Successful Excursion!

My trip to Highclere Castle aka Downton Abbey turned into a marvelous success today!
I took pictures until the camera battery died. Unfortunately, photos are not allowed inside the castle, but you all know what it looks like in there.

Each of the downstairs rooms had a tour guide to explain where you were and what all was in the room. They were all exquisite.  One great touch was the current family photos they have placed in each room. Removes the museum-like feel from the house. Let's see, they showed us the Drawing, Dining, Smoking,  and Morning Rooms, as well as the Library. The middle area that is open to the 2nd and 3rd floors is called the Grand Saloon or something like that -- its walls are covered in painted leather -- all the walls are works of art the leather, silk tapestries, hand paintings, silk wall coverings - as are the ceilings (exception being the Smoking room)! Each room has an unbelievable fireplace, too.

On the 2nd floor, there was a wonderful lady who showed me all around! I was the only one in the house for a while because it was later in the afternoon and pretty slow. She snuck me into one of the bedrooms to have a real look. It is the room used as Edith's in the show.  Amazing views! Can you imagine waking up and seeing those rolling hills every morning? And sheep! Everywhere --
3rd floor wasn't open, and the power was out for some reason, so they weren't letting people downstairs because it was too dark.

After I descended the grand oak stairwell, I visited the gardens surrounding the castle.  Beautiful, and accompanied by bleating sheep in the background.

I did get the impression from the show that the driveway pulls right up to the front of the house, but actually you drive up from the left side of the house. There is an enormous field in front.  Tricky cameras!
 Speaking of cameras, here are my attempts to capture some of the sights for you:

 My first full view of the castle from the drive. 

 The family's motto is engraved above the window sills and doorways and on the dining room wall.

 I was here.

 And here!

These columns are called the "Jackdaws Castle" and you can see how near it is to Highclere.

I imagined it to be found in an isolated field, but it is just a short walk from the castle. 

One of the views around the castle.

The "Secret Garden"

Field of wildflowers behind the castle. 

Wish you all had been there with me!

Here is a peek at what was going on when I had my picture taken in front of the castle:

No wonder I look so awkward! 

Weekend Update.

Here are some of the pictures from our last Friday in London: 

Tyler in front of Purdey and Sons: 

We did go in and have an amazing lesson in gun making and the history of Purdey. Tyler was in heaven, and I was having fun, too.


Then we went across the street for a pint and to watch the British Open. We had talked about going to the Open, but the bus we would have ideally taken was full. Worked out in our favor though.


Had a nice dinner and topped it off with a stop at my favorite new gelatto (sp check is trying to change that to gelatin) place --

Mmm cinnamon gelatto! Delicious:

They shape it into this floral design -- 

Back in Oxford since Saturday and adjusting again to the solo tourist life. As I headed west to Oxford, Tyler went south to Brighton. Here are some pictures he sent me on Sunday from his views of the English coast:

He said some of it felt like Coney Island and there are rocks where you would presume sand.

Here you can see the "Brighton Eye"spinning along by the sea.

While he was clowning around, I was taking in some culture at the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford. 

"Britain's Oldest Museum" 

They have collections from all ancient civilizations. 

This ceramic plate is from Iraq. I thought it was interesting because it depicts several quail, and the man at Purdey spent quite some time explaining to us that quail are only indigenous to China, India, and I assume Iraq. All the Western quail were imported from those countries for "shooting parties." Lovely! 

Also, in a recent email conversation, my mom asked if I had seen any "reject china" shops where I could potentially purchase more of my china pattern, which I would not label reject, but maybe they would have some. 

Well, I haven't seen any, but here is a nice dinner plate just for you, Mom!

They also had a great exhibit of hand painted Chinese fans like this one. I took a lot of pictures of these, but here is just one of some fish. the others are bees and insects! Lots of preying mantis images. Reminds me of my 6th grade bug collection!

Also on Sunday my class took a tour of Merton College, one of Oxford's oldest colleges. 

Here is an image of the cathedral exterior:

That is what you see from the street, but when you walk through the outer gates, a whole secret world is revealed.  

Here, the entrance to the hall where students of Merton take their meals:

As you walk through the school's quads and gardens, you come to The Meadow which I believe is associated with Christ's Church College, but is open to the public and just beyond lies the river. 


It was really the most beautiful day I've had here.

This picture shows the boundary of Merton and the Meadow. The wall is the former Oxford city border. Probably built in the 11th or 12th century.

Behind these narrow stained-glass windows is a wooden room full of books. It is one of the oldest functioning libraries in Oxford, and seeing it all was astonishing. I don't think I was prepared. It was like stepping back in time. The books are all leather-bound and they smell... like old books! Delightful!

