Oxford

A couple weeks ago I went to do some sightseeing in Oxford with some friends. Lindsay got her masters from there last year so she was able to take us into some of the colleges that we might not have otherwise. A friend of hers came down from Scotland and we discovered that I used to work with his sister for about a year at BYU. We ate a full traditional English breakfast at The Three Guineas pub in Reading before heading to Oxford. It was the first time I'd ever had it and it was really good, and for some reason the deep fat fried bread was amazing. Oxford has a lot of things to see. One of the first things we saw was an old burial mound.



Not sure what this used to be, but now it has a shop in the bottom:


And my latin's not the greatest, but under the clock it says "Fortis est Veritas" which I think means "Truth is strength".



At the entrance to Christ Church where Lewis Carroll studied and lectured while he wrote Alice in Wonderland, is this sword in the ground:



Lindsay, Grant, and Andrea inside Christ Church:



This is also in Christ Church and was used to film part of the inside of Hogwarts in the Harry Potter movies. The stairs lead into the Hall they used as Hogwarts' Great Hall. Unfortunately the Great Hall was closed the day we went:



Stained glass inside Christ Church:



Then it was on to Merton College, where J. R. R. Tolkien taught for part of his time at Oxford:



And my personal favorite, the tree at Merton College that Tolkien is said to have sat under to write:





Stained glass inside the Merton College Church:



The exit from a church C. S. Lewis used to frequent in Oxford has a couple of interesting things to see. This is the view directly from the door of the church looking at a building just a few feet away across the alley:



And this is a view of the alley from near that exit of the church (you can't see the church in the picture):



Maybe it's all a coincidence, but you'll notice the door has two fauns flanking it and a lion right on the door. Down the alley is a lamp post. It might not be true but this is said to have been the inspiration for some of C. S. Lewis' Narnia ideas.

Before we saw where C. S. Lewis taught, we met up with some more friends and went to have lunch. We tried to eat at the Eagle and Child but it was full. The Eagle and Child is where C. S. Lewis and J. R. R. Tolkien and others met as members of a group called the Inklings. In the picture are Andrea, Rachel, Diego, Lindsay, Diego's brother, and Grant:



After lunch we made our way to Magdalen College, where C. S. Lewis taught. Rachel tried to get Grant to stop messing with the gate to the college but soon gave up:



I don't know if it's got the same name, but this is the church at Magdalen College:



Another view of Magdalen College:



Grant in front of the building where C. S. Lewis taught at Magdalen College. You can't see it here but the three windows to where he taught always have flowers in them:



And behind this building is a herd of deer. We think it's probably intentional that one is white:




We got to climb up the tower of University Church for a great view of the city. Here are a couple shots of the city:





There's a lot to see in Oxford, but I'll be back again. Last week I actually went again, this time for a lecture at the Ashmolean museum, one of the three main museums in England they say (the British Museum in London, the Ashmolean, and the Fitz-William in Cambridge are the three). I didn't have time to see much as the lecture took almost 3 hours and since part of it was an actual tour and discussion of the museum I didn't take pictures. On my way out I did stop by the Oxford castle and got a quick shot, and when I have more time I'm going to go and take a tour inside.

London, Part 2

Last Thursday night I had to attend a lecture at the British Museum for my class on the evolution of museums since ancient times, and this lecture was on that specific subject. It was part of a larger conference taking place in London last week and so the room was filled almost entirely with professors and such academics from all around, with a few graduate students. But first, since that wasn't until 6:30 pm, I went to London in the morning to do some more sightseeing, which was great. First stop was to Big Ben and Parliament, along with Westminster Abbey right beside them as I hadn't seen the Abbey last time and the others in daylight.


The last was of Parliament and Big Ben, and here's Westminster Abbey across the street. I didn't pay to go inside this time because I wanted to fit a lot of places in, and it was 15 pounds. Westminster Abbey started in 960 AD, but this building wasn't built until 1245 AD:


After that I went back on the tube to the Tower of London, and this time I've got a picture with myself in it. No one told me to smile, so I didn't.


The Tower started as just one of the buildings, the White Tower, in 1078 by William the Conqueror. Different kings added more and more to it until it became basically as we see it today in the late 1200's. It was a fortress, palace, and prison, complete with torture chambers. Here are the remains of the drawbridge over the moat:


And a closer look at the drawbridge:


And beside the Tower of London, Tower Bridge, which is often mistakenly called the London Bridge:


Again, the Tower cost money and I knew I wouldn't have time for everything I wanted to do so I didn't go in this time, but will some day. I went next to the Imperial War Museum on the recommendation of a friend, and it was well worth it.


