Denial

Today was my last day in Oxford. Tomorrow morning I am waking up really early to ride a bus and an airplane in order to arrive back int he US.

I honest cannot believe it. It is not that I don't want to believe it, my mind literally cannot seem to grasp this concept. Everyone I know is sad that our time was dwindling, and a bit happy to see their families again, I am not. Not because I have no heart, I just cannot seem to understand what is happening.

I seem to have this idea that I am going to get in a car tomorrow and drive an hour or two and be home, and then in a few weeks I will drive the few hours back. No problem. Except, that is not at all what is happening. In reality I will be dragging a 50 pound mammouth suitcase up a giant hill and then riding over an hour on a bus that will take me to the airport, where I will then check in, check my suitcase, go through security  wait for a few hours, get on an eight hour plane, go through customs, get my suitcase, meet my mom, and ride in a car for three more hours until finally arriving home at almost 11 PM (AKA 4 AM in my brain). Sounds like a party, right?

I am very concerned about the day after tomorrow, December 23rd, when I will wake up in my old bed. I will look around the room and everything will be as it always is when I am home. It will be like I never left, like my entire Oxford adventure never even happened. the entire trip will just be a memory. I think this is what my brain is trying to keep itself from realizing, but there is no way that I will not get the full blast that morning.

I am however, excited to see my family and friends from home. And it will be Christmas! There will be plenty of activities to keep me busy until going back to college, allowing me to try and bury any sad feelings I may find about leaving Oxford.

When I get home, my mom has already said that we are going to make some oatmeal chocolate chip cookies and other tasty snacks. I also will need to wrap gifts, make gifts, buy gifts, and give gifts! And then there is all the Christmas classic movies that I will have to be caught up on. So much to do, so little time!

Speaking of time, I am going to have to bid you all adieu for now. Sorry about the strange, short post. I will post some more once I get readjusted into the United States and I hope you have a happy holidays!

Until next time...

Embrace the Odd,
Caitlin

"The author of the Iliad is either Homer or, if not Homer, somebody else of the same name." -Alduos Huxley

"Edinburgh, It's Morningside for Muffins"

Edinburgh (Ed-in-burr-uh) is an old city in Scotland (also the capital) which is built on lots of hills and valleys. This makes pictures of different areas really easy to get, as well as great views from some of the  higher areas. The frequent changes in elevation also give the area a unique shape and interesting parks and buildings to compensate.

The buildings are mostly made of dark bricks and have almost a fairytale quality, besides for all the shops. On top of a hill near by is the Edinburgh Castle, which from a distance looks both forboding and impenetrable.

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Going into Edinburgh, we took the train, which was quite a long ride, especially for our first train ride around England. However, it was a lovely trip. This comes from many reasons that I have come up with. 1. You don't have to drive, so you do not need to pay attention or really concentrate on anything. 2. The drivers are professionals and not your insane uncle. So you can relax some. 3. There is copious amounts of leg room, compared to a plane and most cars. I am almost six feet tall, so leg room is important and being able to stretch out my legs is the difference between being relaxed and being trapped in a box. 4. They have tables that you can work at. Best. Idea. Ever.

The only issue on the ride, because there just has to be one, was a small cohort of eight year old girls and grandmothers who were riding in our car at the beginning of the trip. They had a boom box that they were blasting provocative pop music from while the eight year olds danced about on the chairs and walkways near them. It was really strange to see and worse to hear as the music was not even good quality. Many people left our car to find peace somewhere else, but we just tried to ignore them. (At one point I considered opening one of the train doors while it was moving, just to throw their boom box out, but lucky for everyone they got off at the next stop.)

Once in Edinburgh, we checked our 'things to do' list and decided to go to the Botanical Gardens. As you may have realized by now, we hate spending money. So we looked up the directions on Libby's phone and headed off in the hopefully correct direction. The only issue was that her phone was calculating how we should get there via driving, not walking, so it sent us around in a crazy fashion up and down hills and streets. After climbing up one particular hill that seemed to continue on into the clouds, we made it to the garden. The sky was clear and crisp and the aroma of flowers and damp grass wafted through the air. (It had rained recently.)

