June 7: Took a daytrip to the Derby today! The Brits pronounce it sort of like “Dahhby.” We thought it was going to be a rather pretentious event during which we would have to pretend to know all about horse racing, but thankfully the place we were in was more of a state-fair type setting (The pretentious section was located further away and required much more expensive tickets.) People were hanging out, having picnics, and betting. Because of that, we were not as ashamed to ask other Derby-attendees to explain the racing and the betting to us.
Walking into the Derby
Walking into the Derby
This Londoner was a bit too eager to wear everyone’s hats at one time.
AIFS friends
We all got marvelous sunburns and made our way back to London in the evening.
June 8: Oxford!
This was definitely my favorite daytrip. After some minor mishaps with the train (I may have been in charge and we may have missed it and may have had to buy new tickets), we arrived in Oxford in the afternoon and enjoyed a day of truly surreal sites that made us feel like we were looking at magazine photos.
We went to a quirky and awesome restaurant that sold exclusively sausage dishes. They had hats as lampshades; unique teacups lining the windows; and a friendly purple-haired hostess who was very knowledgeable about Oxford, and playing with an adorable boy who was using a Flintstone-style car to ride in and out of the restaurant.
We took a tour of Oxford Castle, which was built in 1071 and began as a home to William the Conqueror. It eventually became a prison, and remained one until 1996.
This is the view from the top of the castle (where they used to hang witches...)
We were shown former prison cells, and granted the opportunity to take our own mugshot.
This is basement of the castle, where it is rumored that ghosts of prisoners linger. Popular happenings include finding fragments of limbs in your photographs, and feeling as though you have been punched between your shoulder blades.
The following is the Cathedral on the Christ Church campus- one of many that make up Oxford University. This is where the Great Hall was filmed in Harry Potter.
Scenes around the streets of Oxford:
Spotted: Yet another Rooney family name
The Radcliffe Camera library, entirely circular and unfortunately open only to Oxford University students:
The square near Bodleian Library
My favorite part of the day was going punting along the river. Punting is sort of a gondola type action, except instead of rowing you stick a large metal rod in front of you into the river and pull your boat along. The only other steering device was a short wooden paddle. We were involved in several punting traffic jams, and at one point I had to simply get out of the boat, stand on the riverbank, and pull the boat along with a rope (which didn’t work too well); however, we looked around and saw that others were having similar struggles.
The struggle:
Boat clash:
Along with this and watching others walk along the river at twice the speed our boat was going, there were also moments of peace, when no other punting boats could be spotted and we got to enjoy the scenes of Oxford.
In the evening we saw a very enjoyable comedy show, with only about 20 people in attendance. The way the comedian presented incredibly intelligent points about the British government and social system in a hilarious manner reminded me of Stephen Colbert a bit. Of course he was pretty controversial, but my favorite part had to have been when he said that if Jesus came back for a second coming he probably wouldn’t make it through modern security.
These naturally hot mineral springs are extremely rare. The structures surrounding them were built at least 10,000 years ago, and were used for religious purposes –people often left offerings to gods and goddesses, or prayed that the water would heal them physically- as well as social purposes, as people gathered there in groups to bathe.
These statues were of Roman emperors and governors:
This was a shrine structure dedicated by the Celts to Sulis, a goddess of water; when the Romans came, they identified Sulis with Roman goddess Minerva as a healing deity. The missing parts were filled in with a projection.
After Bath, we made our way to Salisbury to see the Salisbury Cathedral. It was absolutely breathtaking. The whole thing was built in just 38 years, and it is actually slowly collapsing every day, as the foundation was only about 18 inches thick. They brought us up to one of the pillars at one point and told us to look up, and the pillar was very visibly tilting. Also in the cathedral was an original copy of the Magna Carta.
Inside Salisbury Cathedral:
Baptismal Font:
Seen in
the town of Salisbury:
William Golding’s house:
William Golding’s house:
Our final stop of the day was to Stonehenge. The most surprising part, although I suppose it shouldn’t be, was how little is really known about Stonehenge. It was beautiful, but I don’t think it would be as big of a tourist attraction if it wasn’t such a mystery. I was also astounded by the miles and miles of open space that surrounded it. Overall I would say this was a pretty great way to spend a Monday!
Felt extremely fortunate to be able to see Charlie and the Chocolate Factory on Tuesday and Les Miserables on Wednesday. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory was a very pleasant surprise—the sets were amazing, and the way they introduced each character on a makeshift TV screen was really clever. Les Mis (quite the contrast to Charlie..) was unlike any other musical I’ve seen. I finally understand why some people see it dozens of times.
Coming soon: Scotland and transition to Prague journey!
