relatively warm and blue skies, without a cloud to be seen.

Anyway, from the train station I took a turn to head towards the information center, Before reaching it I found my goal though. There was a double-decker site-seeing bus that I was looking for. Outside the bus they were selling tickets, that included round trip bus fair to Stonehenge and Old Sarum, as well as admission to both. I bought my ticket and boarded the bus.

We headed north on the bus out of Salisbury, with an audio recording as a guide to point out notable features along the way. One of my favorite comments in route was when being told about the military encampments on the plains. Apparently, the town of Salisbury was never bombed in WWII. Turns out bombers were on strict orders to avoid it as the spire was used for navigation, and bombers would fly to Salisbury and then follow roads to targets of interest. We also passed Old Serum, which we will return to later, and sadly the pictures from the road are a bit underwhelming. But, about 30 minutes later, we arrived at Stonehenge.

There I stood, as many have before, and many more still will, in the midst of the Salisbury Plain. The sun was shining with not a cloud in the sky, and the air was crisp and cool. It is very much the 'mystical' place its made out to be. You look in every direction and see gently rolling green hills. There are small ancient burial grounds littleing the hills in every direction. And, being the morning, as you look towards the sun you see it shining down over these huge rock structures, when there is nothing else standing for miles. Its a pretty good scene.

With the tour ticked I'd purchased earlier I was able to just head in through the entrance and collect an audio guide. The route from there took a short tunnel under the road, and up a ramp too where the stones stood. The tunnel and ramp were painted in an manner to estimate the ancient landscape, show workers hauling these multi-ton stones, and show a view of what Stonehenge may have looked like when it was complete. The path the continued to, and looped around Stonehenge itself.

Now, among other things I learned was the fact that this is in fact the 3rd henge. The others to stand here were neigh stone nor completed nor of the same design. But, being the 3rd and final henge makes Eddie Izzard's joke about it all the more entertaining. Walking around the stones the path followed the ditch that looped them, dug at the time with animal bones as picks and shovels. Being close to the stones simply makes them all the more impressive. Standing nearly 3 meters tall, and with another stone crossing them, it is impossible to not wonder how it was done. Though, I also enjoyed learning that they were assembled with the aid of a type of tongue and groove, or ball and socket joint. All in all, regardless of what I learned or what is yet still a mystery, Stonehenge is really, really, cool.

After leaving the stones I returned to the bus, or rather another bus that took me to Old Sarum. Now, from the road Old Serum is quite unremarkable. It stands as a mound, which is clearly very large and steep for a hill over the plains around it. That said, the close I got, the cooler it got. The route I took led me up a slope until I reached a steep decline into a 'moat' followed by a very steep climb returning up even higher. The ridge I was on was a path that looped around the entirety of this inner hill. But, on the far side there was a small path that led up onto the top. Before continuing, one interesting fact is that the whole path was this white, quasi-muddy goop. I inquired later and learned that is was chalk. Apparently the entire hillside could be seen for miles due to its white color.

When atop of the mound there were 2 first things to notice. First, the view was amazing! Partly because I was so high and partly because everything else was relatively flat. The second thing to notice was that there was another even taller mount atop where we were. That is where the ruins of the castle of Old Sarum are. But, in the meantime I had an entire mound level to explore. Aside from the views there weren't many things to see. The list was comprised of 1 thing in particular. That is, the ruins of the Cathedral of Old Sarum. It looks a bit like a giant stamp inprinted the ground where the cathedral used to stand. There were a few remnants of walls, and many of the gravel/stone walking areas could still be seen in the grass. Many of these paths still exist, though the pavings have worn down substantially. It was very cool to see the literal outline of the cathedral in the ground while nothing else was present there.

From the cathedral ruins I climbed to the upper mound, which also had an odd moat-like ditch. There were the remains of the Old Sarum Castle. This was really cool because enough of the stonework was still present to incision what stood where. There were towers and gates, a chapel, a well in the courtyard. Some of the less identifiable features included the toilets and the like. But you could walk among the ruins and touch all the stones. It was a lot of fun. I thought the walls and stonework themselves were interesting and I wonder if its related to the chalky area. But, the mortal seemed normal, but many the stones seemed abnormally smooth. Secondly, there was one confer I found with a stone that had been engraved with the date, "1910". Why? I've no idea... The castle also provided even better views than before and a great overhead view of the cathedral's layout.

After Old Sarum I returned to the bus station to grab the bus back into the city center. From there I followed the massive spire that rose above all the little rooftops. This quickly led me through the cute town of Salisbury to the foot of the Salisbury Cathedral. I will say that the cathedrals I've seen have improved how I considered them. This one too uniquely beautiful. The first and primary reason I noticed was its visibility. So many cathedrals are in the midsts of cities, with buildings on all sides. It makes it difficult to get full views. Here, the church stood alone inside a giant walled in yard. That way, one could always stand far enough away to have an unobstructed view of the entirety of the cathedral. The second thing I noticed as I got closer was the carvings on the outside of the cathedral. Climbing to the tops of the short spires above doors, and the buildings corners, and spanning across the tops of arches above doors were ornate carvings of people. They were everywhere on the building. The sheer number of carvings were impressive, even not accounting for how well they were done.

