Oxford

On this Saturday we woke up bright and early to take the bus out to Oxford, and spend the day exploring this city of learning.

And this was the first thing we saw.



As the day went on, we saw countless groups of these dancers in the streets.  Turns out it was Macaroni Day, which was a celebration of the Titanic, marking the 100 year anniversary.

One of our first stops was the Science Museum. 

Dave and an astrolobe.

 This was a chalkboard that Albert Einstein used in one of his lectures.

We also visited the Museum of Natural History.

 Charles Darwin

 Galileo

We also spent considerable time walking around.

The Bridge of Sighs.  Everyone is supposed to take a photo jumping in front of it when visiting Oxford.

Oxford is a city where everyone is thinking and dreaming.  Not surprisingly, many great writers have gone through here.

Charles Dodgson, (aka Lewis Carroll), studied and taught mathematics at Oxford.  While at Christ Church, he met the children of the Dean, including a girl named Alice.  They developed friendships, and he would tell stories, turning their everyday surroundings into Wonderland stories.


C. S. Lewis taught literature and converted to Christianity while at Oxford.  He and J. R. R. Tolkien were friends here, and their discussions contributed to the creation of the Narnia, and Lord of the Rings books.

These objects were near where C. S. Lewis lived and taught, and they found their way into Narnia.

Mr. Tumnus

Aslan

 The Lampost

We also went to the Bodleian Library where we saw original Shakespeare manuscripts.

Being the literary and information center of Britain, we learned that Hitler had plans of making Oxford the capital of England, had he won the war.

Trinity College.

We heard all kinds of tales about different traditions that are upheld in Oxford.  There are 39 colleges in Oxford, and each have their own traditions and tales, as well as their own independent classes (which I think is a bit inefficient).  These are a few of our favorites:

The Turtle Race - The Bodelian College students gather round once a year and make a circle with lettuce, and put a few turtles in the middle.  There is cigar smoking and betting, and ultimately the winning turtle is the one who wanders to the edge of the lettuce circle first.

One day a student was walking in the woods, only to be attacked by a wild boar.  Jamming Aristotle into the beast's jaws, he was able to kill the pig.

Once a year the students from one college walk backwards around their building to celebrate Daylight Savings Time.

A student was very apprehensive about an upcoming exam.  Finally, he gave up studying his course material and started to read the rule book, looking for a way out.  The next day, while sitting in the large hall, most likely wearing a robe, he asked the examiner if he could have a pint, for he was thirsty.  The examiner refused him, but the student showed him the rule.  (Now this rule was from the time when the people drank ale instead of water).  The student was allowed to retake the test another day.  When he returned, however, the examiner, not to be outdone, asked where he had tied his horse.  The student, of course, had no horse, but there was a rule that students must arrive on horseback to write the exam.  He ended up failing his exam.

Harry Potter -

 This is Divinity College, where the scenes in the infirmary of Hogwarts were filmed.

 This is the high ceilinged dining hall in Christ Church College which inspired the Great Dining Hall in Hogwarts.

 Blackwell's Bookstore.  This holds the world record for being the biggest single room devoted to selling books in the world.  The shop front looks normal, but this is downstairs.

To finish off the day, we went punting down the river.  It was quite serene.

We had a great day in Oxford.

The Lake District

 From Ireland, we flew into the John Lennon Airport in Liverpool.  We spent the weekend in nearby Chorley, near Preston.

Then we made our way over to Windermere, in the Lake District.

We spent four days in the lovely Lake District.  My dad described it as wild, in a civilized way.  It was a really beautiful national park, with tall hills and lakes, lots of stone walls and sheep, and villages scattered throughout.  We spent each day hiking around, walking by the lakes, through sheep pastures, and up really high hills.  One day we went on a cruise down Lake Windermere.  In the evenings, we shopped at outdoor equipment stores, and tried the local cuisine in tasty restaurants.  We stayed in a bed and breakfast called The Fir Trees, which was really nice, and we had great English breakfasts every morning.  The Lake District was Beatrix Potter land, as she bought the area to preserve it, and the different animals we came across reminded us of her books.

 

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 On the cruise down Lake Windermere, Britain's largest lake.

 These were some ruins of a Roman fortress.

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Jemima Puddle Duck and friend near Hill Top, Beatrix Potter's farm

 For this particular hike, Dave and I just picked a good looking hill and decided to climb it.

