Mr. Enz Comes to London

I was so excited to get an email last week from one of my fabulous colleagues back home. Derek and his wife Kim were coming to London for their mid-winter break, and he emailed to set up a time to meet up. Visits from people back home are few and far between, and I always get so excited to see a familiar face. I couldn't wait to meet up!

We finally connected Friday afternoon when we met up for a quick pint at near pub near Brixton. Derek and Kim were just coming back from a day at Windsor Castle, so it worked out really well for them to stop by on their way home to the flat they rented. I enjoyed hearing all about their trip and telling them about my experiences here in London. I also heard how wonderful things are going back home at AMHS and how nice this year's freshman are. This made me particularly excited since I usually teach 10th grade and will hopefully have lots of these kids next year. After our drink, I walked them down to Brixton because I really wanted to show them the famous Brixton market. That pride I felt in the neighborhood and the way I wanted to show it off to them made me realize how much I really love Brixton and how excited I am to be living in this neighborhood.

I truly am enjoying my time in London, and I'm soaking up every minute of life here. But the reality is that this is only a temporary life for me, and sometimes I forget that just little. It felt great to catch up Derek and his wife and get a little reminder of home when I'm usually so far away. And it made me even more excited to return to my AMHS family in August.

Derek and I in south London

Mini Break: Day Two

After the first day of the mini break, I was plumb tuckered out, so I was happy when we pulled into Cirencester, another adorable Cotswolds town, for the night. Since I was a single traveler, our tour guide Kevin kindly invited me to join him for dinner at a local pub, and I was grateful for the offer. After he dropped me off at my little B&B, I walked back into town and met him for a nice dinner and some fun conversation. He even walked me back to my B&B after dinner. Making a new friend made the night much more enjoyable than what could have been a lonely dinner for one.

This is the B&B where I stayed--The Old Bungalow. Not much from the outside,
but it was so cute inside and much bigger than it looks! I'm learning
never to judge a hotel/B&B/Guest House by its "cover."  

My nice big room, which SUCH a good heater! And a big bathroom.
Lovely! 

I enjoyed a nice breakfast downstairs the next morning, chatting with the kind couple who owned and operated the B&B. As the owners, they also live on site. They were kind enough to show me pictures from the area on their iPad while I waited for breakfast, and they even showed me photos of the source of the Thames, which is right there in Cirencester. It's just a tinny little bubbling puddle, really, and it's hard to imagine such a powerful river grows from such a modest beginning.  

It was then time to meet up with the group, but I wanted to check out the town a little first, so I headed back up to the high street a little early. Not much was open, but I enjoyed taking a couple photos.

Cirencester High Street 

The Church of St. John the Baptist. This used to to be a
wool market back in the day when wool was the number
one Cotswolds commodity. You can see they have really
cleaned up the stone work in the front building of the church
but haven't been able to do the rest of it. 

Before arriving in Oxford, we stopped for about a half hour in Bourton-on-the-Water, a super cute town nicknamed the Venice of the Cotswolds because of its cute little river flowing through town. I had visited this town back in September, so that meant I had more time to shop this time around. My most exciting purchase was an old, pewter, glass-bottom drinking mug. Fabulous find! Before I knew it, it was time jump back on the coach and head the rest of the way to Oxford.

Bourton-on-the-Water

The shop where I found my mug.

My view from the coach.

I was really looking forward to our visit to Oxford. I've seen several major UK universities so far (St. Andrews, Durham, Trinity College in Dublin), and I love all of them! The last two must-sees on my list are Oxford and Cambridge, so I was really happy to cross Oxford off my list. 

Yay! I'm in Oxford, pretending to be one of the super
smart university students!

After we walked into the center of town as a group, we were all able to go our own ways and spend about four hours exploring. Kevin kindly walked me to the tourist information office, where I purchased a little Oxford guide that included a thorough self-guided walking tour. Oxford University's campus is very different from a typical American university campus where the main buildings are located close together and easy to spot. Oxford reminded me of a more urban campus environment because campus buildings are mixed in throughout the city, rather than having a centrally located and designated campus. I knew I would have to be careful as I took my tour or I might walk right by something important without realizing it. 

After picking up my guide, I fought the temptation to pop into the gift shops and decided to take my tour first. The best part about a self-guided tour is that you can set your own pace and stop wherever you fancy. Oh boy, did I stop along the way! Not only did I check out each of the listed sites, but I also found some treasures of my own. Here are some of my favorites:

Charles Dodgson, aka Lewis Carroll, spent much of his life as a student and
teacher at Oxford University, in particular at Christ Church College.
Much of his inspiration for Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking
Glass come from Oxford, including this store, The Old Sweet Shop. He wrote
about the shop in Through the Looking Glass.