Here is the interior of the cathedral, specifically the Quire area. The ceiling is beautifully painted with different depictions of angels, and the side windows are original to the building.  Apparently the large stained-glass windows above the pulpit were replaced after Queen Elizabeth I's army laid siege to the college and shattered the originals when attempting convert them from Catholicism to Anglicanism.  Today, it is a Catholic cathedral.

Really fun! 

Class is going well and I have a big day tomorrow.

Will hope to report back then! 

Pay your taxes

Thursday morning I went to the Tower of London to see what all the fuss is about. My friend Mary and I arrived just in time to join one of the Beefeater guided tours and he made our visit well worth it. We learned so much about the Tower and all of the people who live there now and were imprisoned there in the past!

Also, it just so happened that Thursday was one of 2 days each year where a naval ship moored in the Thames has to pay their tax to the city. This is done through a procession of the Tower band and the Naval band. In the past, the tax was waged based on the goods of the ship; today the navy brings a barrel of rum for the Yeoman Warders.  Here is a blurry picture of the naval officers carrying the barrel of rum:

When I left the Tower, I turned south and walked across London Bridge towards Borough Market for lunch. It was raining on and off, but the walk provides a great picture of Tower Bridge with the Olympic symbol. 

In Borough Market things were much less hectic than the Saturday that Tyler and I visited. I took some pictures of weird fruits and veg like this lychee: 

Oyster mushrooms:

 Last night we ate at Tom's Kitchen in Somerset House. This is the front of Somerset House which is just east of the Waterloo Bridge (which is where we were standing to take this picture)

This morning we bought some cakes from the neighborhood Saturday market in the Duke of York Square, then we said goodbye for the week. Tyler went to Brighton to play golf with some work friends, and I am now back in Oxford which is nice because I have a bit more down time to catch up on everything we did last week. 

This should be a good week. A different kind of course here all together, but still really interesting. I am going to try to do a few afternoon trips around the area and will post any pictures I manage to get. 

May have to go back to Woodstock/Blenheim after the Olympic Torch debacle from my last attempt. 

Off to supper with new classmates! 

Hope to post more pics from Tyler's phone later on - 

Tyler in London

Hello again!

A lot of activity over the past few days. Have been too busy to even put these pictures up. I am taking this afternoon to do a bit of housekeeping at the flat, and so here are the lastest tales from our adventure as seen from my camera:

Saturday morning -- Picked up a cheddar breadstick from acharming baker and her daughter at the market on Kings Road. Their display included a dash of patriotism:

Afterwards, we took the subway to Westminster and walked along the river bank. Here is Tyler in front of the Thames and the London Eye. You can see how delightful the weather was:

We walked east along the bank and crossed over London Bridge to Borough Market. Along the way we stopped for some pictures at the site of the original Globe theatre. 

 Inside the market we grabbed two delicious burgers - lamb & mint and pork & stilton. Both amazing.

 Mmm...

Topped it off with a double chocolate brownie. Then we ran into this massive cheese stand!

Glass of wine riverside:

Then we went to the Tate Modern and the Evensong service at St. Paul's.  Those pics must be on Tyler's camera. Bet I am in some of them!

Even though we were exhausted from this full day, we pressed on for supper at Le Suquet, a small French place around the corner. Tyler ordered the most unbelievable seafood platter. I have never seen most of the foods that were on it. Half of them were little snail like shells and the waiter brought straight pins to pull the little critters out of the shells with. Very interesting. He loved it. I was happy with salmon in puff pastry!

On Sunday morning we made it just in time for the Matins service at Westminster. I am sorry these pictures on Tyler's phone because they are great. The service was beautiful and the voices of the Westminster choir spiraled up towards the heavens. We sat about 4 seats behind where the Queen was at William and Kate's wedding, if anyone is familliar with that. Then we walked all around the abbey.

That afternoon we headed to Portobello Road in Notting Hill. Here Tyler enjoys a pint at The Duke of Wellington pub after a long afternoon of shopping:

Monday: On my own. No faces in this pics!

Walked Tyler to the subway, then headed west towards Harrods.

On the way there, I past these lovely English gardens. I think this is Cadogan Gardens.

Nice and properly tucked away:

Starving when I made it to Harrods (in the rain). Sat down to recollect the weekend's events and enjoy a teacake with marmalade. 

It was delicious! Sorry you missed it before I gobbled it up:

The Victoria and Albert Museum is just down the street from Harrods, so I headed that way.

Inside the V&A:

Later I walked-- the entire length-- Hyde Park to Kensington Palace where I had tea and a scone (solo) in the Orangery. A nice end to the afternoon. I saw The Mousetrap last night, but Tyler slept through the first act! He woke up for the end and then we went for pizza. Perfect!

Today has been a big day. These girls came home with me earlier and so I have retired from shopping for a bit.