There were lots of cute gardens, green houses, hedge walls/tunnels, and flowers to walk around in there forever. There was even a section with some bamboo, a pagoda, and plants native to East Asia. Another section was called the 'Fairy Woods' and had lots of tall trees, grass, ferns, and plants you would usually find in a forest. It was very serene, even though no fairies made an appearance. Paths crissed and crossed around the huge garden taking one from an area with giant leafed plants to the Queen Mother Garden (in honor of Queen Elizabeth II's mother, Elizabeth). We rested for a bit near the Fairy Woods on a simple bench and watched some pigeons approach us skeptically.  It was funny because Amy really dislikes pigeons and did not want them anywhere near her, (and also because we were talking about dressing them up in a monocle and vest) but the tides turned when a squirrel run up near us. (My mom always told me that squirrels that approach people have rabies, so I was sure this one did too.) Long story short, I started having a bit of a freak out and everyone laughed at me. I can see the humor in it, looking back now though, although it was not funny then.

We then walked back to our hostel, which was much more downhill than our journey to the gardens. We also stopped by a park and ate at a tasty American food place, which served REAL lemonade (not Sprite/lemon-lime soda). They also had pancakes, REAL pancakes! In the UK what they call pancakes is really a thick crepe, which is sad, because pancakes are just about the most delicious thing ever.

The next morning we went to St. John's church, which was close to our hostel, which was nice since it had changed from beautiful and sunny to torrential down-pour over night.  My umbrella blew inside-out several times in the short walk over. It was really lovely inside, as I think all churches in the UK are required to be. It had funny little paper fish and dolphins hanging from the ceiling with bible quotes and fun saying that children at the church had decorated. However, after the service, a man who worked there kept trying to get me and my compadres to agree to come back later for another service. We explained we were just visiting, but he would not be deterred  Eventually we mumbled out something so he would allow us to leave.

Next on the itinerary was the 'Elephant House'. It's a small coffee shop in downtown where JK Rowling is said to have come up with the idea for the Harry Potter series. Because of this it is a huge tourist attraction and was crammed to the brim the entire time we were there. Luckily, however, we did get a small table in the back where we enjoyed a nice lunch and tea break. I, of course, got a brie and cranberry sandwich which was delicious. Overall, it was a cute place with lots of elephant memorabilia  but it was so crammed and over populated that it was a bit of a let down. Although, I think most places like that are. You go into the shops, expecting it to be the same atmosphere where said author or movie director or artist dreamed up their masterpiece, but it never really is, because everyone else wants that same experience. The bathroom walls were completely covered in Harry Potter love though.

Afterwards, we went on the 'Scotch Whiskey Experience', which is like a teeny-weeny scotch history lesson meshed with a theme park. You ride in this whiskey barrel around learning how whiskey is made and the different types that different regions make. There is also a small black cat in ever scene to look for so, of course, that's what I was doing most of the time. After riding around, you get to pick one of the four scotch types (one from each of the four regions in Scotland where it is made) to try. In a word, I would describe whiskey as Third-Degree-Burn-Revolting, although I am not entirely sure that I was not drinking acid. It was definitely not my cup of tea, and having to down the entire small glass before being able to drink water, was really not any better. The trip overall was very fun though!

Next, we travelled a few buildings over to the Camera Obscura with Libby's friend Cat. It was full of optical illusions and mind-bending tricks. There was one room where it looked like one person was a midget and the other was a giant, and a table where you could pretend to be the main course for dinner. For dinner we went to the 'Amber Rose' a nearby pub, which was very delicious.

Overall, Scotland was beautiful, even if it was super hilly and rainy some of the time. It was a terrific visit, and I wish we could have spent more time adventuring around. (Although not in the winter, because it gets really, really cold there.)

Until next time...

Embrace the Odd,
Caitlin

P.S.- The title is from the song 'Edinburgh' by Jim Horne.