Inside, I felt it slightly less unique. I did however greatly enjoy the cloister. Perhaps it was a result of being brightly lit from the sun, but I thought this cloister, and the yard it surrounded was absolutely stunning. One corner was tucked in under the cathedral's massive tower, while the tower was a wonderful view from everywhere else. I thought the arches that framed the windows between the yard and cloister were ornate enough to be beautiful, but simple enough to not stand out. I think the combination made the grassy square all the more appealing.

After the Salisbury Cathedral I returned to the train station, where I headed back to Oxford. on the return I added an extra train hop to save some time. So, 2 stops and another 2 hours later I was back in Oxford. The next hour or two were pretty simple. Shower and rest a bit, just take a load off. Then, I headed to Jesus College to meet her and have dinner.

For dinner we met up with Jenny, Rob, and Teresa again. It was a fun group for dinner. The food was yet again delicious. We started with a roll and potato-leak soup. The main course then was a flank of duck over lentils and ... something reminiscent of a leak... That was followed by dessert of a chocolate tort of a sort with cherries. For some reason we decided that was not yet enough, so we headed up to D&G's for some local Oxford ice cream. It was really good. I had 1 scoop of chocolate with 1 scoop of Baileys (made with its namesake). By far the best ice cream I have had in a few months.

After ice cream I bid farewell to Em's friends and went with her back to her place. There, we sent some emails, looked at some pictures, backed up some pictures on her computer... good stuff like that. Eventually we had tea and some snacks, followed by chatting... which was awesome. We chatted for a very long time and eventually, as we were both seemingly on the verge of passing out, bid each other farewell. A sad moment indeed as I know nobody who I can banter with quite so well. But, it was sadly time for bed, and to call it a night.

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A Quiet Day in Oxford

The morning's start was all the same. Sleep, breakfast, read some, write some... the usual. Unfortunately, It a bit of chaos the previous day had resulted in my towel being misplaced... So, I had to ask reception to use one of theirs. That said, They do offer them freely and the towel I had was not worth much. So, we move on past this minor issue.

I headed out late morning with a plan to go see the Bridge of Sighs, another of the old beautiful places on Oxford's streets. So, I looked up its location (where Em and I had marked my map earlier) and streets and headed out. Unfortunately, there was really no point in having looked up these directions, as I neglected to use any of them. Before long I found myself aimlessly wandering around without much regard for where I was going. As a result, I eventually found myself at the bridge in the Southeast corner of the city. So, I then had to reevaluate my location to figure out where I had to go.

With all said and done it was still useful to have marks the map, as I did still want to find it. So, I restarted my walk, with fresh directions in mind from my current locale. Before long I reached the Bridge of Sighs. It was pretty awesome, in that old architecture type of way. Spanning the road between two buildings of Hertford College, this bridge is enough to make one sigh. It's underside is a high arched shape, and with the windows matching its curve, would appear that the bridge floor shares the shape. The windows are each tall and narrow, with arched tops. The structure itself made of the same light tan stone that composes most of the Oxford buildings. So, the contrast between it's light color and the darkness it cast on the alley behind with its shadow was quite a sight. Meanwhile, the alley behind it seemed to curve away to the right. While standing inside the alley looking out, the bridge seems to be stretched above the theatre that stood across the street.

Another sight I'd planned to see this morning was the Oxford Covered Market. I'm beginning to see many of these places throughout the world. They serve somewhat as outdoor malls, where there are dozens of store fronts. They are all covered by a thin, almost transparent roof that let's the space continue to feel open, while being sheltered from the elements.

Unfortunately, (despite the large sign saying open on Sundays) the market was closed when I arrived. Luckily, it was open when I got a chance to double back to it later. Emmy was singing in chapel in the evening, and the chapel of Jesus College is perhaps a 30 second walk from the market. So I was able to return and it was indeed open. Unfortunately again though, many of the shops had begun to close down so it was more quiet then it might otherwise have been. That said, I still got a feel for what the area was like. It had shops of all sorts ranging from shoe shops, to cakes shops to ice cream shops. My favorite was the Moo Moo Ice Cream place. That's not all quite its name but the Moos were there. It was pink and painted cow like. It was awesome. Anyway, that was fun.

So I returned to Jesus College's chapel to see Emmy sing. I will admit, I had not thought this out in full as I'd simply not realized it was in a service. That was me just being a bone head. Anyway, the singing was great. I found though, that trying to sing along with the hymns was very difficult. The hardest part for me was that the music and words were written separately from each other. That seemed to make reading both quite a challenge. But, it all worked out and was lovely music.

