A Bird's Eye View

Wednesday's discussion focused on Emma, the second of our novels.  This was my first read through, so I wasn't as confident in my knowledge about this book and its characters.  Regardless, the discussion was fun and I found myself examining each character from a new perspective.  Supposedly Emma is referred to as a "perfect novel", but I'm not sure I buy that one.  Maybe I just need to spend some more time with the book before I see it...at the end of the day I was still a bigger fan of Pride and Prejudice.  Wednesday afternoon was spent sightseeing with Helena.  Luckily she had made a list of must see sights in Oxford and I was more than happy to accompany her to the botanical garden, Magdalen College, and up the tower of the church with our beloved cafe.  The botanical garden was really lovely--in fact, I learned that I really love English gardens.  Although I have what I consider a brown thumb, I think I might like to try to plant my own flower garden someday (don't quote me on that though!).  The back of the garden runs into the Thames and we watched with amusement as some folks attempted punting and rowing on their own.  I think I'll save that for next trip!

Punting on the Thames...this guy was a skilled punter!

And here are the amateurs!

A wonderful example of an English garden...stunning, isn't it?

Magdalen College (pronounced Maudlin) wasn't far from the gardens and it was open for visitors.  It was kind of refreshing to leave the chaos and tourists of Christchurch behind and to get a look at another of Oxford's colleges (I should note that there are more than twenty spread throughout the city).  Magdalen was smaller, but still quite beautiful.

It was almost as if I could hear the conversation going on between them...

...I think the woman looks exasperated and the man is trying to talk his way out of something!

Inside Magdalen College

The chapel

Looking out from the corridor into a beautiful garden.

The Hall at Magdalen College...much smaller than the one at Christchurch.

What beautiful grass...but alas, I cannot walk on it!

As it neared three o'clock it was time for tea!  We made our way to our favorite cafe but before sitting down for scones decided to climb up the tower.  It was a bit more cramped up there than I expected, but certainly worth the hike!  Getting a bird's eye view of Oxford was really magnificent.  Plus, I happen to be quite directionally challenged so it was nice to get the lay of the land and see where we were in relationship to Christchurch.

I couldn't help taking a picture of this!

The Radcliffe Camera from above.

Rooftops of Oxford.

Our garden cafe!

Gargoyles!

Pretty painted shops

Can you see Tom Tower of Christchurch off to the right?

So many steeples...

The evening brought a special treat.  The Georgia Boys choir happened to be staying at Christchurch and performed the Evensong service.  I had never been before, but was really entranced by hearing scripture sung.  The boys have incredible voices and informed us at breakfast the next morning that we should check them out on Facebook.  After dinner myself, Trish, Helena, Mila, and Mila's German friend snuck out of the Christchurch compound and over to one of the oldest pubs in the city.  After chatting up the bartender, who incidentally had lived in the States and made a hobby of skydiving there, we grabbed a table and enjoyed our beverages as we marveled at the number of ties that had been tacked to the wall by students.  I wish I'd taken a photo.  No matter, tomorrow was going to be an exciting day so we wrapped things up at the pub and said good-night!

Rewinding...back to Oxford!

Okay, so I really want to finish putting up photos from my summer trip to England...and I'm feeling quite wistful (in the day-dreaming longing sort of way) about my week in Oxford so hopefully I can get through the rest of the week in one sitting!  On Monday my class in Oxford began and I found myself part of a very diverse group of eleven ladies plus one tutor.  Val (our tutor) spent the first morning leading us through Jane Austen's life, discussing the status of women, and defining a heroine.  Austen's life was really quite interesting and I wondered what it might have been like to live during her time (minus the lack of electricity and modern plumbing).  The morning flew by and before I knew it we were breaking for lunch in the Hall (yes, the same Hall that Hogwart's great hall is modeled after from Harry Potter).  That afternoon Helena and I signed up for the optional tour of Christchurch--we figured that we ought to get a good look around and learn a bit of history about our week-long home.  

The Master's Garden...so lovely!

A really, really old tree!

Cemetery behind Christchurch Cathedral. 

The cathedral is small but beautiful on the inside.

These windows are something special.  They depict the Archbishop of Canterbury being beheaded but the image was quickly punched out when the threat of total devastation came.

A fairly new addition to the courtyard I passed through on my way to the Hall each day.

The olive tree arrived at the same time as the fountain--commissioned by the dean's wife.

Inside the Great Hall...these are all tourists anxious to get a look at it!

Ahhh, Oxford

After the tour I set out to do a bit of exploring on my own.  I found a few cute shops to while away my pounds sterling and headed back for dinner with my new friends.  The meals, by the way, were really nice!


Tuesday's class brought a lively discussion about Pride and Prejudice, one of my very favorite books.  I've read it four or five times now and I always seem to discover something new with each read.  We had some fascinating discussions about Elizabeth Bennet, Mr. Darcy, Jane, Charlotte Lucas, and Mr. Bingley.  I felt like we could have kept going on this book for the entire week, but sadly we wrapped up the discussion just in time for lunch.  Today I met up with Helena and Trish for more wandering about the city.  I picked up an Oxford sweatshirt (and actually managed to get the proper size this time--third time is the charm) and wandered around Marks and Spencers a bit.  The high-light of this adventure has to be Paperchase!  I LOVE stationary stores and this is a good one.  I found all sorts of fun things that I didn't really need, but had a blast doing it.  From there Helena took us over to her fantastic discovery...a cafe that operates out of a churchyard.  It was absolutely perfect!  We loaded up our trays with tea and scones with jam and cream (a daily staple from here on) and sat outside in the churchyard, watching the people pass by.

Yep, I seem to take a new picture of this everyday! 

Hello fish!

Water lily in bloom.

Tonight we skipped dinner and headed out on our own for Italian before my birthday treat.  On Sunday afternoon we had booked tickets to a performance of As You Like It that was playing in the courtyard of the Bodleian Library.  It was a bit of a cold evening, but the performance was fantastic and the lead actor who played Orlando was adorable!

The seating set up in the courtyard.

Pretty cool to imagine seeing a Shakespearean play here, isn't it?

I think my teeth chattered all the way back to Christchurch, but it was worth it!  What a fun way to spend my 29th birthday!

Japan 2010

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