Long Time No Update/Oxford Kibbutzing (PHOTOS)

Yes, well, various events of mild interest have commenced since my last blog post. But no matter. My sister Gillian, who is also my best friend, is in Oxford for Christmas, having arrived yesterday, and we are taking full advantage of it. We spent all of today knocking about Oxford, going to explore several of the colleges that I hadn't been in before, and we've also planned trips to London (Tower of London, Westminster, wherever else) and Stonehenge. That will be cool. To say the least. We're sitting here side by side on the couch on our laptops.

So... photos!

Gillian on Merton Street. Merton is this great little cobbled street that I'd been on only once before, and almost forgot how cool it is.

This is noteworthy because the street name is very Oxford, which I therefore find amusing. Gillian took this picture.

Gillian at the Merton College gate, by the cobbled walk.

Gillian at the front of Oriel College, with the front quad visible in the background.

The spire of Exeter College Chapel. I really liked Exeter, I hadn't been in there before, and now as before, I am realizing I forgot to take a picture of the walk overlooking Radcliffe Square. Argh.

The entrance to Exeter College Chapel.

The interior of Exeter chapel. This was really fricking amazing, I don't think the picture does it justice.

The Exeter fellows' garden, which was closed, but we got a picture through the gate anyway.

The Exeter grounds, with the Radcliffe Camera visible to the right through the trees.

The windows of the Exeter library. Gillian fiddled with this a bit since the original was blurry, so if it looks weird, that's why.

Me on the steps into the garden.

The front quad of Balliol, another one where Gillian got distracted and I had to make sure she didn't get into trouble. So to speak. But we told the porter that I had a Bod card and he was like, "Ah, just go on through, whatever." So that was easy.

A cool entranceway at Balliol.

The Balliol College chapel. Not quite as cool as Exeter's, but cool nonetheless.

Balliol Chapel from the outside.

Gillian under the tree, looking prim.

Gillian at the entrance to Balliol's Hall, purposefully standing in front of the sign which says it was closed to visitors.

Me on the stairs. The trees everywhere look cool.

The quad of St. John's College, complete with cloisters. Take a note of the doorway in the middle. St. John's itself wasn't as amazingly beautiful as some of the others, but its gardens were HUGE, with all kinds of pathways, rocks, mossy walls, deep trees, etc.

Gillian in the doorway, as seen from the other side.

Gillian under a willow in the St. John's gardens. We were in a back path and discovered that the willow was only 2 feet away -- but those 2 feet were occupied by the grass, which you DO NOT walk upon under pain of death. But we looked both ways, bounded across the grass, and ducked under the willow anyway. And nobody killed us, so there was that.

Me under the willow.


That does it for the pictures today. We had a lot of fun exploring, got a panini at the Cafe Roma on Walton Street, and then decided to head back. We're planning to go to the Ashmolean tomorrow, check out the Dead Man's Walk behind Merton, and then go to the Eagle and Child pub for dinner (better known as the Bird and the Baby, where Tolkien, Lewis, and the Inklings used to meet). We're going to London on Monday and Stonehenge on Saturday, with Christmas on Thursday, so it should be fun. More pictures to come soon.