As for the service, it too was pretty good. I enjoyed the music (as I mentioned) and thought the sermon was also good. I did have some small personal critiques, but for the whole I did think it was good. My favorite part of the entire venture was the pamphlets handed out to follow the service. On the right hand side of each page was the outline of the service. Meanwhile, each left hand page was left as an explanation of what a given section was or why it was part of the service. I enjoyed being able to read those explanations to put more context into the reasoning of the service's parts.

I forgot to mention, prior to the service, the choir got a break. During that time they went over to a lounge where they (and I) had cake munchies. While this was tasty, and served me well... it seemed in my recollection a bad thing to do immediately before preforming. But, it all went well, so no harm, no fowl. Then, after the service, the choir (and myself.... this was a good deal) all went to an upstairs room and were given a glass of sherry. I don't recall ever having sherry before but apparently it's a bit of a thing here. I liked it, and while it may not be the best description.... thought it tasted a bit like white wine meets bourbon. I liked it though, and between the cake and the sherry, the choir seemed to be doing things right.

I joined Emmy again for dinner in the hall with 2 different friends of hers, Teresa and Rassaul (?). They were fun, and both math people... a good type of people indeed! What I had not appreciated is while less formal, meals a t Oxford are always in this fancy dining setup. This evening we were served another 3 courses. First was a Baked Goat's Cheese and Beetroot Salad. The main was Steak and Onion Hot Pot with Mushrooms Saute Potatoes & Vegetables, and the dessert was a Vanilla Panacotta with Poached Blueberries. The food here is really good...

Then, the 4 of us (including Teresa and Rassaul) went the the movie theatre to see the newly released The Adjustment Bureau. It was definitely fun. There were a few times when the "God" reference was made a bit more blatant than it had to be. Not that there is anything wrong with these references, but there were times when I think the effect could have been better were it more subtle.

So I accompanied Em back to her place where we again had some tea and a snack. I munched on yogurt with granola while she made herself some Rosemary bread. I had an early morning, so I left once the bread was finished, but it looked good and smelled awesome. So perhaps I will have a bit this coming night, as for now and for me, it was time for bed.

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Trout at the Trout

Today was a latter morning than some. I got up and had breakfast, and took no time for readings or email. Pretty much as soon as I'd eaten, it was approaching 10 o'clock, so I headed out and back into the heart of Oxford. Note... it will become relevant in due time, but the weather was once more a bit grey and cold...

Anyway, my morning first took me to Christ Church, one of Oxford's colleges. The college was home to a few (at least I only know a few), famous writers. From the streets of Oxford, it is Mort recognizable from Tom's Tower, standing tall at its entrance with a massive reflecting 'Hershey's Kiss' top. The entrance for visitors is on the south side of the college, where the view looks over a meadow that stretches to the Cherwell and Isis Rivers, where we punted yesterday. Through the entrance building I followed a short path and a hallway to the cloister. Here stand a fountain and an olive tree. Very simple; very pretty. The visitor route then led to the dining hall, which has its own merits. However, it was closed to visitors for lunch at the time being. I did learn that if I came back between 2 and 4:30 I could be readmitted.

We then headed into the cathedral. It was, a cathedral. I say that not to make it sound demeaning, but morose to emphasize that this school has cathedrals scattered throughout it. I think that's just cool. The campus uses buildings, many of which are older than the US. The cathedral itself was quite nice, but I fear no specific really stood out in my mind. From the cathedral I was lead out onto Tom's Quad, which houses the Tom Tower over the main gate. The quad was huge! And green and quite beautiful as its surrounded by a wall with a very pretty tower rising from the edge. The path then continued around the cathedral for a view of the outside of the library. This library was where Lewis Carroll did much of his work. Apparently, he would look out his window, to a cat on a chestnut tree. This cat became the model for the Cheshire Cat from Alice in Wonderland. Despite scouring for a view of said tree, it was hidden from me by a quite sufficient wall. For now... that concluded my tour.

Next stop was the Museum of the History of Science. The museum was small, with a ground floor, upstairs and down. I ran out of time unfortunately, and never made it to the upstairs. Rumor places one of Einstein's blackboards there... which is just cool. In many ways that described the museum as a whole. The most prominent objects all seemed to be astrolabes. Unfortunately, for all I read I fear I still know very little about how they work. They are however quite beautiful. The ground floor was mostly collections of early tools and models. My two favorites were 1) a collection of wooden geometric shapes, used as teaching aids. They reminded me of the shapes we like displaying on our mantle back home. 2) was a tower/model/memorial (nobody is quite sure) to mathematics. It was a marble pillar, sculpted into various geometric figures, and decorated by a few 3D models made of brass or iron. I thought it cool.

