Buses, Football and Frozen Feet

This morning/afternoon, Roni and I trekked out to a town called Grove to watch her friends Ian and Neal play football. Not British football, aka soccer, but real American football (well, let's not get carried away here....).

We take our normal Bus 6 down to City Centre, pick up some Starbucks (just for you, Klaudia) and some Ben's Cookies and walk down to just in front of Christ Church to board our bus. It was, shall we say, an interesting bus ride to be sure. First of all, it took us nearly 50 minutes to reach our destination. We drove east out of Oxford to the highway and then throuhg Abingdon and stopped at some bizarre locations. For example, we dropped an older couple off literally at their front door, despite there being no bus stop in the vicinity. We also dropped off a leather-jacket clad lad (oh, a rhyme) in front of a farmhouse. I do not believe he was a farmer's child unless he was trying to blend in with the townies. He was pretty skinny. We also were accompanied by Pink Man, aptly named because of his pink backpack, pink sweatshirt and pink watch strap. He also hummed the entire bus ride.... we tried to ignore this part of his personality as much as possible

I will say that this was the second most scary bus ride I had ever been on (the first being the rainy drive through tiny hedge-lined roads from Winchester to Salisbury.... and if you don't believe how petrifyingly scary this ride was, ask Shiri, she'll tell you). The bus driver (despite being a very nice bloke) seemed to ignore all signs indicating speed limit. At one point we were nearing a town with a huge sign to slow down and we whizzed by that so fast I don't think anyone noticed it. We didn't slow down until the turn became too sharp to take as such break-neck speed. Also, the roads in Abingdon were awful! I am surprised I didn't spill my coffee all over myself. At one point, the bus came to such an abrupt stop that Roni nearly pressed the "stop" button... with her forehead.



Needless to say, we made it to Grove, despite getting off at the wrong stop and trekking through some mud on a footpath to get ot the field. We arrived a few minutes before kick-off and by the first five minutes, were pretty much frozen. We were about the only spectators and there were no bleachers or benches (or scoreboard or clock or anything), so we were pretty much at the mercy of the refs and the players that we knew.

And let's be real. There was nothing like the above going on. Well, maybe a little. But honestly, folks, how do you describe a game that ended with a high score of 3-2? I didn't even know that was possible in football! It sounds like an exciting soccer or hockey game score, not American football (and you know that I'm in England when I googled football and the first eight images that come up are of soccer balls and soccer players... hehe...). Needless to say, it was a brand new experience that we will NEVER again do since it's about five hours later and I'm still not sure I have all ten toes.

Moral of the story: There are three.
1. There will ALWAYS be weird people on buses and there is always the chance that you will die- either from careening down a small lane or by the weird people on the bus.
2. Perhaps American football should be left to the American. Unless you want a thoroughly entertaining experience.
3. It is possible to recover from frozen feet. At least I think so. I'll let you know when I can wiggle them all again.

Exploring the backyard

The backyard to our place overlooks the Oxford Canal so since the sun was shining this morning, I decided to take a walk along the canal and see what there was to see. The canal goes all the way down to City Centre and beyond but I didn't make it that far.



the one on the far left it ours
the backyard


There were some interesting things on the walk- like this "Caution Moving Plant" sign. There was no plant around, much less a moving plant so I was a little confused. It for some reason reminded me of something that might be in a Monty Python movie.


Every couple hundred feet (or more, you know I have no judge of distance), there is a different bridge linking the two sides of the canal. Some, like this first one up river from the house is lower to the bank and therefore moveable for when the canal houseboats need to sail up and down street. This one, for example, was up and therefore I wasn't able to cross.



Most of the bridges downstream from the house were more traditional. This one is the closest one to the house and accesible by cars and pedestrians alike.


This one, however, was pretty low to the ground, as you can tell by how I can't stand straight underneath it. It doesn't seem to bother people though, as I passed people on bicycles, runners, people walking their dogs, etc.


Of course, you always get some interesting things lying on the side of the bank, such as this chair that seemed to have been in the bushes for so long the vines started to entwine around it. Very beautiful.



The canal is definitely no Woodbridge Lake walk. The path is mostly dirt (or mud because of the light rain yesterday). There are gulls and swans and ducks and various other birds but not an overwhelming amount. As you walk, houses line both sides of the bank, although you mostly just see their backyards. At some points there are lovely parks and playgrounds for the children- perfect, I'm sure for summer days.