"For most of history, Anonymous was a woman." -Virginia Woolf

"Climbing Up on Salisbury Hill"

Salisbury is a small town that reminded me a lot of what one might think of when they think, 'British Town'. It had cute shops, adorable old houses, and a stream running through the middle. There were several houses all with elaborately decorated yards. And by decorated, I mean with plants. Many had rose bushes, daffodils, hibiscuses, daisies, violets, dandelions .. ok maybe I am getting a bit out of hand here, but they were very elaborate botanical gardens by themselves.

And right in the middle of the town is a giant cathedral. The spire is one of the highest gothic spires in the world, and it was difficult to see all the way up to the top without opening your mouth in wonder.

The building itself was very gothic, and made with dark stones. Like last time I visited, they were working on part of the structure, so some of the building was masked with construction, but it was still beautiful. Gargoyles and saints look down at you from the rock faced building, as you walk into the massive wooden door.

The inside of the cathedral is much the same as any cathedral. There are pews to sit on, giant windows of colorful stained glass, and a dark, wooden pulpit for the choir and priest to speak from. There is only one main difference, a large pool of water near the center of the massive building. The pool was added a few years ago in honor of the cathedral's birthday and allows for interesting reflections of the steeple of the church, as well as the stained glass.

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Our trip to Salisbury was a rather short one. We walked through the city and had a short break outside the cathedral near the park/green lawn, and then headed inside the church. There was a short man who gave everyone a very interesting tour of the place and allowed us to walk around a bit. He also told us that the cathedral's steeple actually leans just a few inches in one direction. But luckily, it leans into the wind, which means it is less likely to fall over. For some reason, that did not help me feel much safer about it.

We then had a delicious dinner at a local college. This was within the first week or two of arriving at England, and the dinner was probably the first balanced meal we had eaten since arriving. It was a glorious day.

Until next time...

Embrace the Odd,
Caitlin

P.S.- The title is based on the song "Solsbury Hill" by Peter Gabriel.

"2 is not equal to 3. Not even large values of 2." -Grabel's Law

My Dearest Friend Bilbo

Friday was the release date of the new Hobbit movie (or at least the first part of it). I have loved Lord of the Rings ever since middle school, and have made numerous jokes based off the series in everyday conversation more times than I can count.

Growing up I had always had trouble reading, and even when I could read properly for my grade level, I did not find many books I actually wanted to read. Finally my parents suggested a book to me called "The Hobbit: There and Back Again". I was hesitant at first, but after a few short days, I was hooked. The book took me to a place of magic, wonder, and where the smallest of creatures can be the most important. This book helped me take a step towards reading, becoming a geek, and becoming the odd girl that I am today. I am eternally indebted to JRR and his beautiful tale of a hobbit who never did anything out of the ordinary. Since after all, 'It's a dangerous business walking out your front door'.

When I first found out about the movie, I was thrilled. The Hobbit was my favorite book from the series and I have been waiting years for a good film about it to come out. I had actually heard about it being in production in 2010, and was already making plans to see it then.

It would have been amazing to have gone at midnight for the first showing on Thursday, but considering that I had two exams the next day, it kind of seemed like a bad option. So, instead, my housemates and I went Friday at 7:00 PM. We picked that time because my exams would be done by then and we could grab some dinner before the movie.

Being in the city were JRR Tolkien wrote his famous trilogy and its prequel, we chose to eat dinner at one of his known hang out spots, called the 'Eagle and Child'. (It is also called the 'Bird and the Baby' by locals. However, I usually accidentally call it the Eagle and the Bird.)

We had never been to the quaint little pub, but I found it very much to my liking. It looks very classic, British pub with a cramped walkway and cozy seats. You are immediately greeted at the doorway by a chalkboard sign which has a classic Merry and Pippin quote from the Fellowship of th Ring movie, where the two hobbits discuss pints, as well as small reminders of the movie placed here and there about the pub.

As you walk back further into it you find that it seems to continue on in a system of twists and turns that spiral on like a snail's shell, further into the pub. The seats range from comfy couches, to stiff wooden chairs, and benches with cushions, as well as a variety of table shapes. The bar sports Tolkien postcards you can purchase and off on the top of shelves you can see Gollum watching you order. There are also Lord of the Rings themed board games packed away up there, possibly for long nights spent there with friends.