The downstairs level housed the current featured exhibit, this time on Sciences and Arts in the Islamic World. Here there were large collections of teaching models and surgical equipment. By size alone the collection was impressive. This was also home to many of the displayed astrolabes. Around the the other side of the exhibit though is what I found most interesting. I've always known Islamic art was very symmetric and geometric. Here, there were a series of these designs, and the breakdown to how they can be geometrically recreated. When you look at their construction it was amazing how simple their components are. Those were awesome.

So it was just after noon and I headed up to meet Emmy at her place. We'd emailed to see if anyone cared to join us but received no confirmations. So, we went for our walk with no company, but we were aplenty of company for ourselves. We walked north, out of the city. We crossed a horse field of some kind, though the details on the field were a bit unknown. From there we crossed a river (a portion of the Thames) and continued north. The course of this walk simply continued north up the river as we passed this field to our right. As Oxford faded into the distance we had some great views of the city. It was unfortunately grey weather, but the cloudiness with patches of blue made it feel strangely in place. The one "major" site on the route was the remains of an Abbey. It was pretty, but not all that impressive. However, it was nice to ask some questions, which I think led me to a better understanding about the structure of abbeys, monasteries and cathedrals.

Our walk ended as we reached a series of locks. Here we crossed the river again to a restaurant/pub called The Trout. Sadly, all of the tables were booked, but, we were able to swipe a bar table when another couple left after just a short wait. It was a very fun environment. We each ordered lunch, Myself a butternut squash risotto and Emmy a trout off the specials. Both were good but it was funny to have trout at The Trout.

Lunch was great and we walked back. When we reached Oxford it was 4:30. Em went to meet a friend who has been taking some time off and was on campus for the day. I returned to Christ's Church. Here, they had already closed to tourists. Luckily I explained I was here earlier and that the dining hall had been closed. They laughed and let me in, joking about "another Harry Potter fan". With that I laughed and explained that Kenyon had the runner up dining hall for the movies and I wanted to compare. It was funny. So, the hall was pretty great. As I turned the stairs that climbed to the hall, I could see the scenes from the movie where every character stood there. It was neat.

The hall itself was pretty cool. Most times, locations are computer modified to resemble the real room but not be so recognizable. Here, it was clear mirrors were used to enlarge the room, but short of that it was identical. A long, dark wooden hallway. 3 long tables that spanned the room. At the head of the tables, and a step elevated stood the High Table, running perpendicular to the other three. The walls were densely mounted with portraits. It was very much the dining hall. From a comparative standpoint, I could see a comparison, but for the most part, they were still different. I fear I am uncertain of how to describe that effect... but there you have it.

I then met up with Em again. We killed some time at her place looking at pictures. We then went out for a small sushi dinner. It was no Tsukiji fish market sushi... but it was still good. Also, a necessary step in return myself to eating Japanese food again.

After dinner we went to the Jesus College Chapel. There we saw a small orchestral/choral performance. First, we listened to Handel's Dixit Dominus. It had 9 movements, and I fear I don't know enough about music to say much detail about these. Both the first and the last were extremely exciting and the middle sections were at the very least good. There was then a short intermission, followed by Haydn's Symphony 44. I actually enjoyed this one more and it's first movement (of 4) was my favorite of the night. It was a very good performance and a lot of fun.

After that we returned to Em's place. We worked out a few plans for the next 2 days, and then entertained ourselves looking at pictures. I've discovered I have some really good ones... and some really bad ones. But, they're fun to look at. At this point it was far later than I should have stayed up, so I meandered back to my hostel and collapsed into bed.

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Getting Punted

It apparently does not matter when I go to sleep. I will continue to rise early and be happy about it! Today I did what I usually do in new locations, where I spent a few hours looking into what some of my options for my time in this country. Other than that my hostel provided a free breakfast of toast and various spreads. Simple, but tasty.

At about 10 or 10:30, I headed out onto the town. My plan was simple, "Walk towards the prettiest building I could see." The plan may have been simple, but it was certainly not short. I have decided that walking through Oxford is much like walking through a city made up of tiny castles. Now, clearly castles wouldn't be build all side-by-side, but thats where the occasional house or shop appear.

Anyway, in therms of comparison to Kenyon, as I am like to do... I will stand by the fact that a direct comparison is difficult. Foremost, Oxford certainly has more beautiful buildings. But... Oxford also has far more buildings. That said, I had a great time walking through the campus/city. But, to me the fact that the 'campus' is not well defined is a disadvantage. One of my favorite aspects of Kenyon is how obviously the campus was the community. Therefore, one could actually walk the length of campus. So, that is my overview of beauty comparisons.

Anyway, my walk took me up a few streets and down some alleys. Eventually I found myself of High Street. Rumor has it that High Street is at times (if not always) considered one of the most beautiful streets in Europe. It generally runs East-West, so the sun rises and falls with the street itself. Meanwhile, as the road travels east through the city it banks slightly south as it lowers itself to the botanic gardens and the stream. In the center of the street lies the home of the University Church of St Mary the Virgin.

