September 2, 2015 - Oxford, England

Today had a leisurely start spent reading and catching up on our sleep – at least Tobey and I. Tyler has to work every day, so we are trying not to get in the way. After lunch Tobey and I walked to City Center and took the free 2-hour walking tour offered by Footprints Tours.

Our guide, Tom, did a great job explaining about the different colleges which make up Oxford University and the history of Oxford. It can be quite confusing when you say Oxford University, because there are 38 colleges of the University of Oxford and six Permanent Private Halls. Each controls its membership and has its own internal structure and activities. Not all colleges offer all courses, but they generally cover a broad range of subjects. When you graduate from any of the colleges, you graduate from Oxford University.

We didn’t go into any of the colleges, but we got a glimpse of things to check out further. The picture below is Christ Church College, also known as "The House." It was founded in 1525 by Cardinal Thomas Wolsey, and was originally called Cardinal's College. In 1546 Henry VIII took it over and renamed it Christ Church. This college is the largest and most visited of all Oxford's Colleges. The 7-ton bell in the tower chimes 101 times each night at 9:05pm, the time when the original 101 students were called back for curfew. Since Oxford is 5 minutes west of Greenwich, this is actually 9 pm Oxford time!

We loved the garden area at Christ Church. The guide told us that 13 British Prime Ministers in the last 200 years attended Christ Church which is more than any other college in Oxford, or all of Cambridge University combined! There have been 26 Prime Ministers educated at Oxford University.
This is the entrance to the Oxford Botanic Garden which was founded in 1621 “To promote the furtherance of learning and to glorify nature". All of it is part of Oxford University!
Another of the beautiful colleges in Oxford is All Souls College. All of its members automatically become Fellows (full members of the College's governing body). It has no undergraduate members and is one of the wealthiest colleges in Oxford.

We also walked through the quad at Balliol College, our guide’s alma mater. It was founded in 1263 and claims to have produced three Prime Ministers. The Bodleian Library is housed here – three levels underground. It is one of the oldest libraries in Europe and is second is size only to the British Library! There are over 11 millions items in this research library and Tom told us they are in the process of digitizing ALL the items which will then be available free, online, to everyone!

We really liked the architecture of the Radcliffe Camera. It was built in the early-mid 1700s to house the Radcliffe science library.

We also liked some of the “grotesques” carved on the buildings in Oxford. Some were amusing, others just disturbing!

The last building Tom told us about was the Sheldonian Theatre. The Sheldonian Theatre was built from 1664 to 1669 and designed by Christopher Wren. It is used for music concerts, lectures and University ceremonies, but not for drama.

After the tour we headed back to the Covered Market which has operated on this site since 1774! Oxford was originally a trade center and this is the place where it started!

Our daughter-in-law told us not to miss it, so we took her advice. It was fun to go through and see lots of the shops. One of the bakeries had some incredible cakes to impress just about anyone!

We picked up some meat at one of the butcher shops located in the Market before walking back to Tyler’s place. This was one of the colorful taxis we spotted at Gloucester Green. It looks like a fun ride!

We have passed by this guitar shop almost every day, but this was the first we noticed this kitty and sign.

 

He was busy watching Tobey – until he spotted a pigeon outside! He jumped from the window and was trying to figure out how to escape through the door! Too bad they were already closed for the night. I am sure his thoughts were, “curses, foiled again!”

We had a quiet evening and will decide on tomorrow’s activities in the morning!

September 1, 2015 - Stratford upon Avon and Warwick

We had an early start to a busy day! We left Tyler’s at 5:45 this morning and dropped him in Birmingham, about 1-1/2 hours north of here before heading back to Stratford upon Avon. I did the driving and Tobey navigated – quite an entertaining combination! The GPS had a hard time getting us out of the business complex in Birmingham and back on the M42 south, but with a few “take the fourth exit out of the roundabouts” (u-turns) we managed to get back on the road! Traffic going south was horrible and the 45 minute drive took almost 1-1/2 hours! Oh well.

We arrived in Stratford upon Avon, the birthplace of William Shakespeare around 9. After parking the car, we found a nice little café and had a breakfast of eggs on toast and tea. Our waitress was a college student from the University of Oregon who was spending her summer holiday working in England.
Just around the corner was William Shakespeare’s birthplace and childhood home.
We took a tour of the childhood home where William Shakespeare was born and lived. At 18, he married Anne Hathaway (not the actress) and they spend the first five years of family life here.