Everything about the place told me that I was home. I could not stop smiling, half from geek-joy at being somewhere that one of my favorite authors had visited, but that it was also as amazing as I thought it would be. Unlike the 'Elephant House' where JK Rowling used to go, which is now over run with tourists. This place was just a quite place for local friends to enjoy each other's company, and probably still similar to how to looked when JRR Tolkien and his friends (CS Lewis being one of them) spent long hours discussing their lives and stories.

After our delicious meal, we vowed to return before our few weeks were over, and headed to the cinema for a movie.

The Hobbit was a wonderful film, especially considering how high my expectations were before it began. However, I do not really understand the need for three parts. I can understand two, because they have added a lot of scenes not in the books to try and tie the Lord of the Rings series with its prequel, as well as needing to cover the scenes actually in the book, but three parts? Come on, Peter Jackson. That just sounds like someone is getting a bit money hungry. Especially since the other three books were all in one film each and those worked out wonderfully. (They were really long, but they were still great movies.)

Until next time...

Embrace the Odd,
Caitlin

"The most potent muse of all is our own inner child." -Stephen Nachmanovitch

"Splish, Splash, I was Visiting Bath"

Bath is a very stylish city, with a lot of the buildings being made of 'Bath Stone', which is a pale, cream stone found near Bath. There are lots of buildings around with all manner of things one may need. There are also lots of street performers through out the streets doing a variety of acts for money. One section of the city near Bath Abbey had a lot of benches all in a giant square and a man and woman were singing in the center. Almost as if it was a small out door concert.

The city was very clean and fresh with lots of interesting buildings to look at. I enjoyed visiting, but we were not there very long so I did not get to see very much of the actual city.

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My roommates and I were only in Bath for a few hours, so we really did not get to do much. However, we did visit the Roman Baths and view the Queen's Crescent.

While in line for the Roman Baths, which are the remains and restorations of the old public houses that Romans used to use, we did get to see Bath Abbey, which was nearly next door. It was very interesting with the staircase that run up and down the sides showing angles climbing up to heaven.

I had visited the Roman Baths in one of my previous visits, so I was not exceptionally excited to see them again, but they had actually been remodeled quite a bit since I was last there and it was much nicer this time.

Upon entering you got a device that would play recorded messages about whatever you were looking at. It was nice, but I began only listening to the children's versions pretty quickly. For the adult version it was a woman who would go into lots of detail about what was happening, where it came from, why it was made, etc. I really did not ned that much detail, and the kid version had fun characters that would give you an overview of what it was you were looking at.

The baths themselves were pretty large with several different rooms and chambers. Most of them might have at one point been for bathing, but had been converted into more of a museum that you could walk through, although they did keep some of the baths running and you could see the steam rolling right off of the water from them being so hot. I think they said it got up to almost 100 degrees sometimes, and was heated from an underground spring. (I'll tell you that sounds pretty good right about now though, especially since we just had snow yesterday.)

There were also actors dressed up like Roman citizens from when the baths were in use who walked around and talked about their lives back then. There was even one woman who would show the different types of makeup someone might wear and how to put it on.

My favorite part though, was one of the small baths at the end of the visit. It was in a darker room and was lit from within the water to show off all the glittering stones at the bottom. It turned out these stones were actually different pence and pound pieces that people had thrown in for good luck. It was just really pretty to look at as the wate moved around and some of the light reflected the waves on the ceiling, walls, and people's faces.

At the very end, right before leaving, you could taste some of the bath water (which was clean, they promised) and ran straight out of an unstopped spicket. The water smelled a bit mentally  and tasted like nickels, but besides that it did not taste that bad to me. However, I looked over at my roommates and they all had extreme disgust written all over their faces. Whatever tastebuds I needed to make that face, I am glad I am missing them.

After the Roman Baths we walked around for a while until coming to the Queen's Crescent, which is basically what it sounds like. It is a very expensive and lavish section of Bath that has the houses shaped into a giant crescent while overlooking a large park. The park apparently used to have sheep in it, and maybe still does although they weren't out when we were there, so that the rich people who lived there could wake up and pretend they lived in the country for the few seconds they looked outside.