I was most fascinated by the canal houseboats. Most seemed pretty tightly shut up but I saw one man board is boat and another man up river was working on cutting some wood while an wood burning stove was clearly lit inside his houseboat. I also saw another couple hauling a huge log in their own wheelbarrow to their boat. One had their shades open so I could non-creepily peer in to see a bedroom and the kitchen area that seemed as fully equipped as a normal house, just to a small extent.
I'm interested in continuing my observations of these canal-boat residents and hopefully will finagle my way on one someday. For now, I'm looking forward to move quiet, sunny walks along the beautiful canal.

Flat Jessica's First English Excursion

Once there was a flat girl named Jessica. She was pretty sheltered and therefore excited when Michal asked her if she wanted to come to Swindon. "What is there to do in Swindon" Flat Jessica asked. Michal wasn't sure and they decided to explore together.


Flat Jessica was very excited for the train ride, even though it wasn't a long trip it all. They boarded at Oxford and took a short ride to Didcot Pkwy, changed trains and had an entire car all to themselves. So Flat Jessica got to sit in her own seat.



The reason for the trip to Swindon was to see Jasper Fforde, one of Michal's favorite authors. He had just written a brand new one called Shades of Grey, although mostly known for the THursday Next series and the lesser known Nursery Crimes Series. Michal hadn't finished SHades of Grey yet so she perched on a small stool near the signing table and finished the book. Flat Jessica was pretty excited when Michal finished, about ten minutes before Jasper arrived.



Turns out Michal was also at the front of the signing queue so she was the first to meet Jasper! He was very nice, friendly, interested that she was planning on seeing him in Pasadena a few weeks before but ended up coming to Swindon instead. He had no problem taking a picture with Michal and they chatted for a bit.

However, Flat Jessica wanted to meet Jasper too so they waited until everyone else had gotten their books signed and then Flat Jessica got her picture too.


They asked Jasper what there was to do in Swindon and athough he wasn't too sure (clearly there is not much to do), they found plenty to fill the rest of their afternoon. They wandered through the Brunell Shopping Centre on Michal's quest to find red rainboots with white polka dots. They also observed some beautiful old architecture which gave the town an 1800s feel.



They finally decided to go to the STEAM museum since Swindon is at the heart of the Great Western Railway System but it wasn't free so Michal put the kibosh on that.

So they ended up in the Swindon outlet mall! They walked through John Lewis, the British version of Ikea and then meandered through the outlet shops, looking for good deals and boots. Neither were found.

They did enjoy seeing a large train, although Flat Jessica felt that in this picture, the train was running her down. Michal argued that because Flat Jessica can't stand on her own, she better take whatever she can get. It was their only argument and they soon were friends again.

There was a beautiful pink and orange sunset that Michal and Flat Jessica got to watch as they were waiting for the train back to Didcot Station. By the time they arrived at Didcot 15 minutes later, it was gone so they were lucky to have witnessed it.
All in all, it was a long day but Flat Jessica was glad to enjoy a part of England she had never seen before.

The End.

London Day Two (with hardly any pictures)

The plan was to hop the train down to Dover, race up to the castle and tour it, then catch another train up to Canterbury just in time to see the Cathedral and then back to London....

Well, that didn't happen. We missed the train to Dover and since it wouldn't be worth it time and money wise to continue with Plan A, we proceeded to Plan B. Which was nothing. All in all, it worked out lovely though. We started with a walk through the beautiful Hyde Park. We walked from Hyde Park Corner up to Speaker's Corner and Marble Arch and then cut through to the Bridge across the Serpentine.



The next few hours was spent at the gloriously wonderful Victoria and Albert Museum. I made it through half of the ground floor and definitely need to come back with my sketch book for another look at the sculptures. The V&A has a lot of artifacts and less paintings so it was wonderful to see various mediums, especially in the Asian and Indian sections. I also needed way more time in the cast room and some binoculars for Raphael's Cartoons.


We met Brian, Roni's friend and fellow AFA grad at the Hoop and Toy pub for Sunday lunch and then headed over to UCL's Wellcome Centre where we saw an incredible exhibit called Eight Rooms, Nine Lives. Part of that was the Medicine Now exhibit which was chock full of bizarre items collcted by Henry Wellcome, founder of the Wellcome Centre. When I say bizarre, this includes: very random paintings of medical procedures, the hair of George III, Japanese fertility dolls, a child's ear cover, and more. There was also a modern medicine centre about the present day's reaction to medicine, diseases, health, diet, identity, DNA, etc. All incredibly bizarre but incredibly interesting. No wonder the Wellcome Centre is called "A Free Destination for the Incurably Curious".