The Church itself was actually among my list of places to see during my visit. Arriving here this morning happened to be coincidence and perfect. Via email I got in touch with Em, and she met me there, where we ascended over 100 steps to the roof/chase of the clock tower. As with the spires of many churches, this required navigating a tiny passageway to emerge with spectacular views. Part of why today was convenient for arriving at the church is it was the best weather I've had since arriving in England. With clear blue skies I got to look over the city of Oxford to the north, south, east and west. In each direction Em pointed out to me the most distinguishable buildings. Most notable was the view to the north, as it looked down over Radcliffe Square and Radcliffe Camera. The Square is... a square in the street, and home to the Camera; a tall and magnificent dome that stands as a research and reading center for history buffs (Em...).

From the church we walked back down High Street towards the stream (river?). There, we rented a punt for the next hour. We found ourselves wondering if we were the first punt rental of the year, as they open May 1st, and the last few days have not been pleasant. That said, the current was quite strong and the water quite cold. I felt a bit lazy, as I relaxed in the front and Em did all of the punting from the back. For anyone not aware, punting is a type of long, flat, fairly stable boat that is navigated on streams by long pulls that are pushed off of the stream-bed. Anyway, the current was quite brisk so we had a pretty leisurely drift downstream for about 15 mind, and then had a longer haul back a different route the rest of the time. We had a nice chat with a group of ducks that seemed expectant of bread and got some good views of Oxford in the distance from a stream's point of view.

The ride was flawless until the last few minutes when we had to force our way directly against the current to get back to the dock. There we had a bit of an adventure as the current spun the boat and I was unable to catch the wall in time to ease the impact. The jolt shook Em from the boat, but to her credit, I never even saw her get back in. In the few seconds it took me to stop the boat with the wall she was already back in... as if nothing had happened at all. That aside, we pushed around the corner and finished our ride. A fun story indeed!

We then headed straight back to Em's place so she could dry and the like. It was a bit of a cold and a brisk walk but we did what we could to make it as pleasant as possible. Anyway, once we arrived I turned back towards Radcliffe Square where I would tour the Bodleian Library. Here I had booked a 4:00, 30 minute tour. The tour focused mostly on two rooms. The first was upstairs, the Duke Humfrey's Library. This room simply felt old. The books looked old, the walls looked old, the wood looked old. Just old, (but well maintained). Turns out, for a book to be stored there it must have been printed prior to 1880 (if memory serves). The room (and library) was much thanks to Thomas Bodley, who donated the money to restore the building. Furthermore, he made an agreement with the only publishing company of England that the University could request 1 free copy of every book published. That agreement to this day stands, so the library is constantly growing. I thought that was really cool.

We then went downstairs to see the main room of the Divinity School. This is a very simple (in terms of shape and furniture) room. A square with a few benches on either end, used by the school as a lecture hall. The hall itself is a thank you to all those who helped fund he building. On the ceiling is engraved the family seal of each person who donated for the cause. The room is commonly recognized as the medical ward of the Harry Potter films and was also home of the ballroom dance instruction scene from The Goblet of Fire specifically.

After the library (Tolkien also studies there... fyi) I headed back to meat up with Em for dinner. We went out to a local Indian Restaurant which was quite easy, and something I have been missing. After dinner we went back to her place and put together a few more specific ideas and scheduling for tomorrow. Afterwards, we rented Death at a Funeral, for a good laugh, and had a quiet night with some tea and snacks. Afterwards, I headed off to call it a night.

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Back To School

Well the morning was not to terribly much to talk about. I woke up, had another breakfast sandwhich, did some readings and writings... the usual. Before long though it was time to pack my bags and be out. That said, I was bidding my farewells to Margaret and heading out the door at about 12:30.

First stop was my tube ride to Paddington Station. There I was a few minutes late of catching the train to Oxford. Luckily they left every 20 minutes or so, so it was no big deal. In the meantime I picked up a small bagel sandwich to munch on for lunch. I then boarded my train and had a 1 hour and uneventful trip to Oxford.

From the train station it was an easy 2-3 minute walk to the hostel. There I had likely the warmest hostel welcome of my trip. I was even offered a full tour. I accepted but after the fact it seemed a bit unnecessary. Once checked in I dropped my bags, grabbed a map and headed across the tiny river to find Em.

And that meeting went swimmingly. It was less than a 10 minute walk which I reached without any mishaps (always a good start). En route, while I saw only small glimpses of the town/city/campus... it was quite lovely. With Emmy we discussed this further. It was great to see her again, and the fact that our current meeting was in Oxford, England made it all the better.