Until next time...

Embrace the Odd,
Caitlin

P.S.- The title is based of the song "Splish, Splash, I was Taking a Bath" by Bobby Darin.

"If you aren't fired with enthusiasm, you will be fired with enthusiasm." -Vince Lombardi

Getting Drinks

Alcohol is a big thing over here, although not in entirely the same way as if is in America. In England the fun thing to do is to go to a pub and drink with your friends, while at home it seems to be more about drinking at home and then heading to club, which there is some of that here as well. But it is still interesting to be invited to drinks with someone just for a fun, relaxing hang out session. I like it.

However, I do not really like alcohol. Something about the taste just reminds me of motor oil and the after taste of third-degree burns in your throat that some alcohol can leave you with is really not my favorite flavor. (I feel the same way about coffee. It just tastes gross.)

There are a few things I have found I like, but they tend to be things that are about 4% alcohol and taste like candy, which is probably why I like them. The main thing I have found that I like is Rekorderlig ("Recorder-lig"), which is a Swedish Cider. They have Apple, Strawberry-Lime, Pear, Wild Berries, Mango-Raspberry, Orange-Ginger, Apple & Blackcurrant, and for a limited time: Winter Cider (which is Apple, Cinnamon, and Vanilla flavored). I have actually only had Strawberry-Lime and Winter Cider (although I got Winter Cider cold and hot), and a taste of Wild Berries. And I would like to keep drinking these later in life, but they are not sold in the USA.

Looking on their site it is 30 pounds for a 24-pack of cans to be shipped to you, and 18 pounds for six of their glass bottles. It's a bit pricey. Amazon does not even cut you a deal on these, although it get it to the USA that might be where you would have to get it from. Maybe I'll ask for them for my birthday. Or maybe I've visit Canada lot since they do ship them there. I'm not sure, I haven't decided.

Besides Rekorderlig, I like something called WKD Blue, which literally tastes like blue raspberry Jolly Ranchers, as well as, Bailey's Irish Cream with hot chocolate. I also like Archer's Peach Schnapps, and Bacardi's Breezers. I also have recently been able to stand the taste of Rose Wine, although I do not like it. But I still make faces whenever I taste Red or White Wine. And I have not even tried the Beer because I know that I will hate it. Sorry, not sorry.

I really enjoy the drinking culture here much more than in America though. It seems like there is a lot less pressure to drink, and less of need to be drunk when out. As you could probably tell, I'm not really big on drinking so sometimes I will not go out because there also seems to be this need to be drunk to go out. And as always, this done depend on who you go with, where you are going, etc. but it is nice to just sit with your friends and have a nice chat while casually drinking a delicious Rekorderlig.

Until next time...

Embrace the Odd,
Caitlin

"Sometimes the cure for restlessness is rest." -Colleen Wainwright

Reflecting on my Time in Oxford

Coming to England this semester was really not much of a thought for me. I knew that I wanted to return to England at some point to study, even before I knew what college I wanted to attend. I had been twice before and was really excited to go back and really emerse myself in the culture. A culture, which I knew would be somewhat different from ours in America, but I was rather confident would not be too estranged.

The few times I had visited England were spent mostly going on tourist visits around the country with lots of Americans, so I still did not have a good idea of what actual British culture was like. I a lot of expectations for how things would work here in Oxford, such as that people literally had tea every day. I also thought that everything would be cleaner, older, and fancier. I also believed the people would be more polite, more fashionable, and that they would all have beautiful accents. Some of these things turned out to be false, or half true, but nothing turned out to be always true.

The buildings here are beautiful, but they are not always older. In Oxford there are still a lot of old buildings from the local colleges, but there are also lots of modern buildings that have been put up around the city to meet the expanding population. Things were also nicer looking and cleaner here, but like any city anywhere in the world, some parts are nice while some parts are not so much. Oxford, although a smaller city, it still has parts that have clearly been a bit over looked.

