English Weekend

What an English weekend we had this week! Saturday was just a usual dark and dreary day, so different from what we've had for the last few days! It was Eights Week- meaning Oxford and Cambridge boat races all day but we decided to hibernate in the house for the day. The afternoon was filled with DVD watching- first a DVD from Shiri all about Liverpool which was quite captivating. Very moving soundtrack and some great sound bites, all placed over some very old pictures and video clips. It showed a Liverpool beyond the football clubs and the Beatles and showed what a young lad growing up in the 50s and 60s sees in Liverpool. It had the tagline of "a love story and eulogy to Liverpool" and I definitely got that feel.

To perk us up a bit after the sombre feel of Liverpool DVD, I put on A Bit of Fry and Laurie. We actually didn't end up watching any of ABOFL but instead watched the extra feature that was all about the Cambridge Footlights which gave us the additional talent of Tony Slattery, Paul Shearer, Penny Dwyer and Emma Thompson. There were some hilarious sketches- my favorite being the Stephen Fry Vampire Story. I'm sure you can find it on youtube- it's got some of the worst puns ever. My favorite being:
Count Dracula: What blood type are you?
Doctor: A.
Count Dracula: I said, what blood type are you?
Doctor: O. B.


After ABOFL we popped out to the shops during a break in the rain and picked up some groceries for Shepherd's Pie. We made wayyyyy too much, an entire pan, and also some chips to go along with it but it was so yummy! Pretty easy to make although our pans were a little too small but it smell delicious while it was cooking up!


And of course, you can't have Shepherd's Pie and chips without some British drink- Carlsberg and Strongbow to the rescue (I still hate beer!)


While we ate our dinner and watched Jeeves and Wooster- the first three episodes- also starring our favorite Stephen Fry and Hugh Laurie, we both had the England v. Turkey match on our computers. A great end to the night!
Sunday morning dawned cloudy but the sun burst through the clouds on my way home from St. Andrews and we had a beautiful day for our tramp through Port Meadows. We walked down to Walton Road, crossed over the train tracks and the canal and trekked through the meadows and the yellow flowers that shook in the wind. A beautiful clean Thames wound through the meadows and there were geese and ducks and cows in our path as we wandered.









We neared the Trout, one of the little locals pubs in the area that I went to on Friday night with Heather for a little bit. The Trout is now in this old stone building right on the river in between a canal lock and a small bridge that leads to a Narnian style garden (I've been thinking a lot about Narnia lately). Ironically, or symbolically, I guess, the garden was closed off by a black iron gate. There is a large garden in the back where people were eating their Sunday lunch. When I was there with Heth, there weren't too many lights outside and it was so peaceful to sit and sip drinks in the near dark with only the sound of the river next to us. I definitely need to get back there for a real meal or at least another drink before I head state-side.


Roni's sharp eyes led us into the Wolvercote Community Orchard. There was a sign on the entrance that explain what every single tree was (they were all different fruits and nuts) and each tree had an identifying sign. Since it's springtime, all there was on the trees were small buds and flowers and some early cherries and apples but I really hope that I can be back in the fall when the trees had bearing fruit. I miss picking apples like we used to when we lived in New Hampshire!



The last thing we stumbled upon on our Port Meadows walk was the Godstow Nunnery. It was now in ruins but we were still able to see where the church had been in the corner. Six months in Oxford and I had no idea that was fifteen minutes walk away from my house. The things you learn- I would love to go back on another sunny day and have a picnic there. Perfect location.




Of course, our English weekend wasn't over. We came home to some leftover Shepherd's Pie (you saw how big that pan was- we're gonna be eating this for a good month) and some England National Team. Right now they're tied 1-1 with Japan and their goal was a Japan own goal. Not too fortuitous with the World Cup in two weeks. Come on England. And of course, our usual Sunday night tradition- a little bit of Doctor Who.



I'm gonna miss these England weekends! At least tomorrow is a Bank Holiday- that means we're off to the Isle of Wight!

Hows About A Punt?

For Discuss Social Night, we took Rachel's excellent recommendation and decided to go ont a pnt down the river. We were slightly worried about weather but it was a beautiful evening, with a little bit of chill but in general wonderful conditions. We met down at the Cherwell Boat House with our gifts of food and went to go rent our punts. Because there were ten of of, we rented two punts and divided up. My boat was headed up by the fearless Rachel who was a great punter and knew what she was doing (unlike myself who contemplated punting but eventually decided against it since our boat was always first... well, most of the time first).

