Saying Goodbye to Oxford

I was in Oxford just long enough after Trinity Term to witness my first, and only, Encaenia… Encaenia (yet another Latin term!) is an annual academic ceremony where distinguished persons and alumni of the University are presented with honorary degrees.. Perhaps the more notable feature for most Oxford tourists is watching the procession of fellows across the University, and through the Bodleian Library to the Sheldonian, where the ceremonies are held… Anna and I made it into the city centre and through the tourist crowds (and around the animal rights activists who were, rather obnoxiously, picketing) just in time to catch part of the procession!…

2011 Encaenia at Oxford…

After Encaenia, Anna and I decided to make a day of lounging about Oxford enjoying the city and running little pre-departure errands… We spend the afternoon shopping, getting Anna’s ear pierced, meeting Josh for lunch, and getting fishy pedicures! Haha :) It was the strangest experience, having free time… After weeks and weeks of exam revision, just walking around the store, casually- without a care in the world felt like some kind of deviant behavior… As if we were teenagers that had snuck out after curfew. :) We were in hysterics laughing at the mere image of the two awkward nerds trying to fit in, outside our comfort-zone of the library… We were quite proud of ourselves by the end. One would hardly know that (between the two of us) we had a total of 5 academic degrees, spoke a total of 7 languages and enjoyed solving 2nd order differential equations for fun. :) And yet for two such nerdy women, the highlight of our day came from the simple pleasures of dunking our feet in a vat of tiny little fish!

We’d seen the fishy feet stand in the shopping centre before, and always passed it with curiosity… So on our last afternoon in Oxford we decided to try it once and for all! And the experience was even more strange and hilarious than all the time we’d spend attempting to “blend” in the stores… We giggled, and giggled, and giggled some more… And when the fishies were done, our feet actually were more smooth! :)

 

IT TICKLED! Haha

Later that afternoon, we headed over to the Examination Schools for our last “trashing”… And then spent a wonderful last evening celebrating everyone’s departure from Oxford (to different corners of the globe) with drinks and then a wonderful dinner of Chinese and Mongolian barbeque… It was great to have the whole gang together for one last night of laughs, ridiculous cat-lady impressions (by Benedict), and stories from the past year… :)

Heading to the Examination Schools… They almost look as if they’re walking out of the mist to save the day… Haha

 The last “trashing” of the year!

 Jackie and I on my last night in Oxford! :)

 My two favorite ladies… :) In other words, the reason I survived graduate school… Haha

 The whole gang together, to celebrate a wonderful year at Oxford!

Jackie and Josh spar it out on our way home from dinner… Who knows why or for what reason… I only recall being taken hostage for ransom at one point… Haha :)

With Love from Oxford… One last time! <3 Mary Elizabeth

Shakespeare and Sheep :)

We spent one last day wandering about Christ Church College, St Mary’s Cathedral, and the streets of Oxford before heading up for a weekend in the Cotswolds and Stratford-Upon-Avon… :)

 Another afternoon exploring Oxford… :)

While Stratford-Upon-Avon turned out to be a rather busy tourist trap, the countryside around the Cotswolds was absolutely beautiful… We made a day of visiting the Shakespeare houses, including Anne Hathaway’s Cottage (his wife) and Mary Arden’s Farm (his mother)… Mary Arden’s Farm was, by far, our favorite… It had lots of animals to feed and pet, and you could walk freely through the many barns, houses, and other sheds/workshops. And you can bet mom was in 7th heaven with all the farm animals… :) 

Anne Hathaway’s Cottage 

Ready to find our ways through the maze!

 In front of Anne Hathaway’s Cottage…

 The man himself! 

