One last look at Oxford

July 29th, 2007

Well, our laptop broke down halfway through our studies in Oxford, which made writing papers rather difficult and uploading pictures near impossible. However, that didn´t stop us from taking lots of pictures, and after finding a cheap place to burn our pictures to cd in Vienna, we finally have a chance to share our travels with all of you.

Here are the last batch of pictures from our time in Oxford, which include some time at King Henry VIII’s apartments, a day of punting on the river Cherwell (pronounced SHAW-well, remember) with our good friend Sarah and her cousin Dana, and some more Oxford sites. Stay tuned for many more pictures from Norway, Denmark and the Netherlands.

At Hampton Court, a palace type place, we made sure to test out the fine cuisine offered in the Tudor kitchens. Ok - well, this stew was perhaps a tad petrified. Five hundred years will do that to a place. Nonetheless, Hampton Court, a place that was once home to individuals like Henry VIII and Oliver Cromwell, was definitely worth a visit.

Matt had been craving meat after living off of iranian instant noodles for the last week.

This crazy clock featured not only numbers, but a whole bunch of intricate and intriguing symbols to measure the time of year, etc.

While at Oxford, we were graced by the presence of many familiar faces. Our friend Sarah ‘Vay-goom’ was one of them. She and her cousin Dana spent a day with us wandering the streets and punting on the river Cherwell.

Matt proved to be an excellent punt master. The river Cherwell proved to be an excellent workout.

Swans, we have learned, are less gracious beings than what their pure white outer would suggest. Whenever folks sitting on the banks of the Cherwell offer bread and bits to the ducks swimming about, these beasts are sure to make their way into the centre of the chaos. Britain’s Canadian Goose!

This beautiful church has connections to Lewis’s creation of Narnia, and is situated right across the cobbled path from the Radcliffe Camera (a reading room of the Bodleian library). At the end of our program, we all gathered in the front lawn of St Mary the Virgin’s and had tea and crumpets.

Matt proves that he could outshine any other college promo shot.

Another opportunity to visit with friends from the past - Madeleine was part of the administration of the first Oxford program that Matt participated in, several years ago, while Elisabeth (on the right) was one of his Shakespeare tutors. We met up with them for lunch at a delightful French cafe.

This is the chapel at Worcester College, where Elisabeth Dutton (pictured above), now works. She was also Linnea’s tutor this time ’round at Oxford for a Christianity and Literature class.

At the Ashmolean Museum, which houses a great collection of Greek, Roman, and Egyptian antiquities, as well as some more contemporary pieces (as in, you know, the 16th century). Linnea has always been convinced that Matt has a Roman face - this picture is just the proof she has been looking for.

Yet another visit from one of our favourite people - Hannah! Matt’s sister had made a trek out to England to meet up with one of her best friends. During her time there, she made sure to take a train out to Oxford. She and Linnea spent the afternoon visiting the Natural Science Museum and the Pitt Rivers Museum, where they saw dinosaurs and shrunken heads! They then headed over to the infamous Eagle and Child and Hannah treated the two of them to a pitcher of Limonade and Pimms… MMMMmmm…

The Colyers were also involved in Matt’s first Oxford experience - they let him live with them for the semester in a small town outside of Oxford called Charlesbury. Mr Colyer has just recently become Dr Colyer, after defending a thesis concerning Christianity and Science. They treated us to a delicious meal, and also brought along their son and daughter-in-law, who have just moved back to Oxford.

Our walk home, as many of you have heard, was long and often arduous, but provided great training for all the walking about we’ve done since! We grew to love bits and pieces of the journey, especially when they offered views like this one.

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