Oxford

Saturday the 19th dawned bright and early for me. It began with a 2.5 hour train ride from Tunbridge Wells, through London Charing Cross to London Paddington, and then onwards to Oxford. I slept pretty much the whole way. And since it was dark 75% of the time, I feel just fine about that.
Don't let the prestigious history and gothic architecture fool you about Oxford - it is definitely a college town. And also very touristy, surprisingly so for February.

Arriving at the crack of dawn as I did, I got to see the town in the best way possible - with no one else around. Oxford is rather small and easily walkable. Everything you want to see you can walk to in about 20 minutes, no matter where you start out. I started out at Christ's Church - more commonly known as the Great Hall for the Harry Potter movies. It definitely lived up to it's name. Walking in and around that ancient place was fun, as was watching the Oxford boys row (or punt) on the Thames.
Then across the street to visit Alice's Shop - an adorable store dedicated to Alice in Wonderland, as those stories were composed in Oxford. It was surreal and made me very nostalgic for Disneyland. And also tea, strangely enough.
Next on the list was Bodleian Library - 3rd largest library in the world! OH YEAH. It just smelled wonderfully of old books, and time and dust, and intelligence. I was so happy. And also, right next to the library is the History of Science Museum.... um, can we say COOLEST THING EVER?!? Especially since they were having a display on early Persian Astronomy, which you might think is incredibly specific exhibit, but it's still amazing. Trust me. Oh, and they happened to display the Einstein Oxford Chalkboard. Which is kind of famous.

But the funniest thing in that whole museum was the old wooden spiral staircase that creaks loudly as you walk up it, and the sign that says, "pleae tread lightly on this old staircase." It's the little things, really, that make life funny.
Next to Ashmolean Museum, which has your standard museum stuff.... Honestly I was still on a Persian Astronomy high. But there was a Stradivarius Violin which had some interesting carvings on the back of the Garden of Eden. And another one, which is considered the most valuable and it is nicknamed The Messiah, for reasons I still don't understand. Ironically, the instrument is in mint condition, for having been made in the early 1700s, and it hasn't ever been played. Which seems like the antithesis of a musical instrument's existence, but who am I to say?

From Oxford I went to visit Blenheim Palace - the place where Kenneth Branagh filmed his Hamlet. It was even better than I thought it would be! But it was freezing cold, and that made me sad.
The grounds of Blenheim are MASSIVE. Probably at least twice the size of BYU campus. And they are lovely, with lots of little areas of happiness, and a secret garden, and a water fall, and an arboretum, and an Italian garden and lots of other really lovely things. The palace is amazing and ornate. It is the place Winston Churchill grew up, so it's bound to be fabulous, right?
Blenheim is really an experience I don't think I can describe. Sorry. Pictures do some justice, but old, stately, ornate homes just need to be seen. I don't know how marketing people do it.

After I came back from Blenheim it was time to head home - unfortunately I had a short trip, but then I got to talk to Calista. And of all the things I did last weekend, talking to Calista was definitely the best. 18 months is way too long, I don't care what they say.