Thursday Sept 5th A day in Oxford

Ah...I think we're in England. Walked to the main campus in a light rain with umbrella in hand. Stopped at the Weston library foyer and cafe before our 11: 00 walking tour of campuses and city.

Under umbrellas and in rain coats we followed Juliet around the city and thru a couple of colleges. My pictures are of a variety spots and when I get home I'll label them accurately. But for now just enjoy.

We did learn that Oxford University is made up of 43 "colleges". An applicant applies to Oxford University, then if accepted applies for the college they're interested in. The various colleges aren't subject specific. You might choose one because of its history or a family member went there. Sixty percent of the undergrads are from the UK. Ninety percent of the grads (master and PhDs) are international. The university was initially male only and from only private secondary schools. But the rules have changed over the years (though one didn't go co-ed until 1985). Of course many famous people have attended or taught at Oxford. Bill Clinton, TS Eliot, Dorothy Sayers, Tony Blair all attended Oxford. Both C S Lewis and Tolkein taught at Oxford at the same time.

Behind this door is where CS Lewis worked when writing the Chronicles of Narnia. Notice Mr Tumnus on the side of the door.

We also stopped inside the Divinity school, part of the Bodleian library (where we visited last night.) This room was where they filmed the infirmary scene in Harry Potter (Harrys arm bone had to be regrown) By the way the divinity school has nothing to do with a divinity degree. It was one of the earliest built sections of the library.

Went back to our room for a rest; just in time too. A rain and thunderstorm came through. Everything cleared up by the time we headed to Evensong at Christ Church. Founded in 1546 Christ Church is both a college of Oxford University and the Cathedral church of the diocese of Oxford. Choral Evensong follows the book of Common Prayer. Tonight's service included the singing of Psalms 27, 28 and 29.

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Pretrip practice

Hello my friends and family. This is just a practice "run" of posting on our Britain blog. I always have to relearn the steps. So.... we leave on Monday Aug 19th mid morning flying thru Seattle and then straight to London. We arrive Tues morning around 9:50 am London time (which is 8 hrs ahead -or about 1AM our time) A rough itinerary London Edinburgh Inverness Edinburgh York Keswick ( Lake district of England) Shrewsbury Swansea ( Wales) and on to Cardiff Bath Wareham ("Jurassic Coast - south west coast) Oxford Cotswold Oxford London If you only see this page, there should be links somewhere on the page to get you to the other postings

Sunday Sept 8th London

We decided to visit the Churchill War rooms today. We figured out the tube (the underground) and traveled to the Westminster area. Met some folks from Ohio while standing in line waiting for our entry time. One of the gentlemen served at Kodiak in the navy. He and Dennis had a great "military in Alaska" chat. The War rooms and museum were great. The war museum was almost overwhelming with the amount of information displayed Clementine Churchill's room underground Afterwards we walked around the Parliment square garden adding photos of Big Bend, Westminster Cathedral,Westminster Bridge, the Parliment building and ALL the tourists. The clouds had cleared and it was beautiful. (Last nights forecast for today had been up to 75% chance of rain!) We sat at the park and then strolled up Whitehall street up to Trafalgar square...

Friday September 6th. The Cotswolds

Today we booked a tour of the Cotswolds. Cot inferring small and wolds connected to the sheep trade. The area is full of rolling green hills with villages and small towns nestled among the hills. The entire area is home to only about 170,000 people. Thats about one person per 2 sheep in the region. The first village we visited, Snowshill, had a population of 184. It had a church, a pub and a telephone. (Joke from our driver Steve). In order not to bore you with little details here is an overview. Several of the other towns would have more like 3000 to 5000 population. We visited Chipping Campden, Bourton on the Water, Stow on the Wold, Bibury and started at Moreton in Marsh. We drove through Dover's hill, Broadway, Great Barrington, Ablington, Winson Village and Coln St. Dennis. Old original market in Chipping Campden A majority of villages hav...

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