Stratford. Oxford. My Favorite Part? HELEN!
Posted by Ashley | | Posted On Thursday, May 20, 2010 at 2:18 AM
We spent the morning in Stratford, which is famous as the home-town of William Shakespeare. We went to Shakespeare's birthplace, his grave site and the home of his wife (Anne Hathaway). They were interesting sites and I learned a lot but they were not the most...exciting. Nice to be able to say that I have been there though which is what this trip is all about right? Ha-ha!
Afterwards we went to Oxford, which was what I was really excited for! I was really antsy (I felt like a little kid) on the bus because I knew that I was really close to seeing Helen again. For those of you who don't know, Helen and I went to high school together. She moved to Sweden with her family after she graduated (a year ahead of me) and I haven't seen her since her graduation night. It was a happy, exciting and absolutely amazing reunion with her! She is attending Oxford Brooks in Oxford (there are two universities in Oxford and she is at the less well-known campus) and seems to be really enjoying herself. I left the group to go hang with her for the first part of the time in Oxford. She gave me a tour of the town and we got milk shakes at this place called Moo-Moo's which were really, really good! After that we met up with the group because we were going on a tour of Christ Church. Prof. Macfarlane was really awesome and invited her to join us on the tour because we were actually missing some people and had room for her. The man who came to give us a tour is a high authority in Christ Church and also a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (the church BYU is run by and part of). Because of that connection, he set it up so that we could enjoy high tea in the location where they film the Harry Potter movies (the GREAT HALL!).
High tea was so good. We had hot chocolate (because we don't drink tea) and little sandwiches and cake. The sandwiches were different from what I am used to because they have meat and a jam-like substance on them. I was not sure if I would like it but it was really good! The Victoria Sponge cake was so yummy as well! We were all so stuffed after that. I have decided I want to have high tea everyday. It is the best!
After the tour the group went back to London but I stayed with Helen. She took me on a really pretty walk along the Thames and we had a great time talking, catching up and just enjoying hanging out together. We stopped in a local shop so I could get (the pretty much required) Oxford sweatshirt. We also got a postcard to send to Ms. Nuxoll (our former art history teacher) because she came up in conversation so we thought it would be nice to send her a card letting her know we were thinking of her.
After a couple of hours Helen had to leave so she took me to the Oxford Tube station. The Oxford Tube is a bus (well "coach") system that runs from London to Oxford, back and forth. It is really convenient. Plus, the coaches are really nice! Comfortable seats that recline, free WiFi on board, foot rests, big windows...just really enjoyable to ride on. It took about an hour and a half to reach London and I was dropped off right by Palace Court (the street we live on) which was nice.
I already miss Helen. She is so great! Just the nicest, sweetest, most sincere girl you will ever met and I am so grateful that we were able to met up. It had been far tooooooooo long.
It was really cute because as she walked away from the Tube station she looked so English girl-ish. Walking her cute little bike, with the basket on the back, and turning to wave and yell goodbye in her adorable accent (Helen, if you are reading this, I LOVE your accent!). It was a perfect farewell.
Aw, Helen. We need to met up again!
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Ashley, you're in England...YOU'RE the one with the adorable accent! lol
My kids are going to be so jealous about the "Great Hall" visit. VERY cool!
Prof. Macfarlane? Isn't he in the humanities department - I remember that name -- doubt he remembers me, since it was hmm... um.. 16-17 yrs ago that I worked in his department. Ouch, that makes me SO old!! I was one of the receptionist when Dr. Hall was Dept Chair - 'course I had my maiden name, Julia Langford then. Maybe he'd only vaguely remember me, if he also hear the names Ana Nielsen and Holly Wettstein,who were also secretary/ receptionists. Are all the prof's humanities profs - I wonder what other names i would recognize.
Julia