January Catch Up Part 2: Historical Stuff and Lots of Pictures!

Fall leaves encroach the muddy waters that run along the edge of Christ Church College.

In my attempts to make up for all I missed writing about in January, I honestly didn't get very far. The first days of the year were quite the adventure, thanks to Paul and Erin. But that leaves a lot more ground to cover so let's get a move on.

The entrance to Christ Church College, for once, not swarmed with tourists as it usually is on the weekends.

Mike and I had a day to ourselves and we decided to finally take a tour of Christ Church, the only church in Oxford that's also a cathedral. It was supposed to be the location of Cardinal Wolsey's college, however, King Henry VIII took it over when Wolsey fell out of favor for failing to secure the king's annulment to Catherine of Aragon. Oops. It's also where Alice Lydell, the Alice from Wonderland, was born, where Charles Dodgson, aka Lewis Carroll, was a math teacher and where scenes from Harry Potter were filmed.

At the bottom of the Great Hall is the oldest known ‛graffiti' dating back to the 17th Century that was a protest against a former Christ Church student who eventually became Prime Minister. Sir Robert Peel's Catholic Emancipation Act of 1829 gave rights that had previously been denied to Roman Catholics, namely the Irish, for the first time since The Reformation and that didn't sit well with many Anglicans at Christ Church. Peel and his colleagues who brought forth the act had been against this very idea for the last 20 years. It caused quite the uproar and divided the Tory party in later years. Whoo hoo! History!

Graffiti artists back then didn't use spray paint. Pfft. They used NAILS to get their message out.

180 degrees from the Peel door is the staircase to the Great Hall. THE staircase where Dame Maggie Smith stood in character providing some sort of valuable lesson I've forgotten to the new Hogwarts students including young Harry Potter. Unfortunately, there were too many tourists taking the exact same picture so I stood at the bottom of it and took a picture of the ceiling because I thought it was gorgeous. 

Sorry, no famous staircase and no Dame Maggie Smith. 

The dining hall of the Harry Potter movies sans CGI effects.

At the top of the stairs is the Great Hall, also known as the dining hall in all the Harry Potter movies. And, like many of the other tourists, we were a little excited to feel the Harry Potter-ness of the room. Since we didn't remember all the historical portraits from the movie that line the walls (Henry VIII and Elizabeth I being front and center), we assumed they were all CGI'd out. And when you compare pictures, that theory seems to be accurate. Not to mention the archways along the walls were also lengthened and go all the way to the floor. But they do serve lunch in there daily to staff and students so it's closed to tourists regularly from 12-2pm. I wouldn't mind dining in that kind of cafeteria.

The main center wall furthest from the entrance decked out in gorgeous historical portraits, with King Henry VIII making sure everyone behaves.

A closer look at the dapper King Henry and his daughter, Elizabeth I, to the left.

The room is surrounded by gorgeous stained glass windows, but our favorite was the one dedicated to Alice Lydell (pronounced like ‛Little'). If you look to the bottom in the corners of each pane, you'll see teeny tiny Alice in Wonderland characters. Some are also on either side of the crests on the bottom row of panes. The very top right and left panes have little circles each depicting young Alice (left) and George Dodgson (right) who wrote the Alice books.      

The Alice window in the Great Hall in Christ Church College.

Onwards to the cathedral, every nook and cranny ached to be photographed and I probably took too many. Wooden carvings, tombs, memorial plaques dedicated to John Wesley and John Locke and though we weren't on one of the tours swarming around us, we both took turns eavesdropping on the groups in order to hear as many details as possible.

Of all the wooden carvings within the cathedral, this was my favorite.

The front of the church decked out in all its most glamorous baby Jesus-ness for Christmas.

History: This is the tomb of a 14th Century knight, probably John Nowers, who died in 1386, says the little plaque. Also that he was super tall for the time standing at 6' 6".  Not an exact quote.

Just a memorial. Locke isn't buried in Christ Church, but he was one cool guy apparently.

Christ Church courtyard just outside the cathedral. They don't let you wander any closer but we're pretty sure the statue in the fountain is of Hermes (the patron saint of really expensive handbags, say Mike.).

The alley you walk out to at the tourist exit for Christ Church. We wandered out at dusk into the fresh January evening. All tourist access ends at 4:30pm sharp.

The holiday over for Oxford staff and post-docs, my husband had to get back to work at his lab. But more Seattle friends, Julian, Kate and their little man, Gregory, were also in the UK visiting Julian's family for Christmas. Since Seattle seems to cultivate a lot of Brits, they also know Paul and Erin so I hopped a bus in the middle of the post-holiday week to hang with everyone for day.

It was my first solo London trip and we were set to meet at Harrod's, which I'd only heard of, not yet been to. I was dropped at the Marble Arch and got a chance to wander through the spectacular Hyde Park, which Mike and I hadn't been to yet together. Unexpectedly warm at 54 degrees, I was late, a little lost, carrying my scarf and furry coat, but managed a few pictures in the park and to meet up with my friends only a little exasperated. Harrod's is BIG, y'all.

Beyond the flatter area of Hyde Park, I came across Serpentine Lake and these gorgeous gardens nearby. 

Idyllic.. sigh. 

Kate and Julian had planned a shopping day to themselves, so after catching up with everyone over a lovely lunch at Harrod's, Erin swooped up Gregory and took him home for his nap and Paul and I wandered around London all afternoon.

The Living Wall at The Athenaeum Hotel. The red spots of color are the cutest bird houses. 

Randomly, we walked past a bird sanctuary with herons, ducks of all kinds I'd never seen and I captured this beautiful black swan. 

The Victoria Palace Theatre in the West End.

Next to Victoria Station. I just had to. 

Paul and I walked for hours and hours through London just catching up and taking in the nice day. When we decided to head back to Battersea for dinner, where Kate and Julian were staying, it was still quite far away. London is huge. I honestly had no idea exactly where we were ever, but Paul is a great guide. Exhausted, but happy, when we arrived at the apartment, I plopped down with Erin to get my kid fix with Gregory and Paul got to work prepping dinner for everyone. When Kate and Julian arrived, we broke open the champagne, dined on Paul's fantastic dinner and though they all encouraged me to stay over, I eventually dragged myself to the nearby bus stop to head home to my sweet husband who didn't get to play all day like I had.

One of our adorable hosts, Gregory, and his best friend, Paul.

Our host daddy, Julian, busts out the most important things for celebrating: Champagne, glasses and one eager baby to get it going.

More to come for January: Flooding, rainbows, more trips to London, our crazy friends in Oxford, plays of all kinds, Mike's 38th surprise birthday party of which there are no pictures (?!), cats on boats and other historic places in our new home town. Til then, pip pip and all that!