This is
actually a post-dated blog that I started on Saturday morning while I was still
in Oxford. Will try to keep it brief, and then I will update about Saturday and
Sunday.
***********************************************************************************
Saturday, 10-ish local Oxford time
Well, I figured that I would update a bit now that I am coherent. I am actually listening to the class lecture that I missed on Wednesday (I was on the plane), but I thought I would multi-task.
So, Wednesday's/Thursday's trip was really not bad at all. I had concerns about the long flight, but I made it through just fine, and had no issues. (I definitely recommend sleeping on a flight like that....) When I arrived at Heathrow, I spent some time making myself presentable and then got through customs, which was actually quite easy. As I said, the guys met me just outside of baggage claim, and we got a cup of coffee and headed to the bus to Oxford. The bus ride was beautiful. The countryside is dotted with fields full of sheep and lambs, and the buildings are really just like I pictured them to be. Brick, beautiful colors, etc. When we got to Oxford, we got off at Queen's Lane, and hit the Rose Tea (I think that's the name of the shoppe). We had a wonderful tea (apparently, this is quite a big deal here), and I had my first true British scone, fresh out of the oven, with clotted cream and strawberry jam (yum!!). I also had a wonderful cucumber finger sandwich - so yummy! Then, we each took a bag and started a very quick tour of the basics of Oxford. I don't honestly remember where we went specifically, but I just remember the feeling of overwhelming beauty. It's all so gorgeous here - the details on the architecture, the beauty of the old cobblestone roads, the uniqueness of the double-decker buses.....it's just unbelievable. Walking through the narrow alleyways that obviously weren't made with modern vehicles in mind was wonderful - I guess the best way to describe it would be to have you think of the alleyways in Diagon Alley in the Harry Potter movies. (Sorry I am using so many Harry Potter references - it seems to be the best visual I can give people right now....)
Once we were done with our trip through Oxford, we took the long way around to their apartment, and I got a tour of the Worcester grounds. So, Oxford is a university made up of several colleges (29?). Tom goes to Oriel, Jim goes to Worcester, and Rhi goes to St. Anne's. Jim and Tom live in Worcester college housing, in a couples-accomodation building with 5 other flats. They are on the ground floor in a corner unit, so in the living room, there is a gorgeous view from their living room of the tennis courts, this beautiful garden with holly leaves, ivy and some other gorgeous plants. We got home, got cleaned up (remember, by this time, I had been traveling for 18 hours), and headed to a cute bar for drinks with friends (let's see if I can remember who they are - Ed, Jamie, Andy and Becca). Jim got a butterscotch martini - yum! I had a spiced island drink with Tom, and the others had wonderful spirits. Then, off to the Lebanese restaurant for dinner. By the way, if you like Greek food, I would highly recommend trying Lebanese food. Very delish!
Yesterday, as I said, Jim and I woke up, got ready, and headed to breakfast. I mentioned to Jim more than once that as hard as traditional coffee shops in the States try, they won't ever quite capture the ambience, the feeling, the mood of a coffee/tea shop in England. There is something about the smells, the area, the scenery, and the languages heard that make it such a unique experience. After breakfast, we headed to the bus stop to meet up with Vicki, and boarded the bus to the hospital to go to Maggie's. Their location is a temporary portacabin (trailer), and they are in the process of raising funds for their new building. We met with a nurse (whose name escapes me now) and Anne (gosh, I think that was her name), and we had a wonderful chat with them. It seemed that they were very interested in how we do things at TWC, and they were extremely interested to hear from a participants view, as well as a non-participants survivors view, what our needs are. We focused mainly on young adults with cancer, and I provided them with lots of information about I'm Too Young For This (I2Y). We all left there feeling like it was a wonderful visit, and I am anxious about meeting with the London location on Monday.
After visiting Maggie's, we headed to lunch, and I had delicious chicken skewers. Then we started our more in-depth tour of Oxford, including St. Mary's church. We headed up the tower at St. Mary's (http://www.sacred-destinations.com/england/oxford-st-marys-university-church.htm), which was a stair-climbing adventure up one set of stairs that was made out of wood, and has been there long enough to have feet patterns worn into the steps. I thought, phew - we're done. Um, no. Up we go, round and round, up and up via this very narrow, very old, very cool spiral staircase. There is not enough room in this staircase for more than one person to get up or down. And, the only thing to hold onto on your epic climb is a rope. Yes, a rope. At the top, you shimmy your way along this very narrow pathway around the tower. And, you can see the whole of Oxford and beyond. It was amazing. And, slightly terrifying.
During the rest of the tour, we toured Oriel (Tom's university) and several other places that I can't remember. :-) However, the architecture was unbelievable. In St. Mary's, we saw gravestones from the 1600s. Have you seen the video from Princess Diana's wedding? The church was that grand - huge, royal, indescribable art......I can't wait to see the pictures.
While we were in Oriel, while we were waiting for Tom to do something at one of the offices.....Jim and Tom both told me that the wall I was leaning against was from the 13th century.
The whole time I was in England, I kept thinking about the things that the city has seen. Imagine if those walls could speak - what would they tell us they have seen? What kind of changes have they seen? WHO have they seen? I saw the alleged place that C. S. Lewis and (I think) Tolkein used to meet to talk about their works. It's amazing, especially coming from a place in the US that is still so new, with very little known history, at least comparitively speaking.
