English Countryside
To get a good idea of what the college towns of Cambridge and Oxford are like, just imagine what Lawrence would look like if KU had been founded, not 100 years ago, but nearly 1,000 years ago.
The history in these colleges is insane. In the above picture, Isaac Newton’s dorm room was just to the left of the entryway. Ridiculous.
There’s a really cool History of Science Museum in Oxford. It is the oldest surviving purpose-build museum in the world, and has a serious collection of geeky scientific instruments from the 1300s on, like this stuff:
My next plan was to visit the Cotswolds. This area is described as a beautiful countryside with quaint little villages. It pretty much just looked like Missouri. Except, of course, if Missouri towns had been built nearly 1,000 years ago.
The villages are certainly quaint, and there was absolutely nothing to do, so I took a little walk. All around England there are public footpaths through farms and pastures, so I ended up walking for 2 hours in light rain. My feet have definitely gotten used to walking by now.
I tried to take a video of where I was walking. It’s not much to look at, but you can hear the rain and get a rough idea.
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-5748928974451643710
Not having enough time to get to a proper seaside and back to London by Saturday, I decided to visit Bristol instead. My first impressions weren’t good. It was pouring rain when I got in, so I just did some laundry and went to bed. Thankfully the rain subsided the next day, and I got to see their suspension bridge and a quite good museum about the British Empire (which I knew virtually nothing about, so it was a good value!)
The bridge was cool, but the really great part was the gorge that it spanned. Very scenic:
…and now I’m back in London, and will catch an bus to Paris tonight. I’ve been staying at a different place each night, which has been a little hectic having to figure out new transportation, accomodation, and activities every day. I have a couple more days of that in France, but then will be able to “settle down” a bit once I get to Spain.
Cheerio, England!
Tags: Cambridge, Cotswolds, England, Oxford, Travel
WheresMegan
Wonderful pictures, Megan! The gorge reminds me of a gorge…Quechee?…in Vermont that we happened up on one summer vacation when the kids were teens. We just had to stop there and spent a great deal of time exploring th area….gorgeous scenery…however, we didn’t have a suspension bridge to admire, too! Don’t know if I ever told you this, but my brother went to Oxford on a scholarship the summer I graduated TCU….he and I traveled Europe for a few weeks before he started classes. Now you are off to a new country…are you traveling by train to Dover and then by Hovercraft across the channel…or flying directly to Paris? I’m enjoying your trip along with you!!! Mom H
I can hear your emerging British accent already. “Proper” seaside? “Quite good” museum? “An bus” to Paris? Those goofy Brits.
All this is to say I’m positively dripping with jealousy. Thanks for posting the pics, etc. It’s good to know that all these places I have hopelessly romaticized in my mind actually exist. Although, I guess you could be pulling a big hoax on us all while sitting in a Seattle hotel.
I can’t wait to see Spain. Antonio Banderas was on Leno the other night, and that accent of his makes me silly in the head.
Thank you for the lovely picture of you in England along the river – It was the best Mother’s Day present ever!! I am enjoying your updates!! Mom and Errol will be in Italy around the 1st of June. They are leaving for the Netherlands on May 27, and then traveling around for a few days before going to Italy. They are staying in a time share in Italy for about 3 days. You will be so close to them at that point. I wish you could meet somewhere, but I realize that would be a little diffucult timing all that.
Hope your trip to Paris goes well.
Love you alot!!!
Mom
Your updates are very interesting, and the history lessons are really great! I hope to get a picture of you standing in front of the Eiffel Tower when you get to Paris: maybe an art shot from the ground up to the top of it. Also, I think I am detecting an accent in your writing from England. Bravo, I say!
Oh yeah, I was on 20/20 for my 5 seconds for fame this week…it’s within this 10 minute segment from the convention I attended last month. Guess that leaves only 14:55 minutes of fame for me, which I am saving for use at a later time.
http://www.thoughtcam.tv/A/2020.wmv { 21MB }
Harry and the Potters are also in England right now. I envy you.
The European countryside is much more friendly than here. “Where I grew up…” (imagine a crotchedy old drawl), you wouldn’t even think about walking for a couple of hours unless you wanted your leg chewed off by some German shepherd or boxer. Yes, there’s quite a bit more history there. Rome’s like that (and then some). The Pantheon was built in 28 (CE or BCE, I forget), and it looks great. Oh, and sleepy little towns are called sleepy for a reason.
I can’t wait to see Paris pics/comments.
The pictures are great. The history over there I bet is just awsome. I love history. I have been watching the weather chanel once in a while and have caught the forcasts over there which seem ideal for walking around as much as you have. I will be seeing Jason next weekend over Memorial day and there is a computer at the hotel. I told him we would check this site out together since he does not have access to a computer. We will write more at that time.
Love ya!