Am going to try to cook dinner in the apartment tonight. We are headed to see Sweeney Todd with Michael Ball and Ismelda Staunton at 19:30 and I can't wait!

Lately

The past two mornings, I have woken up at 5:02 am with a bright sunshine blazing through my windows. Both days have ended in wet soggy evenings! Today's rain started around 2:00 pm and has not quit since! I sat in a cafe (http://www.caferouge.co.uk/french-restaurant/oxford) to work on my story (that I have to read to our class tomorrow - yikes!) and just watched it drizzle all day. I was in front of the open door and the temperature must have dropped below 60. It was just wet and cold.
I ran over to the Eagle and Child to meet some friends from class for a drink before dinner, then we ate at the school, and now I am gathering my things before I leave tomorrow.

Tuesday night I went with some friends to see the play Educating Rita at the Oxford Playhouse.
http://www.oxfordplayhouse.com/show/?eventid=2608
It was pretty good! Fun to get out to the theatre. They have many open air plays each night, but I haven't gone because you have to sit in the cold rain!

Last night I walked all around town, across Magdalen Bridge and by the Thames, then down a very long street that ended up wrapping around by Wadham and eventually brought me back to Wellington Square. It was a really nice walk, and I did not get rained on! It started just as I got home. Shocking.  I am not complaining though. The weather is nice. It is a refreshing relief to the heat that most of you who are reading this are probably living through; although I did hear it had been raining and temperatures had dropped since we left, so that is promising.

Tomorrow night, I plan to be back in London via train or bus. Not sure which yet. Either way, it will be nice to be back together. We can take some new pictures.

Looking out of my windows in the parapet of this building, I feel like I'm in Mary Poppins in the chimney sweep rooftop song. All I see are the silhouettes of the roofs in Oxford against the gray sky.  It does not get dark here until 10 pm!

Pick your heels up, steppin time!

Oxfordshire

Wrapping up Day 3 here in Oxford! Has been busy and very fun. Here are the highlights!
Saturday and Sunday Tyler stayed here with me, so while I was in class, he toured around. Later he showed me the sights!

My class is going well. There are only 10 people in it and we write a lot.  It is informative and fun. In the afternoons I should probably be continuing writing, but I have been walking about. Sunday afternoon I walked down to the King's Arms pub and ran into the grad assts from UGA who are here with the summer semester students. So, I watched the Wimbledon final with them and was so thankful to pull up a chair next to friends.

This afternoon I took the bus to Woodstock and Blenheim Palace, but conveniently forgot that the Olympic torch was running through Woodstock and Oxford this afternoon. It was quite chaotic in town and at the palace. I will have to go back to actually tour it, but you can see how many people were lining the streets around the palace. I strolled around the grounds and found some sheep to take pictures of. Made me very happy.

I made several new friends today on the trip! A lady, her granddaughter, and a man they met on the bus waited for the bus to Woodstock with me. The child was very concerned that i had gotten off of the bus at the wrong stop, so the man kept checking up on me. He was very kind and even gave me his bus time table! I will have to use it.

I escaped from Blenheim before the torch came through, but managed to see it just pass by on the street outside of the palace gates.  The lady next to me was very kind and we walked into the town center together. I think this is usually a very charming and quaint town, but today it was crazy.  The masses came out to support their country. Team GB is full of the Olympic spirit. This is a poor photo but a lady stepped right in front of me as he came by, so i only got him from the back. oh well.

On the bus ride back, I sat next to a delightful man whose wife was sitting in front of us.  She made him come out to see the torch from their village, but he admitted he wished that he was "trimming my hedges." ha!

A few full days!

Tyler's flat is wonderful and we loved basing out of there the first few days. Here is a quick run down of our itinerary since we made it through customs:

Day 1 - Wimbledon: Murray vs. Ferrer
Amazing evening.

Day 2 - Tour of Lloyds; walk across London Bridge to lunch at Borough Market with our "sponsor" Jason Collins who has provided this opportunity for Tyler. We walked back over Tower Bridge.

That night Tyler and I went to see One Man, Two Guvnors at the Theatre Royal. It was absolutely hilarious.

Day 3 - Tourist day! Tube to Westminster and walked out in front of Parliament/Big Ben.
Visited Cabinet War Rooms/Churchill Museum
Walked down the Mall to Buckingham Palace.
Toured the Palace Mews where all the carriages and horses are kept.
Met Jason on the train and headed to his house for a lovely evening with his family.

Look! I saw the Today show doing their daily segment on the Royal Family.

A balcony kiss replica on a dreary day.


Day 4: Jason drove us to Oxford this morning, and here we are! While I started class, Tyler did some touring about town. It has been raining off and on, but it feels the way England should.
Here is the view from my room on Wellington Square:

We are very happy and having a great time! Love to all back home!