I was even more wrong about people here. Although they do love to drink tea, and probably have a cup of it at least three times a day, have do not really sit down for 'tea' unless it is a special occasion. Brits are too busy with their jobs, school work, and daily lives to set aside an entire fourth meal of their day, every day. Especially since shops, schools, etc. are still running during tea time so if you are working you could not very well just stop to eat some biscuits. People also are not always more polite here. In fact, I might even say people are more polite in America, at least where I live. There is not much door holding for others, saying 'bless you' when another sneezes, nor 'thank you's and 'your welcome's being said. The Brits do say 'cheers' when they receive something, but they say that all the time. It does not really seem to mean the same thing as 'thank you', which I find to be more formal and more appreciative sounding.

A lot of people are very fashionable here, or at least wear nicer clothes and shoes, but there are still people who think track suits are formal enough for any occasion, and that wearing leggings as pants are acceptable, when they clearly are not. And people do not always have melodic sounding accents as one might imagine. Just like in the US, people have different accents depending where they are from, and some sound much nicer than others.

All of these things, and many others, added to form an extreme case of culture shock. It was strange to think that I was miles and miles away from most of my friends and family, but also that these people who I was with, did not even have similar traditions and ideals. Do not get me wrong, I love being here in England and I love the culture, but at first, it can be quite a lot to take in. Especially the thought that some things, which are very touchy subjects at home, are not much of a discussion topic here. Things like religion, which people in America fight about all the time, is discussed among friends but usually not much thought or passion is put behind it.

But because of all these differences and this journey, I have learned some important lessons and things I hope to remember when returning home in only a few weeks. I have learned how to find your way around a city without a map, for one thing, as long as you have an idea of where you are going that is. This lesson has been developed in Oxford and while traveling around new cities in England. You would be amazing how few maps some places provide. I also have learned how important a small, versatile wardrobe can be. I came over here with just one checked suitcase, as is allowed, and brought only clothes that matched other pieces of clothing. Because of this minimalistic idea of clothing choices, I ended up with several different outfits from only a few sets of clothes. I hope to be able to perfect this when I go home so that I can spend less money on clothes, but still have many cute things to wear.

Another thing I have learned is that I like traveling. Technically I already knew that, but I mean traveling in an even broader sense than just going overseas to visit for a few weeks. I mean that I am in love with moving from place to place, putting down roots in a hundred places at once, and just being able to explore, even if that means adventuring the local city that I know like the back of my hand. There is always more to discover. And this new idea that I have scares me a bit. The college I have chosen and attended for the last few years is wonderful in so many ways, but exploring is not one of them. It is a very tight, closed bubble. People do not adventure outside the school, and why would you? Everything you need is right there. But suddenly, I know that what I need is not just there, it is also elsewhere, out in the wide world. I feel like the Philosopher King in Plato's 'Allegory of the Cave'. I cannot live in the cave anymore. I know what real life is, and I have to live it.

When I return to the US, I am hoping to travel a bit every once in a while. Maybe go to the beach, visit some new cities, find new places that I can learn to love and appreciate, and fill my time with exploring even if it happens to be around the local city and my own college for a while. But whatever happens, I know I cannot just sit around and wait as I feel like I used to. I must move and grow as a person, and I cannot do that while in a stagnate state.

In conclusion, I have learned some important lessons, debunked a few stereotypes, and had lots of fun while on this journey. I hope you have enjoyed reading about my travels, and I hope these next few weeks, while the last of this journey, will be the start of a new one. And I hope that you start a new journey as well. Try something different, learn a new language, visit a new city, become your own Philosopher King. I promise the journey will change you and take you where you need to go.

Until next time...

Embrace the Odd,
Caitlin

"When you have only two pennies left in the world, buy a loaf of bread with one, and a lily with the other." -Chinese Proverb

Colleges are my Cup of Tea

Over this weekend, two of my roommates were away to Paris, while Austin and I got the flat all to ourselves, again. (If you want to know what all we did the first time we had a weekend alone, read my previous post, Holy Introverts, Batman!) I am not sure how we continue to get weekends alone, but they are always fun and we always do fun exciting things, so I'm not complaining.

