Arriving in Oxford

 So Wednesday we said goodbye to Germany to arrive in Oxford, England. This is where we are staying. I love the look of the house, it is such a typical old British house. I have always wanted to go to England, and so far it has not let me down. It is just what I expected and I love it! Every house is so quaint, with beautiful flowers, and everything is so green. Plus the people speak English!!

 This is North Parade, a street with several small cafes and a very small grocery store. There is a popular restaurant called On the Roof that I plan to go to soon! But you can see how skinny the road is, and the flowers just lining the street...I love it!

 Our street sign...pretty cool.

 This was J.R.R. Tolkein's house. There is so much literature history in Oxford, which is so cool to see. Tolkein and C.S. Lewis were actually friends, and would meet regularly to discuss their writings. Tolkein was influential in bringing Lewis to Christ apparently.

 This is the house that inspired Alice in Wonderland. You can see the small door.

 Today we spent all day inside doing class stuff, but tonight we went to an evensong...basically a catholic church service at Christ's Church. It is one of the oldest buildings in Oxford, and has a beautiful courtyard in the middle. There were also some scenes from Harry Potter shot here, and in a lot of other places in town.

 After the evensong I went to eat at The Eagle and Child, a pub that C.S. Lewis, Tolkein, and other writers used to encourage one another and review each others writings.

 Welcome to the Eagle and Child. A public house here since 1650. The very favorite watering hole of J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis, as well as a host of fellow writers.

I ordered Fish and Chips, and let me tell you they were delicious! Of course I had to have fish and chips in the UK, and what a better place than this historical pub! It was great. Tonight we are just hanging out inside watching Nacho Libre. It's been so great to be here because we are all living in the same house, so we are able to hang out a lot more in the living room. In leipzig we all had our own separate flats, and so weren't as much of a group as we are here. Today we have exactly a week left! I am SO excited about this weekend in London. Tomorrow we leave, and I believe we are doing a fat tire bike tour of London. Then that night we are going to see Chicago on Broadway. Saturday we are going to a classical concert, and I am so pumped about it. I have to call the box office for tickets...if they are sold out by some chance I will be heartbroken. They will play Handel, Mozart, Vivaldi. Composers whose stuff I have played! So anyway, England is great....I wish we could've been here longer, but I plan to soak up this week!