For a while we just sat and talked, recapping a bit of what we'd each done since seeing each other at New Years. We then talked a bit about potential activities for the next few days, as well as some opinions I'd had so far. Throughout the ordeal, I fear I may have insulted Emmy's darling Oxford without intent or malice, but she proved to be as difficult as ever. :) That said, despite our perpetual debate of belonging to a school with a more beautiful campus, I did at least concede that Oxford's campus is quite nice (this view was reinforced through the day). I will by no means rank it higher than by dear old Kenyon... at least not yet.

I also had a realization about Oxford itself and got a bunch of clarities to some aspects that confused me. First I got an explanation on the various Colleges and how they differed from the University at large. Post explanation, I understood it to be similar to the residential colleges of Yale. That said, I realize that Oxford came first, but to those familiar with US universities and not those of England, I thought this a fair claim. I am also a bit sure of where Oxford is a campus and where its a town. Regardless, I have so far greatly enjoyed the numerous old buildings and small alleyways that curve up and down hills. It is a quite lovely area.

That is of course... if you can ignore the weather. I continue to receive outlandish claims that the English spring is utterly beautiful, yet I have experienced clouds and cold and threatening rain. I am yet unconvinced of Emmy's claim about spring here... We'll see though.

I believe at about 5, we headed through the town to Pete's apartment (Pete being a friend of Em's). There we met Pete (clearly) who was at least as punny as we are, so that went over well. There I borrowed a suit jacket and a tie for the formal Oxford dinner we would be attending. We then got ready (Em wore the pink jewels my parents gave her. Thought you two would like to know...) and headed to a local bar for cocktails. There I met Jen(?) and Rob (if this wrong I apologize. Never was great with names...). Em bought me a mojito, which was awesome and one of the drinks I've been meaning to have so that I know what to mimic when I start making them. We had some fun talks and then headed to dinner.

This involved a brief tour through the quad and some buildings of Jesus College, which were nice. Unlike Kenyon, the quads are actually square. A bazaar (is this the wrong spelling of the word?) occurence indeed. The hall reminded me of Kenyon a bit as well. Long wooded tables with long wooden benches. On that front I felt quite at home. Also me ...Bob? there (again, I apologize for incorrect names).

The dinner itself was terrific. The first course was a soup, I would guess it was a potato leak. That was followed by trout and beans. No Japanese sushi but delicious all the same. Then the main course was chicken and mashed potatoes in some gravy, with broccoli and candied onions, topped with a strip of bacon. The dinner was concluded with a gooseberry pudding. For all that I compare it visually to Kenyon... we did not have formal dinners quite like these.

After dinner the group of us (and we were joined by 1 other person) heads over the the common room for a casual game of trivial pursuit. It was hands down the most competitive game of Pursuit I've ever been a part of. Usually I quit and play only to the first wedge. That said, there were two teams and much of it came down to Emmy vs. Rob. All teammates had an occasional bit of insight... but the majority was them. I had a personal highlight in my Trivial Pursuit life. With the question, "What did the Montgolfier brothers rise to fame in?" I forget what Emmy started suggesting but I said... "It could be a pun. Like... hot air balloon." We went with it and I was correct. It was awesome! The game actually got called a draw. Both teams had all 6 wedges and nobody was getting the final question right. So, as midnight approached we called it a draw.

There we bid farewell to the others and I joined Em back to her place. There We had some tea and I showed her my pictures of New Zealand and a few from Australia. That was fun for me because I had never looked at many of those. Before long we were both fading and called it a night.

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A London Walk

Jetlag continues to be a nuisance, and while I was able to fight myself back to sleep, it did create a bit of a messed up schedule so I did not go running today. I did however have my usual breakfast and began a load of laundry (which Margaret so nicely helped dry while I was out). Long story short, I headed out for sightseeing around 10:30.

My trip began with an uneventful subway ride across (under?) The Thames, and to the station of Southwark. There, I walked to my first stop, The Globe Theatre. This is in fact the third Globe Theatre, as the first was burned down during a performance and the second was torn down during a civil war. The current one is a rebuilt version, with all the same designs as its predecessors. That includes the thatch roof (which is in fact banned in England. This is the only one as a result of their likelihood of fire...) and the wooden joints being fastened by wooden pegs.

My timing could hardly have been better. I purchased my entrance ticket at about 11:28 and was then admitted into the 11:30 tour. We were taken outside the theatre building where we were told a bit about the history of the buildings construction. Here, the tiled stone ground is inscribed on each tile with the name of a patron who had donated at least 300 pounds. Among the names I found was Paul Newman, which I enjoyed as we share an alma matter. This is when/where I learned about those few architectural facts I had previously mentioned.

