July 20: Race Cars, Treasure Trail... and Rain!!!

On Friday Erik took Sophie and Stone to a simulated race car arcade thing, which has very realistic-feeling steering wheels and large screens so you really feel like you're driving on a race track. They had a blast! And I stayed home and worked on some essays that keep wanting me to write them.

Later that afternoon we took a "Treasure Trails" guidebook, which is a lot like the elaborate treasure hunts I make for the kids at home, but all around Oxford! It was really really fun but quite challenging so we only got through a few clues before Stone was tuckered out. (He hadn't slept well at all the night before, and the sunlight woke him up before 6:00.)

The first clue led us to a bell tower that had a lookout over the city

Another clue led us to an old pub and tavern where William Shakespeare and his friend used to stay

This clue was at a tower built by the Saxons in the 700's! The oldest structure in Oxford, and we would have walked right past it without knowing what it was!!

Lewis Carroll lived and wrote at Oxford - there are Alice in Wonderland references everywhere

Several clues were on the old gravestones and walls of this cathedral, which took us a long time to find.

After a couple of hours we decided we would return to the treasure hunt the next day, so we stopped for dinner at a restaurant that claimed to be the oldest coffee house in Europe! It might have had the worst service in Europe and the food was mediocre, so I was pretty grumpy by the time we left. BUT...

As we walked home the church bells started to ring, and then raindrops started to fall!!

We got soaked, running joyfully through the downpour, and Sophie and Stone stayed outside once we got home. Stone put his raincoat on; Sophie wanted to absorb every drop.

Our dining area by the kitchen

After coming in, Stone hung his rain jacket on the knife block.

July 19: Oxford Tour

Wednesday, July 18: On Wednesday I rode my bike to the gym, worked out while watching three wall-mounted, closed-captioned tv screens of British soap operas, local English news, and the horrifying Helsinki meeting between Putin and Trump. I then rode my bike over to a big super-Target-type store called Sainsbury's where I met Erik, Sophie, and Stone, and Erik accidentally, thoughtlessly said some stuff that hurt my feelings really bad. Then we came home and I told him about my hurt feelings, which exploded into a very unproductive conversation so I cried the rest of the day. I took Sophie and Stone to the park and then came home and none of us felt like going anywhere so the three of us snuggled on the couch watching Big Hero 6 and then went to the park again while Erik worked. We worked it out later of course, but I was super mad for awhile. And that, folks, is real life so I'm not going to leave it out. :)

Thursday, July 19: Feeling better and sensing the clock ticking, I decided it was time to start making sense of the beautiful but overwhelming sprawl of Oxford. To me the campus/city looked like a mix of Stanford (gorgeous golden-stone architecture, grand atmosphere of intellect and scholarship) and Seville (big dirty modern city mixed with gorgeous ancient buildings and lots of cafes). We had also been aware that several scenes from the Harry Potter movies were filmed on the premises but didn't know where they were, so we hired a lovely guide named Heidi to help us make sense of the place.

Our house is the red brick one on the left. A few houses down is a mosque, and the street was constantly abuzz with men in long white robes with long beards, veiled women, and adorable little kids.

Walking Tour highlights: a lamp post that may have inspired C.S. Lewis (an Oxford professor with his buddy J.R.R. Tolkien) as he was writing The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe. Right outside the frame of the photo is a doorway with sculptures of fauns, clearly evoking Mr. Tumnus.

Harry Potter film site!! This is the tree where Draco Malfoy is perched in the fourth movie; Mad Eye Moody comes up and turns Draco into a ferret

Another view of the tree, which to Stone's great disappointment is off limits for climbing

One of the many gorgeous cloisters on campus

Stone dancing around a courtyard near another H.P. filming site

Sophie noticed this 280 year old graffiti. I wish I could see the boys who felt that very human impulse to leave their mark and say "I was here" (and then ask him to please make his mark in a more positive way than vandalism).

It's an absolutely magical place to explore

This cracked us up - it was in a random window of modern student housing. Americans make up the largest percentage of non-British students

The kids laughing at the sign

The Bodleian Library, which is an astoundingly beautiful building but was mostly interesting to the kids because it served as the infirmary

This is the spot in the first movie where Harry is in the infirmary and Dumbledore eats the Bertie Bott's bean and says "Alas, earwax." :)

This is where graduations take place. Sophie is interested in possibly attending Oxford for college, so I told her to let me take a picture just in case we need a "then and now" photo collage

Beautiful beautiful streets

After our walking tour Lindsay met us for lunch at a cute Italian restaurant and Stone attacked her with hugs and kisses and wouldn't let her go. (Lucy was having lunch with friends)

Stone stuck to Lindsay like glue

They really love each other

Next, on to Christ Church College, where several HP scenes were filmed and the great hall inspired the set

These are the steps that Harry, Ron, and Hermione climb their first year, with McGonagal at the top.

The great hall!

Each college features a portrait of its founder at the head of the great hall (where the students really do eat all their meals). Christ Church College was founded by King Henry VIII

Next we went to Christ Church cathedral

And speaking of King Henry VIII, his Protestant successors did a number on these beautiful carvings, crudely removing their heads and chipping away at their bodies in protest of the images' Catholicness

The high altar. After dropping the kids off at home at the end of our tour, I walked all the way back for Evensong by myself. It was so beautiful to sit in quiet contemplation and listen to the beautiful Agnus Dei and Ubi Caritas and reflect on Christianity's message of love, forgiveness, and peace

On my way home from Evensong I saw this adorable sewing store and thought of my mom

I just love walking around 

This track is right by our house! Human beings' aspirations for improvement and achievement are so inspiring

After arriving home I convinced Stone to try a new park I had run through that morning. Sophie didn't want to leave the house but she rallied and was a good sport.