This weekend we decided to revisit the Pitt Rivers Museum as well as look at some more local colleges that belong to the University of Oxford. (I will post separately about going back to the Pitt River Museum later.)


The colleges of Oxford University are placed all throughout the city center of Oxford. You will literally be walking down a back alley away and there will be a college's main entrance. And the entrance always has a giant wooden door from some thousands of years ago, but will only have a, comparatively small, normal sized door open that has been made in the larger door. And the walls of the colleges are always ancient looking and made with some gothic or georgian designs. And because of this, the city has this strange mix of old and new, as new businesses have moved in to spots between colleges but the colleges have stayed about the same. This and that you cannot go five minutes without seeing a college, unless you are purposefully avoiding them, I suppose, has made me very interesting in the different colleges. And this interest has somehow manifest into a need to visit the different colleges.

At the beginning of our stay here, my roommates and I went to a bunch of colleges that belong to Oxford University during an open house type day, where admission to all the colleges was free (as a lot of them charge an entrance fee). We went to some of the more well known and closer to our flat ones: All Souls College, Queen's College, and Magdalen College. We wanted to go to Christ's Church (pictured above), the college that the Great Hall in Harry Potter was based on, but the hours of availability did no work well so we missed that one.

We started by visiting Queen's College, which had a very beautiful garden and a lovely chapel. (For some reason whenever you visit a college in Oxford they always want you to see the chapel. Maybe some people pick where they want to go based on what they look like?)

The chapel had a golden eagle for someone to stand at and deliver a sermon from, as well as stained glass windows lining the walls. (I love stained glass, so I was very excited, even though most chapel's have stained glass. Although, ironically, the church I attended at home does not.) The ceiling was domed and very high, as well as there was decorations all around the walls, and the chairs were made of a carved dark wood.

All Souls College is one of the graduate schools that is part of Oxford University, and is located by the Radcliffe Camera and Bodleian Library. Walking in, they had a band playing on their main lawn, which is really the only lawn I think that they have. It was a big green square in the middle of a big square made by the college. I felt a bit trapped, but also like dancing (because of the music).

The chapel at All Souls also had the gold eagle stand, and stained glass. But the entire back wall was covered in immaculately detailed statues of Saints. It was breath-taking. Even though the main lawn was not much to look at, the chapel was well worth visiting. And the band, that was cool too.

The third and final college that we visited that day was Magdalen College, which is actually pronounced 'Mod-a-lynn'. The chapel was nice, and had black and white stained glass as well as colored ones, which I found interesting. And they had the golden eagle, which I found really confusing as I kept seeing it in chapels. England usually shows itself as a 'British Lion' and an eagle would be more American, I think. My Catholic friend did not having any answers for me either. Eventually (two seconds ago), I looked it up and it turns out that they are called 'Lecterns' and are usually eagle shaped to represent John the Apostle.

And like with All Souls, what they lacked in a fancy chapel they made up for in an amazing garden and gigantic grounds. We walked all around the deer park (yes, they keep deer here) and it literally took so long that we did not have time o visit other colleges we had planned on going to, and our legs were killing us. It was really beautiful though, and there was a small creak that ran next to the walking path where some people were punting. And there were lots of cute benches to rest on as well as another garden even further back into the college, that we sadly skipped.

So, after reading that, maybe you can better understand why I wanted to visit lots of colleges this weekend, or maybe not. Either way you are going to have to read about it.

At first we were worried that there may not be many colleges that did not charge an entrance fee for us to visit, but it turned out that there were a lot. We made up a small list of all the ones near the main road and what times they were open to visitors and double checked a map to make sure we knew where we were going. We assumed they were probably the smaller colleges, but that's better than nothing.

The quest started us out at St. Edmund College. We had passed by it a few times on the way to places when we wanted to take some back roads, but I had never thought about trying to enter it. As we walked up and peered inside the traditional giant wooden door, with a normal door cut out of it, we saw a sign that said 'Closed to Visitors', so we backed off and tried to get a view inside over the wall. The wall, which is about seven or eight feet high, so of course we saw nothing. There was however a gate a bit up the street where you could see into a small cemetery on the grounds. Some students walked pasted it on their way to class, and I became really upset we were not able to enter.