I stopped in to see what treasures they had. 

I found this card and just had to buy it. It seemed
to ring pretty true to my life lately. 

After the Old Sheep Shop, I popped into this amazing, funky bookshop. It made me feel super claustrophobic, which all good book shops should do. I loved it. Of course, after stopping in Alice's shop, I knew exactly what book I wanted to find. It might have been a bit of a splurge, but I purchased a gorgeous 1899 edition of Alice in Wonderland. Featuring all the famous drawings, I couldn't believe what a perfect addition this book would make to my collection of special old books. Now I was really on a shopping high!

Then next stop on my walk was a quick look at the outside of Christ Church College. Oxford University is actually made up of 38 different small colleges that each accept their own students. It's a much different system than what we are used to in the states. I walked past quite a few of them, but you have to pay admission to go inside the grounds so I decided to just tour Christ Church College (it's one of the most famous and the inspiration for some bits of Harry Potter). Unfortunately it wasn't open when I came by--something about studying and classes and official college business--so I decided to continue my walk and loop back in the afternoon when it opened.  :)

The gate to Christ Church

Christ Church 

I loved the ivy growing up onto the building. Very old and mysterious. 

The campus is filled with these kinds of amazing
gates. Visitors can only walk up and peek through, as
much of the campus is closed to guests. 

I stopped by the football pitch (aka soccer field) and look who I found
enjoying their morning tea (aka snack break)?

Sneaky little deer

This is the River Thames. Still quite a bit smaller than what I'm used to
seeing in London! 

Magdalen College, where Oscar Wilde and Andrew Lloyd Webber
studied.

Can you imagine walking through those doors every
day on your way to class? 

This is the Grand Cafe, the oldest coffee shop in England! 

Typical scene around Oxford. Everyone rides a bicycle and they all have
cute baskets for books. 

This is a landmark on the Oxford campus. It's called the
Bridge of Sighs.

It's difficult to read, but The Famous Turf Tavern is advertising an
"Education in Intoxication." Looks like even Oxford kids like to party.

This leads through to the Bodleian Library (I think...)

Some of the Bodleian Library buildings. The libraries are incredible, and
Bodleian is considered the most famous library in the world. There are 100
miles of shelving and it can take six hours to retrieve a book and deliver it
to the reading room through the underground tunnels and stacks. Parts of
Harry Potter were filmed here as well, but I didn't have time to stop in both
locations and had already settled on Christ Church. Of course, I did pop
into the amazing library book shop and picked up a couple cool postcards.

To adventures! 

Neat view from the library courtyard.

That's the Radcliffe Camera, considered the most
recognizable building on campus. It's a circular reading
room for the library.

I saw this adorable sign and realized I was hungry for lunch, so I
decided to check it out. 

I had a lovely bowl of soup in this cafe attached to the bottom of the
official university chuch, St. Mary the Virgin. This church is the site
 of some famous martyrs.

 

I thought these guys were pretty cool

 

Exeter College

Cute buildings around town that didn't really match the rest of the architecture. 

I decided I would buy this house when I win the lotto.

I swear it all looks like Disneyworld!

After stopping in a couple cheesy tourist shops and buying a neat Oxford shirt to add to my university collection, I headed back down to Christ Church for a tour. It was such a lovely area. I really enjoyed my walk around. And the best part was there were a few students just going about their business as well. It felt more real to see them around.

The visitor entrance into Christ Church College

About to go see where they filmed HP!

These stairs were used in several HP movies.

Yay Harry Potter stairs! 

This dining hall was used as the inspiration for the
Hogwarts Great Hall, which was recreated over at the
Warner Brothers Studio. 

It does look like Hogwarts, though, doesn't it?

The table settings are much more simple than in HP though.

too bad the portraits don't move. If you look closely, though, you can
see two real university students trying to enjoy their lunch while
I take this photo.

Regular old college kids getting some food in the most amazing dining hall
ever. This such is nicer than the Regents Hall Dining Center where I
ate at WSU! 

Can you picture the candles floating in the air during
the great feast?

In the courtyard at Christ Church.

I decided I had better actually visit the church, too. It's
gorgeous.

I like all the dragons I've been finding in churches
lately. 

Back in the courtyard about to leave. 

Funny gargoyles watching the kids

STUDY...or else!

Unfortunately, after my tour I had to hurry back down to the coach and say goodbye to Oxford and to the whole trip actually since we headed straight back to London. Oxford is a really neat town with such an intriguing university. It's such a different kind of campus than the classic red brick universities in America. I have to say that although I did enjoy my day in Oxford, I still love my Wazzu even more.