We popped back over to Brian's, picked up our things, stopped in for another pizza at Icco and headed to the train station. We hopped an earlier train back to Oxford for the end of an incredibly stuffed weekend.

London Day One (with lots of pictures)

Hopped onto the train at Oxford and spenta pleasant hour wrapped up in the world of Chromatica as I got deeper into Jasper Fforde's newest book Shades of Grey. We arrived at London's Paddington Station and headed down to Borough Market, just south of the river, next to Southwark Cathedral. Borough Market is just chock full of everything you could want- fruit, veg, cheese, breads, pastries, poultry, fish, nuts, mulled wine, coffees, smoothies, pasties, sandwiches and of course, ostrich and kangaroo burgers. Not kidding on the last one either. Borough was stuffed full of people and stalls but the free samples were delicious and the smells heavenly.





Next stop of Camden Market, one of my favorite places in London. My goal was to buy my coveted red wellies with white polka dots but I was not successful. I may have to become less picky. Camden, as usual, was packed with its weird folk and weird stores. I made the obligatory stop at my favorite bookstore and the rest of the afternoon was spent meandering through the stalls, spending a particular amount of time at the old shops in the Horse Tunnels Market.






The rest of the afternoon was spent at the British Museum- we didn't have too much time so most of it was spent in the ancient section- Assyrian, Egyptian, Greek and Roman. We did have a chance to see a fascinating Mexican Revolution Print section, which was incredible. I love the British Museum- but you need about a week to see it properly!












After we inhaled our pizza at the ICCo (Italian Coffee Company) we went to the incredible We Will Rock You! It was the third time that I've seen it and it still rocked. I stood for the first half and then turns out the girls had an empty seat next to them so I joined them in the balcony for the second half. And again.... it rocked :)


all lovely photos courtesy of the even lovelier Andrea Mehefko :)

You know you're in England when..

the sweet older man next door knocks to ask a question and introduces himself as Angus. Love it.

I've made it!

Hey everyone, greetings from Oxford! I made it, in once piece, and pretty much dry :) The trip to the airport was uneventful, as my mom and Klaudia can attest to (although apparently the drive home, not as uneventful). I made it to JFK with no problems, checked my bag and got a seat on the flight to Heathrow. I met up with Andrea and we had awesome seats! The first class seats from JFK have flat beds so I was literally lying down as I napped and watched movies. Plus, we got pretty much anything we wanted to eat or drink.


Luckily I made it through security and immigration with no hitches although I was questioned for a good ten minutes but a grumpy man. We got our bags and caught the bus to Oxford, which included free wi-fi. Excellent amenity. Roni picked us up, we trekked to her office to drop off our bags and then headed back into town. We spent the afternoon wandering around, including taking a jaunt up to the top of St. Marys Church to see Oxford from above.
The chuch is right across from the Radcliffe Camera and around the corner from Blackwell's, the Sheldonian and High Street so we were certainly occupied the whole afternoon. Later we met up with Roni, chatted with a sweet old man at the bus station, settled into the beautiful apartment (post of pictures of that to follow in a few days for a personal tour), did some shopping and had a yummy homemade dinner. Needless to say, it was nice to be "home".



The next morning (today), it was rainy and blustery but not too cold so we set off for another jaunt around Oxford. We hit up the Divinity School of the Bodleian, an exhibit of old Hebrew manuscripts, Exeter College and their Fellow's Garden, Starbucks, the Oxford Castle and then ChristChurch college. The Tom campus is pictured below.



Christ College is the location of many-a Harry Potter scene location. The Hall is used for the Great Hall scenes, the steps are where Harry and Co stood to be sorted and some of the hallways are used in the films as well. When I hit up a few more HP sites, I'll post the pictures. It's pretty awesome. The cathedral is also beautiful, especially the incredible stained-glass windows.

Tomorrow morning we take the train into London hopefully to hit up Borough Market, Camden Market (my favorite place in London), the British Museum and We Will Rock You. Sunday will be Dover and Canterbury and then back home Sunday night! Post more later!