London & Windsor (Winssaaa, phonetically)

London & Windsor Weekend

So, this past weekend we were in London and Windsor.  On Saturday (London!), we hopped on a bus and met our friends Alison and Matt.  We started off by walking to St. Paul's Cathedral.  It's a huuuuge cathedral where people like Florence Nightingale, Sir Christopher Wren, and William Blake are buried.  We walked around (very pretty), and decided we would climb up the Whispering Gallery.  From the Whispering Gallery we climbed up to the Observation Deck, and from there we went up again to the very peak of the dome.  All in all, the steps up and down were a total of 1,056 steps, more or less.  It was a bit ridiculous.  After 2 1/2 hours at the Cathedral we wandered along the Thames (passing Embankment and Westminster--Big Ben, etc.), and went into Covent Garden for some refreshments.  We left London around 8pm and drove back down to Sittingbourne where we stayed the night.

Next day: Windsor!  The drive up to Windsor was ridiculous.  It was the day of the Kent County Fair, which is the biggest fair of the year in Kent.  So alongside sheep, horses, and who knows what else, we inched along the 1 lane for an HOUR before speeding along to Windsor.  Windsor was a very very beautiful city.  We visited the palace- the queen was in, but we didn't see her.  We then walked along the river on the way back to the train station, where we caught a train back to Oxford.  All in all, a very good and relaxed weekend. :)

These are pictures from our experiences this past weekend in London and Windsor with our friends Matt and Alison.  It was a blast, although we walked about 10 miles!  And with this camera, if you click on the pictures it will enlarge them and you can zoom in!  Enjoy.  

“V for Scientology”?  Apparently these guys were protesting Scientology.  They turned out to be benign, nice guys but we were freaked out at first:  These guys in the picture were the last of a hundred, who we met as we just got off the underground while they were going down into it.  Has anyone seen the ending for V for Vendetta!?!? 

 

St. Paul’s Cathedral from the outside (special thanks to Matt for running across the street dodging traffic to get this photo). 

 

The outside of the dome of the Cathedral.  Please note the two balconies with people walking around, one at the base of the dome, and one at the top of the dome just below the cross.

 

Angels at the Gate (inside):

 

Good view of the inside ("no photography" doesn't apply to Kyle Pozza... hope I'm not going to hell for that, jk).

The dome ceiling.  You might be able to discern the varying level of balconies. Focus on the very top where the little bit of light is coming from.

 

 

526 steps later, looking down through a glass floor (special thanks to Ali for this shot so I didn’t have to wet myself trying to take it). 

 

Balcony 1 outside:

 

Balcony 2 outside: 

Random photo with London Eye and Big Ben in background:

 

Outside of the Republic of Zimbabwe.  I should submit this to CNN along with a resume!

 

WINDSOR!!!!

 

Part of Castle:

 

Matt & Ali:

 

All of us:

BFFL!:

Right outside the gates: 

 

Matt and I doing our best impression of Horatio Cane (CSI: Miami):

 

Couples:

All four of us again: 

 

This guy does not look happy: 

My future job:

And that is that.  Until the next post.  Now I have some work to do.  Love to all.

New Camera

So, half of the tutorials are over (this last one was a disaster.  Chalk that up to a 3 hour tutorial primarily concerned with Contract Law, and me having a first year Contract's professor who is 70 something, has tenure of course so can't be fired, hates the law/lawyers, and thinks petty things like "doctrine" are overrated).  It was a mess, but I still passed .... so woohoo!!  

Anyway, Kristen's camera is great and has been wonderful, but it's about $150.00 and this is the trip of a life-time.  So I figured "when in Rome" (erhh...England), and got a nice one (which will be in full force come Christmas time!).  So Kristen and I decided to go see Shakespeare's "Twelfth Night" here in Oxford.  Unfortunately, it was an outdoor play (chairs in the background) and English weather is rubbish (might be able to see the rain).  But we got a refund:  

London, Sittingbourne, Canterbury, and Brighton

One of my favorite pictures from Oxford :)

This past weekend was actually the first chance we had to get away from Oxford.  On Friday we headed for London with two of our friends who are from our law school but part of a different program.  We got to London about noon, and headed for Harrods/Harvey Nichols for some Yo Sushi!.  After a great meal, went to Buckingham Palace, then to Westminster Abbey and Big Ben.  All the touristy stuff.  We are going back next week, so that should be much better since we were only in London for a few hours.  We then caught the train to Sittingbourne and spent the night at Sam and Louise's.  Next day another set of friends, Alison and Matt, came to get us and we headed to Brighton.  Brighton is the southern-most part of England and is on the English Channel.  It was a beautiful day for walking around the pier and around the little shops.  After a few hours, we headed back to Canterbury for dinner.  Today we visited Bluewater, which is considered the largest mall in Europe.  Definitely not as big as some of the malls we have at home, but still equally impressive!  And no, Kristen did not buy anything....

Anyway, after a great weekend thanks to our friends, we headed back to Oxford, and here I am, typing away and updating/uploading photos!  This weekend we are off to London, and next week (15th-17th) we are off to Dublin!

Yo Sushi (next 4 pics courtesy of Gevork) :)

With a BOBBIE!
Big Ben
Westminster Abbey

No, we didn't really get married...but thought it was funny..we both look miserable, don't we?  :)

Are there really beer gardens?
On the pier in Brighton with Matt and Alison.
Canterbury Cathedral....at least, the main gate.
Marlowe Theatre in Canterbury...I am still convinced that Marlowe is better than Shakespeare...or rather, I believe the conspiracy theories to be true- that Marlowe actually wrote a bunch of plays when he was hiding in Italy, and sent them back to England in his pen name of William Shakespeare :)
On the beach in Brighton.  There is definitely no sand.  I cringed when I saw the hordes of people laying out on these rocks.  Ouch.
The English Channel behind us.
On the pier.

This was pretty funny.
London- a $4000 stuffed teddy bear...kids these days, right??
In front of Buckingham Palace with Ellen and Gevork.
The guard in front of Buckingham.
Big Ben. Still big as ever.
    I swear peacocks are as common as pigeons.  Sam and Louise's house has 3 peacocks that LIVE in their garden.

Oxford!

From Sittingbourne, Kyle and I got onto the train, crossed over to London, and got onto a bus headed to Oxford.  The overall journey takes about 2 1/2 hours-3 hours, depending on traffic.  Mind you, we were lugging around 4 huge suitcases around London...definitely was not a good idea.  

So, Oxford.  Oxford is an amazingly beautiful campus.  We live in Magdalen College (pronounced Maud-lin), and we are literally housed right on school grounds.  The college is kinda built like a fort, with high walls on all four sides.  For more info: http://www.magd.ox.ac.uk/.  Our room is on the bottom floor.  We have a double because we are a couple (of course), and that means we have a sitting room AND a bedroom, whereas everyone else gets a bedroom.  Our bedroom comes with a sink, but we have to share a shower and the toilet.  Our room overlooks the college library and a huge lawn.  It is a beautiful sight, especially because the desks face the windows, and it is a good view to inspire intellectual writing/reading.  That being said, the rest of the college looks like something out of Harry Potter.  Oscar Wilde's room is still preserved, and tourists pay about 4-6 pounds to come in and tour the college.  Imagine that!  And we get to live here! 

Of course, Kyle and I are here for school.  Our tutorials are fairly hard.  I will have to say that it has been my hardest class so far that I have ever taken, and I've taken a LOT of classes.  There is a lot of reading, but the Oxford tutorial style is very unique in that it is essentially a one-on-one meeting with the professor.  In that meeting, the student has prepared a 6-8 page essay that is read aloud.  The professor will interrupt with questions throughout the essay, thus stimulating intellectual conversation.  It is a good way to learn the material first hand, know the professor, and to actually proofread the paper before it is read aloud!  

The dismal corner of the library where Kyle and I toil away the hours...literally, from 9am to 7pm.

A Kung-Fu panda double decker bus...thought it was pretty cool

Bodlein Library- second largest library in Britain...we had to get "initiated" into the library system and swear an oath that we will not eat, drink, or set fire to the library.

A part of our college.
Walking down one of the narrow English streets.

We went to Oxford Castle, which was actually not a castle, but a prison...in fact, it was still used as a prison until 1996.  Anyway, they had this neat feature where you can place yourself in the convicts book.  Kyle fits in pretty well, I think!
The side door to our dorm.
   Our sink and two twin beds that we push together.
The sitting room.
The view from our window.
Other side of the view.
The bottom window is all us!
Room where we got initiated into the Bodlein Library.  It was used by the King, back in the day, to hold Parliament when London wasn't a safe place.
Magdalen's 550th Anniversary garden party--- the choir singing.
The all-important conductor in the Cloisters.
More of our sitting room and door leading to bedroom.
Chairs and fireplace!