We entered through a museum which houses original copies of many of his works, as well as other interesting artifacts of Shakespeare’s life, before coming into the back garden of the house.

It was interesting to see the house where Shakespeare was born in 1564 and see what life night have been like for young William. We met one of his “father’s journeymen” in his leather business and learned how he made his living.Shakespeare's birthplace was a fascinating house that offered a glimpse into the early world of his life.

As we headed back to the carpark, we had to take note of the Jester Statue at the corner of Henley and Windsor Streets. The inscriptions read “O noble fool, a worthy fool” and “The fool doth think he is wise but a wise man knows himself to be a fool.”

From Stratford upon Avon, we headed on to Warwick to see the castle. Warwick has a long and interesting history. As early as 914AD, Ethelfleda, daughter of Alfred the Great, ordered the building of a 'burh' or an earthen rampart to protect the small hill top settlement of Warwick from Danish invaders.
In 1068, William the Conqueror built a motte and bailey fort, consisting of a large earth mound with a timber stockade around both the top and base. The picture below is The Mound, the oldest part of the Castle.

In 1088, Henry de Beaumont was appointed the 1st Earl of Warwick. For hundreds of years the castle passed through the Beaumont family. Much construction took place - wooden structures replaced with stone, towers and a dungeon built, and the barbican was built. The barbican is the outer defense of a castle or walled city, especially a double tower above a gate or drawbridge.

In 1604, King James 1, a Scottish king of England, gave the castle to Fulke Greville., along with the title of Earl of Warwick. Warwick Castle remained in the Greville family until 1978, when they sold it to The Tussaud's Group, part of the Madame Tussaud Merlin Entertainment.

We took the 12:30 Great Hall and Staterooms Free tour. Our guide, Richard, was fantastic. We were both nervous when we saw there were probably 50 people in line behind us thinking it would be hard to hear. Everyone was quiet and respectful and he did a fabulous job explaining the history of the castle – all without a microphone!

The Greville family had a penchant for parties and spending money. In 1871, fire swept through the private apartments, damaging the Great Hall before being controlled. When they needed to restore that part of the castle, they were the first family to apply to the government for financial assistance. The Great Hall is not restored to its original look because they spent half the money they received on parties, but it is still very impressive. There is a huge collection of armor on display.

I loved the ceiling in the Green Drawing Room – a reception room for men – even though I would not have been allowed in the room!

The chapel was simple, yet beautiful.

We were amazed that we could go through so many rooms in the castle and there were no ropes keeping visitors away from the artwork, furniture, or displays. The castle is said to be haunted, so maybe if you touch anything, Sir Faulke Greville’s ghost would get you!

We took the small climb to the top of The Mound. The view over the Castle property was beautiful. We could also see the church tower of St. Mary’s Church of Warwick located in the city.

At the end of our visit we went to hear about the “Horrible Histories” of the castle. It was a funny, yet informative, review of the history of Warwick Castle. We did not stay to see the show which showcases the birds, but we did visit their enclosures. These are just a few of the birds at Warwick Castle.



We didn’t take advantage of everything you could see or do at Warwick, but still enjoyed seeing the castle and learning more about its history. To really see everything we probably needed at least 6 or more hours. (They did offer a senior discount admission price – only $17.40 pounds – $26.50 USD – so we saved about $8 pounds per person!) For more information, you can check out Warwick Castle history at https://www.warwick-castle.com/explore/history-and-restoration.aspx
We headed back to Birmingham to pick up Tyler and manage to not get lost or make any wrong turns until we got into the business park! YEAH. I felt more comfortable on the road – driving on the wrong side as it is!

Back in Oxford, Tyler had a business dinner so Tobey and I had some dinner and relaxed. Tomorrow we will try the walking tour of Oxford. By the way, my leg is getting better and better!

August 31, 2015 - Oxford,England

It was raining when we got up today and has continued throughout most of the day with varying intensities.

Tyler was off to work early and we hung out until close to lunch time when we walked over to the market to pick up bread for sandwiches. After lunch, we gathered up umbrellas and the Oxford City Walks guide book and started off on the “Jericho and the Oxford Canal” tour. Because Tyler’s apartment is next to the canal, we started in the middle of the walk.


Heading south along the canal we saw several canal boats moored in the “short term” parking areas, as well as many in the “long term pay” areas. The city of Oxford allows two free days for tying up in a 14 day period. Tyler and Katie are convinced that we would sell our RV and buy a canal boat if we lived here. It seems to be a popular means of traveling. Many of the boats have small gardens (in pots) on their roofs.
Near the south end of the canal, there is the Isis Lock, that connects the canal to the River Thames.

