PICTURE TIME!

Here are some fun pictures of Oxford:

Us leaving Heathrow Airport at 7 in the morning.  Notice the bag under our eyes.  From this point until about 4pm, we were in and out of consciousness.  We then took a quick tour of nearby Oxford.  I was very disoriented at this point.

 The backside of our housing. Nate is pointing out his bike box for his bike that will no longer be needed back in the states, thanks to Mom and Dad for their wonderful Christmas gift!

 Main roads in Oxford are paved like normal roads, but a lot of side roads, especially ones not frequented by motorized vehicles have the historic cobble stone.  Quite the bumpy ride on your bike, and also known to cause rolled ankles!  This is the road that comes out behind our house and leads to the main road St. Alldates.

 From that same road we see Christ Church.  The cathedral that almost made England go bankrupt.  We are looking at the bell tower, known as Tom Tower.  Here's the Wikipedia page that explains it.

This is St. Alldates Church.  This Church runs the Commonwealth House, our home! On the other side of the church is our house.  I haven't been to a service yet, but sometimes I hear the praise band practicing.

This is the Radcliffe Camera.  What it really should be called is a library, because that's what it is.  I'm sure there is a reason for it.   Hurray for Wikipedia! They will explain everything! Nate comes here sometimes for books.  I'm not allowed in because I'm not a student. :-(

The next few pictures have some historical significance.  This is the Church C.S. Lewis and J.R.R.Tolkien attended.

This is the side exit of the church. (Now I'm telling this second/third hand, but it's story time!)  Legend has it that after the service, Lewis and Tolkien would leave the church from this door.

This door is directly across from the Church exit.  See anything interesting?  Maybe what's framing the door?

Fauns!

And looking to our right, we would see:

 A lampost!!!
Many people would suggest that the fauns and the lampost were inspirational for Lewis's book, The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe.  Whether or not it's true, it's still really cool to walk where two great authors have once stood.

This is a really cute craft store.  Very tiny, like everything else in the city and very cute!

We saw this bus, and Nate said, "I was there to see that debate.  Dawkins never showed up."

The obligatory English phone booth photo.  This one must not be in use.  Hence, the chain.  This one actually lives on our street.   Have I showed too many pictures yet?

This is our street!  We live in the pink building that juts out on the left.

Here it is! The bottom right windows belong to us!

This is the sign for the bridge I mentioned in the previous post!  Folly Bridge!

The view from Folly Bridge.  On the left is the trail of Christ Church.  We see a crew team practicing in their "racing shell."

This is from Christ Church Meadow.  Christ Church is the big building in the back.  Very English buildings all around.

 I don't know if it's normal to be seeing flowers this time of year, but I did see a honey bee at those buds, so... Who knows?

 More flowers- in January!

 I do believe this is an English Robin!  That's the one thing I didn't realize I would want!  A bird book for England!

And the last picture of the day, Christ Church.  

Whew!  I think I'm caught up with my posts!  

(This blog brought to you by Nate's laptop! )
-Erin