We then went inside where we were expecting to only get a few views, but no pictures or lectures because the theatre currently has ongoing reversals of a modern-dressed production of Macbeth. We were fortunate however, in that the reversal was not in session, so we could both talk and take photos. It was a very simple theatre, with 3 floors of seating in a simple circle. The stage was circular, jutting out from one wall, with a small extension in the front. The plays are/were preformed in daylight, so there is no lighting and as was the case in Shakespeare's time, the performances are done without sets (a sad fact for us set builders...). However, the theatre was also very small, which meant that every seat had a good view and you were always close to the action.

After my visit to the globe theatre, I mingled in the shop and got myself a blueberry muffin and a coffee. It was fine. The muffin was a bit odd with a sort of jelly in its center... but still good. From there I headed out of the theatre towards the river, where I found the Millennium Bridge. I think, I would normally have found this walking bridge pretty cool. However, I'm still a bit hooked on that helix bridge in Singapore and saw this as a "lesser version". That said, it was still a cool design. Looking east off of the bridge I could see the London Tower Bridge, which has always been my favorite of the London sites. Unfortunately, the weather was a bit hazy and the bridge was far away so the view was subpar. That said, as I looks towards the end of the bridge I found myself looking down an alleyway to the foot of St. Paul's Cathedral, and that was an impressive view. That, brings me to my next site of the cathedral itself.

Now, I realize that I have in the past criticized cathedrals, saying that before long they all look the same. Perhaps its because its been a long time since I've seen one, or St. Paul's is really impressive, but no trip to London will be complete have you not seen it. It's massive blue domed top can be seen from everywhere around the city. Inside, it is absolutely beautiful. High vaulted ceilings with the ground level decorated by the occasional memorial or tomb. The baptism fountain at the entrance is carved from a single piece of blue marble. The easter end is where the quire is located. Here, the seats are rowed benches carved ornately out of wood. The ceiling, still arched is decorated by glass mosaics. My favorite displaying different animals around the base. The end of this hallway is the home of the grand altar, and behind it is the a chapel dedicated to the American Soldiers who lost their lives in Britain during the second world war.

The heart of the cathedral is clearly its domed center. From the ground, the peak of St. Paul's dome reaches 365 feet above the floor. It is not coincidence that this is the number of days in a year, but an intentional measurements of the original architect in an attempt to combine science and religion. The dome itself is twofold. The dome is really designed as 2 domes nested inside each other. From inside a person looks up into a smaller domed ceiling, that is of a size to proportionally fit the interior of the cathedral. This dome is known as the Whispering Gallery. Encasing this inner dome is the blue dome seen from outside. The architect felt that the smaller dome made the outside of the cathedral feel disproportioned so he encased it with this larger exterior. This way, the cathedral seemed perfectly in proportion both inside and out.

Aside from the ground floor of the cathedral, one can go both high and low. I began with a trip up to the higher galleries. First to the Whispering Gallery where I could look down to the cathedral floor. Then I continued upwards to the various levels of the roof. At the top I had tremendous 360 degree views of the city. It was quite beautiful. Should you attempt this, do be aware, there are z lot of stairs and there are some very narrow points. They do warn you of this and they are not exaggerating. I then headed into the basement where the crypt is. This is a very somber place, and not just for the burials located here. The most powerful tomb is that of Duke Wellington, a simple garnet casket with exceedingly few decorations. This, and the room around it are decorated by the flags of those allied with the duke during times of war. The crypt is very much a war memorial and the simplicity of this particular tomb makes it very humbling. So yeah... from one who does not always speak highly of seeing cathedrals, I speak highly of this one.

I then walked east along the river, which was very pretty. I would gradually approach the tower bridge, but continued to be unsatisfied with my pictures, thinking they would keep getting better as I got closer. Turns out, when you reach the bridge it becomes very difficult to take pictures of the entire bridge. Luckily I had some good views later. En route I passed the London Tower. I was getting a bit tired at this point and opted to not tour the inside. I did however walk the perimeter and it is...well... a castle/fort. It definitely looks the part. From there I headed out onto the tower bridge, which I do not recall walking on my previous visits to London. From the bridge you get a very different, but still pretty spectacular view of the towers.

At the end of the bridge I turned west and headed back up the bank towards the subway station. Along the way I walked along the coast. This walk is when the skies cleared for the sun and I got some great views of the Tower Bridge. My walk took me along the HMS Belfast... which is... well... a battleship. It looks cool, but is what you'd expect, so nothing too fantastic. I then turned from the coast and when I reached the main street found myself in front of the London Dungeon. That brought back another set of fond memories from my first trip to this country. It was then a short last bit of walking to the station.

I returned to the flat where my laundry was still drying. I eventually had it finish and folded it. Other than that, I made another batch of burgers for dinner and Margaret and I continued to eat our way through our blue cheese. Oh, how I do love that stuff. Anyway, tomorrow I head to Oxford, but today had some good sites.

