Seeing Oxford

Sacrament meetings in both wards were both excellent.  As yet, I have never been a church meeting here in Oxford that wasn't wonderful.  I have never felt that I wasted my time, never wished I were somewhere else doing something else.  The wards are really exceptional.

Derek, Heather, Brook, Clint, Ally, Kimball and Andersen joined us for the 1st Ward Sacrament meeting and the second hour as well.  I know they enjoyed it, but we haven't had time to talk much about it.  After meetings were over, we convened at our apartment here for a fast sandwich and chips and cookies.  Three of the cutest YSAs came with the Madsen group on the bus, and were so gracious to lead us from here in a grand tour of the colleges of Oxford.  We went to 5 colleges I think, and we saw so many more as we walked.  I put five miles on my feet!

We saw famous Harry Potter sites such as the great dining hall or whatever it is called in Harry Potter.  Here it is called the dining hall of Christ Church.  The weather couldn't have been nicer to us.  It was chilly (Ally was so cold by the time we got home) but the sun came up and it was my favorite kind of Oxford day....gloriously cool and sunny with stunning views of all the colleges and fields.

We saw the C.S. Lewis lane where he must surely have gotten his inspiration for Narnia, Aslan and Mr. Tumnus.  I loved that.  We saw the library still in use by Oxford students after centuries, and other amazing old buildings.

We had an IKEA dinner of meatballs, french fries, gravy and corn....not real fancy, but it came together real fast and we were all hungry after that extended walk.  Much too late, I discovered that the meatballs were actually vegetarian balls.  They weren't bad, but they didn't quite satisfy.  Everyone was gracious about it.

We talked about what will happen tomorrow, checked online for tickets, times and schedules.  We played Pictionary,   Everyone was dragging....including me.  That was a superlong walk today, but it was fanstastic.  I loved all we saw, and we barely scratched the surface.  Everyone has retired now, and I am getting in bed just as fast as I can.  Tomorrow will be a full day, and I want to be ready.

And so I am posting a lot of pictures and hope you enjoy looking at them....the family with the historic backdrop of Oxford Colleges.

Look at these adorable young women, college students, and our much-loved YSAs who took time off from everything else to show us around Oxford.




It is believed that this lamp post - which C.S. Lewis passed nearly every day on his way to work was the inspiration for the lamp post in "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe"  nearby is a building with a room and false wall/wardrobe with a secret compartment.






The Banquet Hall in Harry Potter - first movie




Comments

melissa said…
Oh, this makes me so happy to see them there at these wonderful places!!
March 8, 2020 at 9:59 PM
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