As I said, it was an absolutely gorgeous late afternoon (dusk?) and I got this really cool shot of the Celtic Cross in the Dragon School courtyard. As we punted down the river, we saw all sorts of water fowl, including various sizes of geese, ducks, coots, etc. My favorite thing about this was that I saw everything from ducklings and goslings to medium sized ducks and geese, some geese that didnt' have long adult necks yet, etc. We even saw this little duckling, tiny little thing, who kept trying to make its way up the bank to its mum and just couldn't do it! So sad! Finally mum came down and that's the end of the story because we continued down the river and missed out of what happened next.
II was in the boat with Ailsa, Chloe and Olly and we were close enough to the other boat, holding Becky, Ed, Liz, Gareth and Rob, that we were able to chat with them as well.


As we sailed, we also ran into another Discuss group- Pete, Michaela, Rose, Pete, Tom, Stuart and two other people I didn't know- also on the river. There was so lovely little banter going on between us and later, we threw some tomatoes at them as we were punting by while we were eating our picnic. Clearly good relationships were being fostered while we were away from usual Discuss.
As you can see, we had a wonderful picnic spread. Baguettes, baps, sausage rolls, tomatoes, lettuce, peppers, strawberries, grapes, various cheeses and spreads, pringles, juices and Jaffa cakes. So yummy, yummy, yummy, we were definitely well fed! Conversation ensued, as well as laughter, light teasing, throwing of tomatoes at aforementioned group, etc.
Here are two pictures of the group- one without me and one with me, taken by a random stranger walking through University Parks where we were having our picnic. Thanks random stranger!
All in all, such a great night! Nobody fell into the river, we didn't hit any banks, only some slight zig zags across the river and everybody parked perfectly. So glad we did this- you're wonderful, Discuss Group!

Love Letters to London

Dear Black Purse that I bought on Oxford Street for 5 pounds,
You are a wonderful travel bag- everything in you is easily accessible, you stay on my shoulder without falling off, there are lots of fun little pockets for me to stash food I snuck out of the hostel, chocolate spread, water bottles, both Euro cents and pence, you were never heavy even when I had a book and a guide book in you and you hung off my elbow easily when my shoulder was tired. Thank you for not interfering while I was also carrying a backpack.
Love,
Me


Dear iced Cafe Mocha with skimmed milk and whipped cream from Starbucks,
Thanks for not revolting in my stomach when I had to guzzle you in about five minutes because the stupid Dutch airport does security RIGHT before you get onto the plane and therefore can't take any drinks from the lounge onto the plane. You were yummy and delicious and I'm sorry that I didn't get to appreciate your yummy deliciousness properly.
Love,
MePS- Dear Schiphol Airport- your system sucks. UNlove, Me


Dear London Bridge Station,
Thank you for connecting to Gatwick Airport so I didn't have to go though the insanity of London Victoria. I also greatly appreciated that there weren't too many people in my car so that I could relax on two seats and not share with anyone (Yes, I know that I'm selfish). It's great that you are only four stops on the Northern Line away from King's Cross/St. Pancras so I was easily able to get to the British Library.
Love,
Me

Dear Baddiel and Skinner,
I have so much to thank you for. First of all, Three Lions (both the '96 and '98 version) is maybe one of my favorite England songs, and I loved how you changed the lyrics when England began to play like rubbish. I can't say enough about your 2006 World Cup Podcasts- some of the funniest things I've ever heard. I love the songs that you sing, your commentary, your banter and I am so excited for your 2010 South Africa podcasts! Let the Crouchie bashing begin! Thank you for making the hour ride from Gatwick to London Bridge fly by.
Love,
Me
Dear British Library,
You are INCREDIBLE. I'm sorry for never coming to visit you earlier. The unique original artifacts you have- from John Lennon and Paul McCartney's scrawled lyrics, to Jane Austen's writing desk, to some of the original Shakespeare folios to all these incredible illuminated manuscripts from what seems like all the world religions (including one that I had never heard about before!). Your treasures seemed unlimited and it was made even more exciting by being in a dark room with dark walls and low lighting- it was like discovering things in Smaug's cave (clearly I have been reading a lot of Tolkien recently). I am officially putting you at the top of my London event recommendation list.
Love always,
Me
Dear Magnificent Maps,
You were an amazing exhibit- cartographers, I applaud you for your amazing detail in the maps, like the map of the world, the propaganda maps, the map showing where William Penn wrote the constitution of Pennsylvania. Maps have been elevated to a whole new level for me and I owe it all to you, Magnificent Maps exhibits. I even want to buy one of you ("Island" by Stephen Walter). You so clearly mark the history of the world, show the perspective of the various nations that conquered other lands, give such a great insight into the power struggles and balances of power of the world. You were fascinating and I appreciated you a lot.
Love,
Me