*************************************************************************
Okay, I will blog more in a bit about the rest of the trip.
***********************************************************************************
Saturday, 10-ish local Oxford time
Well, I figured that I would update a bit now that I am coherent. I am actually listening to the class lecture that I missed on Wednesday (I was on the plane), but I thought I would multi-task.
So, Wednesday's/Thursday's trip was really not bad at all. I had concerns about the long flight, but I made it through just fine, and had no issues. (I definitely recommend sleeping on a flight like that....) When I arrived at Heathrow, I spent some time making myself presentable and then got through customs, which was actually quite easy. As I said, the guys met me just outside of baggage claim, and we got a cup of coffee and headed to the bus to Oxford. The bus ride was beautiful. The countryside is dotted with fields full of sheep and lambs, and the buildings are really just like I pictured them to be. Brick, beautiful colors, etc. When we got to Oxford, we got off at Queen's Lane, and hit the Rose Tea (I think that's the name of the shoppe). We had a wonderful tea (apparently, this is quite a big deal here), and I had my first true British scone, fresh out of the oven, with clotted cream and strawberry jam (yum!!). I also had a wonderful cucumber finger sandwich - so yummy! Then, we each took a bag and started a very quick tour of the basics of Oxford. I don't honestly remember where we went specifically, but I just remember the feeling of overwhelming beauty. It's all so gorgeous here - the details on the architecture, the beauty of the old cobblestone roads, the uniqueness of the double-decker buses.....it's just unbelievable. Walking through the narrow alleyways that obviously weren't made with modern vehicles in mind was wonderful - I guess the best way to describe it would be to have you think of the alleyways in Diagon Alley in the Harry Potter movies. (Sorry I am using so many Harry Potter references - it seems to be the best visual I can give people right now....)
Once we were done with our trip through Oxford, we took the long way around to their apartment, and I got a tour of the Worcester grounds. So, Oxford is a university made up of several colleges (29?). Tom goes to Oriel, Jim goes to Worcester, and Rhi goes to St. Anne's. Jim and Tom live in Worcester college housing, in a couples-accomodation building with 5 other flats. They are on the ground floor in a corner unit, so in the living room, there is a gorgeous view from their living room of the tennis courts, this beautiful garden with holly leaves, ivy and some other gorgeous plants. We got home, got cleaned up (remember, by this time, I had been traveling for 18 hours), and headed to a cute bar for drinks with friends (let's see if I can remember who they are - Ed, Jamie, Andy and Becca). Jim got a butterscotch martini - yum! I had a spiced island drink with Tom, and the others had wonderful spirits. Then, off to the Lebanese restaurant for dinner. By the way, if you like Greek food, I would highly recommend trying Lebanese food. Very delish!
Yesterday, as I said, Jim and I woke up, got ready, and headed to breakfast. I mentioned to Jim more than once that as hard as traditional coffee shops in the States try, they won't ever quite capture the ambience, the feeling, the mood of a coffee/tea shop in England. There is something about the smells, the area, the scenery, and the languages heard that make it such a unique experience. After breakfast, we headed to the bus stop to meet up with Vicki, and boarded the bus to the hospital to go to Maggie's. Their location is a temporary portacabin (trailer), and they are in the process of raising funds for their new building. We met with a nurse (whose name escapes me now) and Anne (gosh, I think that was her name), and we had a wonderful chat with them. It seemed that they were very interested in how we do things at TWC, and they were extremely interested to hear from a participants view, as well as a non-participants survivors view, what our needs are. We focused mainly on young adults with cancer, and I provided them with lots of information about I'm Too Young For This (I2Y). We all left there feeling like it was a wonderful visit, and I am anxious about meeting with the London location on Monday.
After visiting Maggie's, we headed to lunch, and I had delicious chicken skewers. Then we started our more in-depth tour of Oxford, including St. Mary's church. We headed up the tower at St. Mary's (http://www.sacred-destinations.com/england/oxford-st-marys-university-church.htm), which was a stair-climbing adventure up one set of stairs that was made out of wood, and has been there long enough to have feet patterns worn into the steps. I thought, phew - we're done. Um, no. Up we go, round and round, up and up via this very narrow, very old, very cool spiral staircase. There is not enough room in this staircase for more than one person to get up or down. And, the only thing to hold onto on your epic climb is a rope. Yes, a rope. At the top, you shimmy your way along this very narrow pathway around the tower. And, you can see the whole of Oxford and beyond. It was amazing. And, slightly terrifying.
During the rest of the tour, we toured Oriel (Tom's university) and several other places that I can't remember. :-) However, the architecture was unbelievable. In St. Mary's, we saw gravestones from the 1600s. Have you seen the video from Princess Diana's wedding? The church was that grand - huge, royal, indescribable art......I can't wait to see the pictures.
While we were in Oriel, while we were waiting for Tom to do something at one of the offices.....Jim and Tom both told me that the wall I was leaning against was from the 13th century.
The whole time I was in England, I kept thinking about the things that the city has seen. Imagine if those walls could speak - what would they tell us they have seen? What kind of changes have they seen? WHO have they seen? I saw the alleged place that C. S. Lewis and (I think) Tolkein used to meet to talk about their works. It's amazing, especially coming from a place in the US that is still so new, with very little known history, at least comparitively speaking.
*************************************************************************
Okay, I will blog more in a bit about the rest of the trip.
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