The Land of Leprechauns

We went on a four day tour of Ireland.  It was aptly named "Taste of Ireland."

DAY ONE:

We started off the trip in Dublin.  We flew into Dublin that morning, and then had a tour of the city in the afternoon.

I liked the feel of Dublin.  It felt very modern, yet still full of European history, and it wasn't too big.  It seemed like a place that was full of ideas and art.  It didn't feel very prosperous, though, and there were some buildings where construction had to be abandoned.  Hopefully things turn better for Ireland.

 There were lots of interesting buildings and sculpture around Dublin.  This was the Millenium Spire, the tallest point in Dublin, also known as the Stiletto in the Ghetto.  Apparently there was quite a controversy about it when it was built.

 This was a memorial for the Potato Famine.  It is supposed to show several suffering people making their way to the ships to hopefully a better life in another country. This was right along the Liffy River.

 Ireland is the only country in the world to have a musical instrument as its symbol.  The Guinness symbol is the same harp, just facing the opposite way.  We heard a lot about Guinness while we were here.

 Dublin Castle.  We were able to tour some of the state rooms.  It was interesting to see how beautifully decorated with propaganda the place was - there were frescoes and paintings about wonderful Britain who took care of Ireland, and everyone getting along, and Ireland needing Britain's help.  All very symbolically, of course.

St. Patrick's Cathedral.  St. Patrick was kept by the Irish for many years as a slave.  When he finally was able to return back home, he decided that he wanted to go back to Ireland and serve the people.  He baptized many Irish people and spent years in their service.

Dublin is a city that is very proud of and involved with literature, and many great authors come from Dublin.  Here is a sculpture of Oscar Wilde.

Bright painted doors are a trademark of Dublin.  Originally, people would paint their doors different colors so it was easier to find the right door at the end of a long, Guinness filled night.  Apparently.

In the evening, we were treated to a night filled with great Irish music, dancing, and food, at the Merry Ploughboys Pub.

   

DAY TWO:

The highlight of this day was visiting the Blarney Castle.

 

We all kissed the Blarney Stone!

Now we have the gift of blarney.  We should never be at a loss for words again.

There was a poison garden.  I am about to pull out a Mandrake, and Dave is getting ready for the scream.

 The grounds around the castle were beautiful.  I thought it would be easy to believe in magic if you spent much time here.

 There was an entire fairy garden.  These are Wishing Steps, and there was also a witches hut, a stone circle, a waterfall that was just asking for nymphs... all kinds of magic.

DAY THREE:

We drove around the Ring of Kerry.  This provided for a few picturesque moments.

We had the opportunity to watch a sheep dog demonstration.  It was so fun and interesting.  There was a shepherd, and two sheep dogs.  They were very attentive to the whistles, and the shepherd had specific whistles for each dog, and each command.

For the second and third nights we stayed in a town called Killarney.  It was a bright, lovely town.

DAY FOUR:

We visited the Cliffs of Moher, which was a huge highlight.  The cliffs were amazing!

We also visited The Skellig Experience.  Skellig Michael is an island just south of the Ring of Kerry that is a world heritage site.  We weren't able to go out to the island itself, but we learned about it and saw the area.  From the 7th century, it was the center of monastaric life for Christian monks, and it remained so for the next 600 years.  It is a very rocky, formidable, isolated island, and I think it would be pretty tough to live there.  Small Skellig, the island beside Skellig Michael, has some of the largest colonies of seabirds in the world.

That night, we had a medieval banquet.  It was held in Bunratty Castle, and it featured authentic entertainment of mistrel singers and harp players.  When we arrived we were served mead, (or fruit juice), and we sat at long wooden tables for the feast where we were given only daggers to eat our meal with.  When the meal was finished, they threw the bones to the prisoners.

Outside of Bunratty Castle there was a folk village, which Mom and I visited the next morning. 

DAY FIVE:

Driving around Ireland was very beautiful.  The roadsides were full of yellow gorse, which I loved.

 All the towns we drove through were brightly colored.

We had lunch at this market.  We bought that-day-fresh milk in a glass bottle, and there were live chickens in cages for sale.

 

This is where the River Shannon meets the Atlantic Ocean. We took a ferry across to Shannon.

 When we arrived in Shannon, it was time to get on a plane, and say good bye to Ireland.