My Fair Lady

I cannot seem to escape the familiar nursery rhyme: 

London Bridge is falling down,

Falling down, falling down.

London Bridge is falling down,

My fair lady. . .

(For the full lyrics and history of the rhyme, visit here: http://www.rhymes.org.uk/london-bridge-is-falling-down.htm) 

I can now say that I have seen this very bridge, the London Bridge that is, with my own eyes. I failed to snap a picture of this particular landmark, but I managed to photograph many others. 

We all rode into London on a red double decker bus - quite the experience. We then proceeded to go on a driving tour of the city with a nice gentleman from Wales as our guide. He pointed out several peripheral but interesting landmarks; J.M. Barrie's home, the statue of King George the III (the king on the throne during the American Revolution) and the home of Winston Churchill among them. 

A few fun sights around the city:

The London Eye

I don't know what else to title this except "a cool building" so I guess that's what it's gonna be.

Look at that girl go!

This darling cottage was positioned right in the center of the city. It apparently houses the bird keeper of the city. Um, can I please become the bird keeper of London? 

The Big Ben. I found the chiming of the bells are more beautiful than the towering clock itself. 

The gates of Buckingham Palace.

Front view of the Westminster Abbey.

The cloud of witnesses. 

Our day was spent largely on independent exploration but also included a paid (thank you, OSAP!) tour through the Churchill War Rooms. This was a definite highlight of the trip for me. For those not already aware, this museum is located in the actual underground facility that provided shelter to Churchill and his administrative staff during much of the Blitz in London during WWII. Not only was Churchill and his staff housed in this secret venue but deliberated issues surrounding the frightful bombings of the city, etc.

Churchill, we learned, was a very controversial figure before and during the war. At present, the general public opinion of Churchill and his decisions seem to be largely positive. I suppose Churchill himself predicted this outcome: 

"History will be kind to me for I intend to write it." - Winston Churchill

Though underground, the shelter itself was not completely bomb-proof. A direct hit to the location would surely blast everything and everyone in it "to smithereens". Therefore, it was imperative that the location remain completely unknown to all above ground. 

The museum included the preserved original rooms and corridors in which Churchill and his cabinet worked and lived. We toured the offices, bedrooms, halls and conference rooms of the underground shelter. There was also an entire space dedicated to the life (personal and public) and impact of Winston Churchill. My personal favorite case was the one dedicated to the relationship of he and his wife, Clementine, or as he affectionally called her, Clemmie. Not to be too syrupy or anything ...

And now, for a few photos. 

For your sake, I will now silence the little history nerd in me and provide an entertaining (I hope) selection of photographs instead.

Enjoy.

The group.

 Frank: "Hey Maddie, can you get some pictures of me running through this courtyard?"

 Monica has a thing with geese. 

 English squirrels are nicer than their cousins in the US. 

Monica and Buckingham Palace  

And now, I leave you with the last verses of "The London Bridge is Falling Down".
(My particular favorites)


Set a man to watch all night,
Watch all night, watch all night,
Set a man to watch all night,
My fair Lady.

Suppose the man should fall asleep,
Fall asleep, fall asleep,
Suppose the man should fall asleep?
My fair Lady.

Give him a pipe to smoke all night,
Smoke all night, smoke all night,
Give him a pipe to smoke all night,
My fair Lady.

And so it begins

Oxford by C.S. Lewis

It is well that there are palaces of peace
And discipline and dreaming and desire,
Lest we forget our heritage and cease
The Spirit’s work—to hunger and aspire:

Lest we forget that we were born divine,
Now tangled in red battle’s animal net,
Murder the work and lust the anodyne,
Pains of the beast ‘gainst bestial solace set.

But this shall never be: to us remains
One city that has nothing of the beast,
That was not built for gross, material gains,
Sharp, wolfish power or empire’s glutted feast.

We are not wholly brute. To us remains
A clean, sweet city lulled by ancient streams,
A place of visions and of loosening chains,
A refuge of the elect, a tower of dreams.

She was not builded out of common stone
But out of all men’s yearning and all prayer
That she might live, eternally our own,
The Spirit’s stronghold—barred against despair.

-C.S. Lewis

After months (and perhaps a lifetime) of anticipation, we have stepped foot in Oxford. As of today, Monica, Frank, Stephanie, Steph O. and I have been here for a week. And what a week it has been. I have decided that on this blog, I will keep the details to a minimum and provide instead select photos with description. The more extensive recordings will be reserved for my journal and updates for close family. That being said, I look forward to sharing my adventures with many of you upon my return.

So, without further adieu.

Here we are when we at long last saw the happy sight of our Apt. building sign:

(After carrying 100+ pounds of luggage behind us for over an hour that is)

Eating lunch on a tree stump outside of Christ Church Meadows:

Standing in front of The Eagle and Child. I hope you understand the significance of this landmark. If not, either look it up or just stop reading. 

A few shots from around this beautiful campus:

I feel like I'm in Archenland of Narnia every time I pass under this tree.

 Frank really likes it here.

Wall of the great Bodleian Library, the library at which much of our time will be spent while here. (Otherwise referred to as "the Bod".)

 The Bodleian is one of the oldest and largest libraries in Europe. It is the main research library of Oxford and also the main library we will have access to while we are here. Sir Thomas Bodley, the founder of the library, established an agreement that every book that was published in Britain from that point on would be available in the Bod. So as you can imagine, the book selection is vast;. It houses over 11 million titles and is still growing.

Photo taking was not permitted in this exhibit, so I'm afraid I cannot provide images of treasures that lie behind these doors. The exhibit was called Magical Books: The Middle Ages to Middle Earth. They had original transcripts, drawings and letters of Tolkien and Lewis (most notable in my opinion) among others. There was also an entire case devoted to the topic of Alchemy and alchemical literature (a particular interest of mine) which was also incredible. 

And lastly, because we are always to remember our mortality, I leave you with this image:

This is the place at which people were (rightly or wrongly) burned at the stake many years ago.

It seemed so misplaced, right in the center of the busy city. To be sure, countless oblivious passers-by tread over that somber brick cross without a thought.

And on that note ... Cheerio!

Stay tuned for the next installment which will include photos from our trip to London!