Shakespeare’s Home in Stratford-Upon-Avon, England

 

On Mary Arden’s (Shakespeare’s Mother) Farm! Our favorite stop on our Shakespeare tour! :)

 

Sleeping piggies! So cute! :)

You better believe my mommy loves herself a cow! And this was actually a very pretty little brown cow… :)

Later that weekend, we left Stratford-Upon-Avon and headed out to explore several other little villages and towns in the Cotswolds… There were lots of wonderful little back-roads, rock walls that ran for miles upon miles, bright blue sunny skies, amazing sweet fresh strawberries from road-side stands, and lavendar fields that stretched as far as the eye could see… :)

Wandering the beautiful countryside in the Cotswolds… :) 

Lavendar Fields in the Cotswolds! They smelled lovely! <3   Adorable little villages dotted the countryside…

With Love from Oxford… <3 Mary Elizabeth

The Birds Punt and Picnic :)

After spending the previous day in London, the gang headed up to wreak havoc upon Oxford! :) The day started off classically rainy, and ended with gorgeous blue skies, just in time for an amazing afternoon of punting and picnicking… But first... Carolyn insisted we find a Cornish Pasty… Haha :)

The insiders secret in Oxford is to get you meat pies from the butcher himself… So we headed over to the High Street indoor market after walking around the city for a few hours… And I’ve never seen the gang so happy! :)

Later that afternoon, we headed up to the boat docks to pick up St Cross’s punt, and headed down the Thames for a picnic in the University Parks… Mom and Sarah showed up right on time with all their favorite… Wine, cheese, and olives. Haha :) We had a wonderful afternoon relaxing on the banks of the Thames. everyone got a chance to try their hand at punting… A true Oxfordite talent! 

Perfect afternoon for picnicking!  

The girls were quite nervous to attempt punting, but they were both naturals in the end!

 And while the girls practiced their punting skills, we honed our expert skills at making wine and snackies disappear at an alarming rate… :)

We boarded the punt again, happy and full, and confident that we were safe in the hands of our natural-born punter, Drayton!

 

But such happy endings are altogether boring… And Drayton much prefers to keep things interesting… Which was exactly the resulting effect when we suddenly turned around to discover that we no longer had our pole to guide our punt!

 Carolyn’s “Uh-Oh” face.

 Yup… That’s right buddy. Paddle faster. Haha

Needless to say, we recovered our once lost pole and survived the trip… No one went swimming, which seems enough of a success in and of itself… And everyone had an altogether wonderful afternoon! :)

With Love from Oxford… <3 Mary Elizabeth

A “Wicked” Day in London!

The week after I completed my written examinations, the Bird gang headed to join me in England… Dragging along our old family friends, the Stokes’ and Schultz’s! It was family and friend reunion all rolled into one crazy, hilarious, and very loud trip to London! :D We met on the steps of St Paul’s Cathedral, but by that point my dear family (whom had only been in London for 12 hours and in England for less than a day) had already accomplished what I hadn’t managed to do in an entire year of living there: They saw the Queen of England herself.

Apparently they were on their way to meet me, driving through London… And as usual, my poor mother (who has bravely faced mind-boggling traffic, international road rules, and police officers that speak everything from German to Polish, in no less than 10 different European countries in the last year) got lost and my family found themselves sitting at the stop light at the roundabout right in front of Buckingham Palace… First car at the intersection, they were ready to drive off when the light turned green… When out of nowhere a motorcycle cop pulls up to stop them from moving… And in a black unmarked car, with perfectly clear windows, sits the Queen of England in the back… And she drives right by them and into Buckingham Palace. I only wish I’d been there to witness the shock (and inevitable screaming and laughter) that ensued after that… :)

St Paul’s Cathedral… The Bird kids reunited in England! <3

Eventually they found me though… And after introducing the gang to the joys of a real sushi bar (which Drayton and Carolyn both loved) and the terrors of the London Tube, we headed towards London Bridge, Parliament, Big Ben, Winchester Cathedral, St James’ Park, and, of course, Buckingham Palace… But since everyone but me had already seen the Queen once that day, Buckingham seemed a bit anti-climatic this time around. :)

Parliament and the River Thames

Winchester Cathedral

In front of Buckingham Palace…

That evening we made Carolyn’s dreams come true, and headed to see Wicked at the Apollo Victoria Theatre in London! And it was absolutely AMAZING!!! We were nearly struck speechless it was so wonderful… I think Carolyn had officially reached 7th heaven at finally being able to satiate her childhood obsession with “Wiz a’ Waz” (her name for Wizard of Oz when she was little)…

 

The Bird gang all super excited to see Wicked!!!

In Wicked with the Stokes and Schultz Families! :)  

It was another perfect day in the beautiful city of London!

With Love from London… <3 Mary Elizabeth