It may sound creepy, but I love graveyards. Not because I love writing in diaries and meeting vampires there, or I that I have some strange obsession with death, I just like the history. Seeing all the places where I know for a fact people from centuries ago have been and lived, is really exciting to me. Also, I do think the hushed, sacred feeling that people get whenever you visit one is interesting too, but you can get that inside a church as well.

Next we walked up towards the Pitt Rivers Museum to find Keble College. It was a bit far away, but ended up being worth it. (Especially since it was only one of two colleges that we actually got to walk around.)

The buildings were styled with Neo-Gothic architecture  where the base of the structures were a dark brick, but there were designs made into the structure with a lighter cream stone. As in the entire design with done in the buildings face with varied colored stones and not painted on as most designs on colleges seem to be. And the designs varied from checkered, to stripe, to chevron, and dashed. But it all looked brillant together.

It was also a lovely day out, so Austin and I sat on a near by bench and discussed how much we loved this college and wanted to study here.

The main quod that we were at was still a large square, but there were cute small gardens all in front of the buildings and a large plus-sign walkway that went through the large square patch of grass in the middle, for ease of walking. The entire scene was just very picturesque and there was even a cute iron gate that led in to what it labeled as the 'gardens', although we were not permitted to go there.

There were also trees around the quad, but not too many to where it felt cramped. As someone who would not even apply to colleges without enough trees (I have strange tastes, what can I say), I can tell you this place had just the right amount of foliage. And the birds were singing all around, students were chatting politely while walking to class, the wind blew lightly allowing the flower's aromas to settle round the courtyard, and I was in love. Keble College is definitely my favorite Oxford University college to date. I wanted to stay there forever, but we were on a time limit so I did eventually have to say good bye.

As we continued walking we also were turned away from Haris Manchester College, Hertford College, and Jesus College (which actually we found by accident, since you actually have to pay to visit). We also walked past Trinity College, which I personally did not realize existed. And I am not quite sure why all of the colleges were closed to the public, since when looked up what times they were open online before coming. Perhaps it is because it was a weekday or because it is close to exams, but either way it was a tad disappointing.

The crowning jewel of this trip was suppose to be Exeter College, which I had determined I would walk into even if it had a 'Closed' sign. This is because Exeter is the college that J.R.R. Tolkien, the author of the Lord of the Rings Trilogy, went to school. And I have gone to the Harry Potter Studios as well as the Doctor Who Experience, and it would not be right by my man JRR to not visit his school.

So as we walked over, I prepped myself mentally to just keep walking no matter what the sign said, and this worked as the sign did say the college was closed to visitors, but there was a woman working at the front of the entrance into the main courtyard. She just looked at me quizzically and I mentally began to panic, 'She knows! She knows! Abort! Abort!'. I literally could not force myself to walk past her, so I just settled for standing n the entrance hall looking into the main courtyard.

It was pretty with gothic style architecture  as most colleges around Oxford have. It was rather small and had dark designs on the walls. There was also some type of large clock on the wall adjacent to me, but that was about all I got. I'm sorry JRR, I tried... I tried...

I am hoping to go back and visit at least Exeter College again, even if I have to walk past security people, because I will be ready this time.

I did get to go into a 'Bonus' college though. St. John's College was not on our list but we walked past it as we were heading to St. Giles Church up the road and just popped in. It was ok, but no where near as nice as Keble College. But hey, a bonus is a bonus.

Besides colleges in Oxford, I have also visited Sarum College (in Salisbury), Cambridge University (in Cambridge), Winchester College (in Winchester), and Trinity College (in Dublin). But I will spare you the descriptons of those as this post is all about Oxford and it's awesome colleges/university.

If you for some reason want to see a list of all the places I have visited around the United Kingdom and European Union, you can by either clicking 'Adventures' on the top of this page, or click this link (which will still take you there): Adventures.

Until next time...

Embrace the Odd,
Caitlin

"Abnormal is so common, it's practically normal." -Cory Doctorow