Dear Hyde Park,
Thank you for not being Regents Park (just kidding). Thank you for your huge lawns, your shady trees, Kensington Palace (now called something ridiculous like the Enchanted Castle or something like that), the Serpentine, the Peter Pan Statue, dog's running free (free as the wind blows). I was a little weirded out by the three elephant statues (which are ALL over London right now) at the entrance by Marble Arch, especially the one in the tux, but I don't think that's your fault. You were the first park that I spent a significant amount of time in while I was in London in 2005 and you will always hold a special place in my heart.
Love,
Me
Dear Flake,
I love you. That is all.
Love,
Me
Dear Zizzi,
I wasn't familiar with you before dinner but I am now a fan. I appreciated being able to sit partly in the fresh air, but not in the sun, as well as taste your delicious pizza and pasta. The red sauce on the chicken, pasta and mushroom dish was very yummy. Thanks for a great meal. And waitresses of Zizzi, thanks for putting up with two guys who show up totally late for dinner and make the kitchen have to remake pasta carbonara.
Love,
Me
Dear Tattooed Man,
Bravo, sir, bravo, for being so creative with your body. I was slightly freaked out but also incredibly impressed with your body art. Roni thought you were going to knife me for sneaking a picture but I saw you a few other things and underneath the ink, you looked kind. So I'm going to hope I meet you one day (and it's not like I won't recognize you) and get to know the story behind all your ink. Regardless, it must have hurt like a mother!
Sincerely,
MeDear Wembley,
You are so unique. I love the arch, I love the colored seats, I love the punctuality of how quickly your stewards get 88,000+ people out of the stadium after the match. I hate your pitch (and I know that the players do as well) but really, that doesn't affect me too much. I didn't like getting dizzy going down all the ramps/stairs to get out of the stadium but that's inevitable right. I love how you seem to immediately elevate the excitement of the fans and fill yourself with all sorts of people who are all football fans. It's like a convention- without the Star Wars characters. Also, thank you for wanting to create two giant crosses of St. George so that I got a free t-shirt. Or I would have if those annoying boys hadn't stolen them. So I stole someone elses. In my defense, no one was sitting there.
Love,
Me



Dear England fans,
Thanks for not turning on the team because I feel it's difficult to play when the fans turn on you. You can be very hard on your team and they can be sensitive. I don't want to support their low self-esteem but it might help to not boo them, even when they do play rubbish. You were so much fun to watch though, and it was nice to see you exchange jerseys with the Mexico fans. What a nice gesture. Oh, and please be good during the World Cup. I don't want to hear of any shenanigans in South Africa, understand?
Love,
Me
Dear Roni, Neal, Brian, Ian and Jeannie,
Roni- thank you for turning 23 so we could go to the game. Neal, thanks for getting us the tickets. Brian, thanks for joining us for dinner and offering to pick up our suitcase if we didnt' make it back in time. Jeannie, thanks for being a good sport with the other crazy Americans. Ian, thanks for your fascinating with Peter Crouch, for starting Thunder Ford owned by Chuck Thunder and for the laughs.
Love,
Me
Dear England National Team,
Despite my sadness that my boy is not on the team this year and despite me missing him dreadfully, I am hoping for some good things from you this year. Please do not eff it up during the World Cup this year. Nice game against Mexico, but please don't eff things does. I'm glad to see some new people on the team but I certainly hope that it doesn't screw us over. I really don't have too much more to say to you other than DON'T EFF IT UP!
Love always,
Me