There were so many authentic military vehicles and equipment inside that I can't post all the pictures, but here are a few favorites. First, an actual World War 2 German one-man submarine:


The casing of a US atomic bomb, identical to the Little Boy that was dropped on Hiroshima.


A German V-2 rocket (imagine this bad boy landing in your yard...):


There was a lot to see there, including exhibits on the British intelligence agencies and their actions in different wars. The Holocaust exhibit was... well, hard to explain, really. No pictures are allowed inside so I don't have any of it. Quotes from many German officers and politicians about the Jews were posted all over the walls. After that I knew I was almost out of time and had to leave, so while I saw everything, some of it was very fast.

By the time I got to the tube station next to the two museums I had left to go to, it was only 45 minutes before I had to meet my professor at the British museum so that we could go around and look at a couple of the exhibits for an hour before the lecture, so I didn't get to the Soane museum. Still, the British museum was definitely the best part of the day. Here's the entrance with a classic telephone booth outside:


There was so much to see inside that I'm glad I spent at least the 45 minutes inside to look at parts I knew I wouldn't see with my professor. She only planned on going through the ancient Greek and Enlightenment sections with us. First of all, the inside entrances to each area are also set up in ancient fashion:


Like I said, I really enjoyed the museum, especially because it had so many authentic artifacts. First of all, the actual Rosetta Stone:


Egyptian hieroglyphs:


An Egyptian sarcophagus:


Roman mosaics:


And now I've finally seen mummies---cross another thing off the life goal list. This one is one of the Cleopatras:


I don't know who this is.


Then it was on to the Roman section, which was smaller. Unfortunately I don't remember which Roman Emperor this was, but I think it was Emperor Septimius Severus who I wrote a paper about and presented on. He was good at conquering, but his wife essentially ran the political side of things.


After that I went down to meet my professor and tour the Greek and Enlightenment areas. The British Museum also has the ancient Nereid monument from almost 400 BC, taken from Lykia:


Here are some of the statues from one of the pediments of the Parthenon, built in the 5th century BC:


And more from the Parthenon:


Well believe me I have plenty more where these came from, but that's all I'll put up since I know it's a lot. The lecture was good, and afterward it seemed a little bit of a higher-society deal with the many wines and drinks that were served by extremely well dressed people. Thankfully they also had water. I had no idea what to do with my glass when I was done though so I just took it up to the counter in the corner and the lady gave me a look and then took it. After the lecture I went around the museum for a little longer before it closed. I didn't even see half of the museum and so I will definitely be going back again.

Iowa

It's been a while since I've had an update but there wasn't much to talk about between my last post and going home for Christmas. Going home was kind of a spur of the moment thing, as we originally had planned not to have me come home. But, after talking to my parents one day, we decided that we should try to get me home if we could find a cheap enough plane ticket. Obviously, since we hadn't planned on it, the plane tickets were quite expensive at the time. We looked and found a ticket for very cheap after a couple hours of searching! The plane was leaving in 12 hours from London and had open seats still, so maybe that contributed to the sudden drop in price (it dropped by about $700 compared to others!). Anyways, I got home and had a great time with my family and I am very, very glad I got to go home.

The only thing of note between my last post and Christmas was actually quite important. My good friend, Kingsley Henry, was baptized on Saturday, November 28! Here we are with Elder Lee and Elder Roberts:


The beautiful Iowa weather was there for me when I got home:


And another shot of the house with the kids on a snowhill in the background:


Andrew and the snow that went as high as the deck:


Sara getting ready to jump off the deck into the snow with Sage in the background:


Sage, Sara, and Andrew starting on our amazing tunnel under the snow:


And finally Christmas Day. Here Matt's trying to tan while talking to Mom, with Tamara, Sicily, Ronald, and Andrew in the background:


Sicily taking pictures with someone's camera with Dad and Tamara and the Christmas Tree in the background (and Andrew's knee in the bottom left):


I didn't have any pictures of Mark and Tiffany and their family unfortunately, and this is the only one where you can really see Sawyer. He always seems to be ducking behind something in the others and then I have about five that he took of himself so you either see just his forehead or just his mouth:


Also important: Iowa beat Georgia Tech in their BCS game and BYU stomped Oregon State in the Las Vegas Bowl.

The return trip to England didn't go so smoothly and involved spending a night in the Heathrow airport and then finally dragging my suitcase over a mile through the snow to my place, but I made it.

And now just because I like this picture, the view from the driveway: