Let's go back a couple of years...

Try about 2000 years! Last weekend our group took a trip that was definitely a "back in time" visit (although really, everything here is "back in time"...) Our long, very cold day was split between Stonehenge and the city of Bath, located on the other side of the island from London. 

Stonehenge was thought to have been built about 2200-2500 years ago (no one really cares about that 300 year difference except Americans. 300 years is a long time for us.) 

1/3 of each stone is actually buried underground to keep it upright; one can only imagine the work it took to place them in the ground.

Or the work to transport it! Most of these bluestones came from the mountains in Wales, over 165 miles away. 165 miles is no problem in a semi truck, but they most likely pulled the stones on sleds or log rollers. 

As with any ancient monument, there are numerous myths surrounding its origins. Some contend that Merlin sent for the stones from Africa and had them transported by giants. Others say it was the Devil who was employed by Merlin to take the stones from an old woman's backyard. The Devil supposedly offered the woman as much money as she could count while he gathered the stones- she was delighted, thinking she was going to be a fabulously rich woman. Unfortunately for her, it took him only seconds. He then flew to Stonehenge to deposit them in the earth, dropping a few along the way which can apparently still be found today.

We were about as bored with Stonehenge as you probably were reading this, but it was one of those sites you cannot miss. (:

Bath was a bit more exciting. Ok, that was a complete understatement, it was much much more interesting. 

Bath is home to... can you guess?

The Baths. Roman ones, to be exact. I'm sure that most of you don't think, "I'm going to take a Roman bath today instead of a normal one" but trust me, if it had been 2000 years ago, you would have wanted to!

The Roman Bath complex was basically a glorfied spa. The hot spring providing the water for the baths is the only one of its kind in England, so the Romans picked a good spot when they started building around 60 AD. 

The entrance. 

Despite the fact that it was a bitterly cold day, it felt rather balmy walking around this particular bath. We were warned about every 5 feet, however, that NO ONE was to enter the water. I think they made a good point- who knows what's gotten in there in the last 2000 years?

Besides, I wasn't really wearing my swimsuit.

The Baths also double as a temple to the goddess Minerva. There were several baths reserved only for her. Lucky.

This is the Pump Room above the Baths, a beautiful room used in the 19th century as both a restaurant and a ballroom. The Pump Room plays a prominent role in Jane Austin's Northanger Abbey. Though it might be open to the public now, the prices certainly weren't(: 

And look what we discovered in the gift shop?! The Latin version of Harry Potter. You know a book is good when that happens. I'm sure it will be dubbed a classic anytime soon and published in a leather-bound 2nd edition. Anytime now. 

A few more views of the city of Bath:

Very appropriately named. Their tea was delicious. 

And that's all for now. Cheers!

Around Oxford: Magdalen College and City Centre

Hey all! Some more pics from around Oxford:

 

 Sheldonian Theatre and the Bodlein library. The library, nicknamed the "Bod", holds at least one copy of every book published in the United Kingdom. Yeah, thats a lot of books. Basically, the entire city is built on top of the subterranean bookstacks or the wine cellar. Since each college makes their own wine, they need a lot of room...

 Another main street. 

 Trinity College- I walk past it every day on the way to the library. Beautiful.

 The Thames River, coming all the way from London. Its a bit smaller here than it is there(:

 Outside of Christ Church, my college. 

 A view of Magdalen College, home to C.S. Lewis.

 More Magdalen. 

The Magdalen Courtyard. The British love to keep their lawns gorgeous. How do they do this? They never let anyone walk on them(: You can get expelled for it. Whew. 

Around the town: The Oxford Union

I just finished a rather massive essay today, so I'm afraid I don't have much in me to write. Instead I thought I would post some pictures of different places around Oxford to give you a visual taste of what I see everyday.

The Oxford Student Union. I think this is one of my favorite places in Oxford. The building is actually quite large and filled to the brim with staircases and rooms tucked here and there. They have a wonderful old library with lots of old armchairs.

 The Union is also home to Oxford's famous debating hall. Every Thursday night they host a formal debate (I'll have to try and snag a picture tonight). Its everything you would imagine a debate to be, full of intense repartee, pomp, even jokes. The Brits do know how to make fun of themselves(:

Tonight's debate is about whether the United Kingdom should fear the rise of China. Other notable debates include whether to ban the burqa, a vote of no confidence in Her Majesty's government, whether Great Britain can still be considered great, etc. 

My friend Margarita just outside the Union. The leaves were quite beautiful last week. And then it rained(:

I was trying to throw leaves in the air, not point at something in the sky. Needless to say, it didn't really work...

One of the rooms inside the Union. This is one of the newer ones; the older ones are all dusty and dark and amazing(:

 And that, folks, is the Oxford Union.

Take me to the Castle, please!

Greetings!

Again my apologies for posting so little. I just finished one of my tutorials (sigh of relief) so now I should have more time to write(:

Almost a month ago (whoops!) our programme director took us on a trip to see Blenheim Palace (pronounced Blen-him by the locals, Blen-hi-m by tourists) and Warwick Castle (Again, pronounced War-ick by the locals and War-w-ick by tourists. Its great how you can differentiate between the two now... I prefer to think I fall in the first category, but who knows?? ) Both are about an hour away from Oxford.

Its rather difficult to remember all of the many, many palaces and castles around England, but Blenheim is distinct because it has never belonged to a member of the royal family or the clergy (Generally, those are the lucky people to have the giant, expensive, gorgeous houses we like to deem palaces. Perhaps the CRC should look into providing such lodgings for their members...).

The Main House

The land was given to John Churchill, Duke of Marlborough, by Queen Anne in the early 1700's for winning a great military victory (Pretty nice gift, huh). Eventually the Churchills bankrupted themselves in the process of creating their beautiful estate. 

The backyard(:

And then around 1900, the 9th Duke of Marlborough decided to fix things up. So he did what was fashionable at that time: married a rich American. His bride was Consuelo Vanderbilt, who brought with her what would have been $300 million today. You can imagine how the palace was transformed after that...

More of the backyard

As marriages for money often go, the Duke and his wife did not get along at all; eventually they divorced and the Duke married another American, Gladys Deacon, whose dowry redid the roof(: So you see, we Americans can take some pride in saying that the roof is ours!

The gatehouse

For those of you who recognized the Duke's last name, you will be interested to know that Blenheim Palace is also the birth-home (or should I say birth-palace) of Winston Churchill. His father was the second son in the family, so neither the title nor the palace ever belonged to the prime minister, but he did spend a considerable amount of time here. It would have been a great place to grow up(:

Giant chess sets

Fabulous maze- this was only a small part of it.

There was also a butterfly garden and a train to take you around the extensive grounds. 

Definitely a prime place to grow up.

Except for that part. And of course, as my dad says, I have a slight disdain for rules. Notice that only one boot is one the grass, not two.

Some of the grounds. Very Pride and Prejudice.

We weren't allowed to take pictures inside the house, but suffice it to say that the Vanderbilt's money was well spent!

A panoramic shot of the house.

And now onto Warwick Castle!

Warwick was once a medieval castle, but now it much more resembles a Disneyland Castle than anything else. Costumed characters of knights, princesses, servants, and witches roam around playacting their various roles; there are numerous sword fights, witch trials, and archery demonstrations. It looks like great fun if you are 10 years old, but we "wise" 20-year-olds walked around with our knowing smirks as if to say, "Oh, remember those years when you enjoyed such a thing." We all conveniently forgot that it was only a few years ago that we would have been right in the middle of them giggling.

A view of the castle from the ramparts. Lets just say it was not the ideal place for those who are...uncertain about heights.

A group of the girls ready to storm the castle.

A view from within the walls.

Another view of the surrounding city from the top of the ramparts. It was quite breathtaking.

Nope, its not a cross. I'm sure all of you who were medieval archers in your day will recognize this, but for the rest of you (including me) this is an arrow-slit. It is through this that archers shot so as to afford themselves a bit of protection. These slits, however, opened into the castle grounds. Makes you wonder as to the nature of their job if they needed to point inward instead...

And down we go... There were about 300 of these steps to go down before you reached the bottom. Definitely better than a stairmaster.

A little hamlet just outside the castle walls. You can't see it now, but there was a wedding happening just to the left(:

Trying to pull the Merlin's Sword out of the stone. I was successful, of course!

There was much more happening, but one of the more interesting demonstrations was the trebuchet. As I had mentioned earlier, there were many costumed characters running around, including three rather disgusting looking witches who were subsequently tried and found guilty of witchcraft. Their punishment was to be lit on fire and catapulted from the trebuchet. It took them ages to ready the trebuchet- I'm not sure how successful they actually were in battle if it took 20 minutes to load, but who knows? Anyway, here's a clip:

No witches were harmed in the making of this movie. They probably should have told the little kids watching; some of them started crying.

Anyways, that was just a quick tour. I thought you would all enjoy a glimpse of something you don't often run into as you're driving along in the states.