The canal ends at Hythe Bridge Street, so we turned left and came to “The Old School” beside the bus station at Gloucester Green. It is now a restaurant, but the carving over the entrance of the building shows King Alfred, the legendary founder of the University teaching boys on the right. On the left is St. Frideswide (the Patron Saint of both Oxford and Oxford University) teaching girls.

We followed along St. John’s Street where most of the property belongs to St. John’s College. Most of the buildings are made from Bath stone – the white-ish looking stones.

Circling around, we passed the Oxford University Press building which was built in 1828.

Across the street is “Freud’s”, a popular restaurant/bar, that is housed in a de-consecrated Greek Revival Church. It was easy to spot the architecture!

Back near the Canal, we went by St. Barnabas Church, which was built in 1856. It was founded and financed by Thomas and Martha Combe to serve the workers of the Oxford University Press.

We soon found ourselves back on Walton Road and a few blocks from home. We stopped at the Co-Operative Grocery and picked up things to fix for dinner. This afternoon was spent resting, reading, and hanging out.

We fixed dinner and will have an early bedtime. Tomorrow we will ride with Tyler to Birmingham, and go to do some sightseeing while he is working.

August 30, 2015 - Oxford, England

We slept in today – I got up at 1 pm and Tobey at 2 pm! I think we were tired!! Who would have thought we would sleep so long? Tyler arrived back from his trip to Colorado about 3pm and we visited for a while before walking into the city center.

We saw several of the iconic red phone booths – most of them look pretty sad, in need of paint – but they do have telephones inside them. I wonder if the phones still work.

We need to take a tour so we can identify some of the buildings we went by, but we are enjoying the architecture.

We enjoyed seeing more of Oxford and are looking forward to exploring more in the coming days.

We headed back toward Tyler’s and stopped for dinner at The Victoria Pub. Tyler and I had meat pies – mine was steak and ale, Tyler’s chicken and mushroom, and Tobey had the scampi and chips. Everything was delicious! We all settled in for the evening and will have an early bedtime. Tyler has to go back to work tomorrow and Tobey and I will do some exploring.

August 28 - 29, 2015 - Denver to Oxford, England

We have had a busy summer so I have been really bad about writing much. We have been camping and hosting exchange students and showing off our beautiful Colorado. Today, however, Tobey and I are left on our way to England to spend a couple weeks with our son, Tyler, who is working in Oxford, England. Funny side note – Tyler had to be back in Colorado for business, so we will actually arrive a day before he does!

Our shuttle picked us up at the house at 3:20 am. YEP – that is early! Poor Penny wasn’t quite sure what was going on – and she wasn’t at all happy that there wasn’t a place in the suitcase for her. Our moms are staying at the house with her so there will be lots of spoiling going on while we are gone!

When we were hosting two exchange students through the Lions Club, we took them white-water rafting on the Poudre River. It was great fun – until I was thrown from the raft and crashed my leg into a rock. That was three weeks ago and I am still recovering. I had a couple weeks on crutches and now can get around without them, I did bring a cane along and took advantage of the wheelchair getting through the Denver airport. If nothing else, it did get us through the security lines much quicker!

We flew through Washington, DC, and hung out in the United Club Lounge courtesy of free passes we got when Tobey applied for a new credit card. Since we had over 5 hours there, it was a good to have a comfy place to relax and have a free lunch!

Our flight to London left about 6 pm and arrived in London shortly after 6 am. Neither of us slept much and it has been a rough day!
We took a busy from Heathrow airport to Oxford, found a taxi and arrived at Tyler’s apartment by 9 am.

After unpacking, we walked back to the city center – about 20 minutes from here. After looking into some of the walking tours and the hop on – hop off bus trips, we had lunch at the open air market before heading back to Tyler’s.

There are several small markets nearby so we were able to stop and pick up things for breakfast. We are trying to figure out the different road signs, as well as construction signs. This one confused us a bit!
Tyler has a nice 2 bedroom apartment with some quiet neighbors – this is the view from his dining room window! I am looking forward to exploring more in the neighborhood and checking out some of the old headstones!

We took a short nap, watched a movie, went out and picked up a take-away pizza. We will have an early bedtime and look forward to Tyler’s return tomorrow!