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The Fantastic Fans

Stupid jetlag... I woke up at about 5:30 today and despite my best efforts was wide awake. So, I got up and finished my blog for yesterday... which I was having trouble finishing as a result of being tired from the same jetlag... Anyway, with that done and the sun beginning to rise I thought it would be a nice time for a run in Hyde Park.

The weather was much nicer today; low forties and simply cloudy... no rain. I headed up the street and around the bend to the entrance to the park. There I took a jog mostly just following the perimeter of the lake/pond that runs through the middle of the park. Within minutes I did have to take a quick stop though as I passed the well remembered Peter Pan statue. I remember taking pictures there at the age of 7... maybe tossing some bread to ducks... oh the nostalgia... Anyway, I started up again, headed under the bridge and around the lake. The statue was by far my favorite place, if for no other reason then the memory of it. That said, there are a lot of ducks/birds/swans. At one point I saw a heron too, and that was cool. Anyway, after about 45 minutes to an hour I headed back to the flat.

My morning there consisted of little more than breakfast, coffee, a shower and some random things online. Most important of note was booking myself a room for my visit to Oxford. Other than that there were more emails and things to read. As 11 approached Margaret and I got ready to head to the Fan Museum in Greenwich.

The trip itself was uneventful, but we exit the train station in Greenwich onto a little alleyway that I described as quite quaint. It had a bunch of little shops on it as it curved up a slight slope to the main road. We were both a bit surprised to find that the fan museum to be labeled on the street signs. But, the museum was a short walk away and we headed there. Once there we at first bought tickets, and then mentioned our particular relation to the museum. This led to the following...

The woman selling tickets was very polite but did not know much. We had a pleasant conversation about where we were from and that our great grandmother had donated a couple hundred fans. Meanwhile, a man from the other room came in, and after a disclaimer of not eavesdropping inquired if we had just mentioned 'Young' as in ... 'Harold Young'. When we confirmed we welcomed us warmly and went to see if Helen Alexander would have a chance to meet us. Unfortunately, she appears to have been preoccupied. As we were looking around a ground floor room, we were returned our money for admission, despite declining it. Instead, we just made sure to spend it at their shop before leaving.

The museum is... very small. The ground floor had a nice introduction that discussed fans ranging from materials (including ivory, tortoise shell, and mother of pearl) to how they've changed. For materials I enjoyed learning the "mother of pearl" is actually a material. I had previously thought that that was a phase used sort of as a polite swear. Oops... the progression I thought was hilarious and showed great taste in humor. It had a large number of handhold fans, and at the very end had a set of modern electric blade fans. Yes... I suppose they technically are fans.

Upstairs, today was the first day of their current display on "Everyday Life", that is, fans who's artwork portrays everyday people doing ordinary things. In terms of the collection's presentation, I enjoyed that most of the fans were mounted in front of mirrors to display their backs. With the exhibit were 3 fans, once owned by my great grandmother and donated by my grandmother, Leanna, and her sister, Lucinda. The first was titled 'La Promenade' and is supposedly an American fan from 1880. It is a wooden fan with a painting of a country scene with a cottage in its center. To one side is a girl under some blossoming trees by a pond with some swans. To the other side is a couple walking along a path through the woods. The second fan of hers was titled 'Putting on a Face'. This was my favorite of my great grandmother's fans on display. It was a great set of greens and blues. A wooden fan, with the leaf covering the top half of the ribs. The fan displayed a sailboat on a lake, sailing towards a sunset on the wooden ribs themselves. Meanwhile, the leaf was a simple green with a painting of a woman and mirror, putting on makeup. The third and final fan on display was a Japanese fan from 1890 titled 'Differing to the Gentleman'. It was an image of a Japanese woman under some chrysanthemums while a japanese man holding a closed fan sat as an onlooker from a nearby chair.

After the exhibit, we visit the shop, made some polite farewells and departed. We headed down to a fish and chips shop for our 1 required english meal. In the words of Auto from A Fish Called Wanda... "What is it that the English love to eat with their chips???" Fish! So yea, I had fish and chips and a pint of an English bitters beer. It was everything I thought it would be...which was a low bar. Fried fish and french fries with a beer. It is what you sign up for.

Then we headed to the observatory, home of the Prime Meridian. I felt a bit the nerd when I found myself wondering where the "Composite Meridian" was located... Anyway, that also brought back some fond memories from my first visit to London. As we stood on the line and took pictures, we looked at the engravings of different cities along the line, each one listed with their geographic location. We both chuckled as we realized how large a percentage of those cities we'd been to.

We then headed back to the flat. When we exited the train station though, we took a quick detour to Hyde Park and the Peter Pan Statue. That was a picture that simply had to be taken for old times sake. It was funny to remember being small enough to climb the statue. Conversely... I am now as tall as the base of the statue...

With that we headed back to the flat. I bought a few more groceries, and with that made some more food. I plan to stay up as late as possible to deal with this jetlag, but we'll see how far that gets me...

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