Monday, June 26 - Oxford, Cotswolds Village, Cheltenham
Before I get to the three areas I traveled to today, I want to add a few notes to things about London. Just odds and ends, last thoughts or insight I gained that I did not include in yesterday's post.
Found out that the reason for most of the construction going on in London, and the subsequent delays getting around, is because they are putting in a new major train line. It is not expected to be finished until the end of 2018. So, those of you coming to London prior to the finish of the line, which is to be around 75 miles in length, will have more than the usual hassle of getting around London. Plan for delays everywhere you go in town.
River Thames - I believe I mentioned the murky looking water in the River; however, my question was, how can you say you have fresh water, 119 species of fish, and claim to be one of the cleanest rivers in Europe? I was told that what makes it so murky is that the tide comes in and out with a difference of 27 feet between morning and night. The murkiness is the churning up of the water as the tide comes in and goes out. It is still fresh water.
I mentioned the bike lanes in a past post, and how so many people were upset with the politician who put that into place. Found out his name is Boris Johnson. He was the mayor when he decided to take away a couple of lanes from the vehicles in order to have bike lanes on both sides of the street. People were so glad when he was no longer mayor. However, when the new Prime Minister Mays (sp?) came into office, she selected him to be her Foreign Minister, and the people I have talked with say everyone just groaned when they found out he would still be around in politics.
Did you know that there is a law that says it is illegal to die in the Palace of Westminster? Very old law. The reason is that anyone who dies there is entitled to have a state funeral with full carriage and all, just like someone extremely important in government. It is said that the Queen would be quite put out and irritated if she had to provide the carriages and guards that come with a state funeral for a commoner. Ha!
Parking your car in London is normally 20 British pounds an hour! There are a few places that only charge 6 pounds an hour. WOW!!
Because talking to a group and calling them Ladies and Gentlemen is a mouthful, many here just call a group Chappies, as in "you are a good chap."
Drove by the apartment complex where the fire a couple of weeks ago occurred. Oh, my, terrible looking. As of now they know of 78 people who died, but they think there are quite a bit more. Not sure what the papers are saying, but the Brits are saying one of the people had a fire in his kitchen. He ran to tell his neighbor, but because of the fact that there were no sprinklers in the apartments and the siding of the building was not the material it should have been (can we say someone cut corners?), it went up in flames really fast. The neighbor to the guy whose kitchen started the fire escaped, but from what I understand, the other guy did not survive. Since then people in apartments here are terrified. I am told that the Brits love to spread out when it comes to housing, not go vertical. But if you want to live and work in London, the space and cost of that space is so high that they cannot afford to spread out and must settle for apartment buildings that house a lot of people for less money than owning a home.
Went by Wembley Stadium on the way out of London. It holds 84,000 people. Upcoming games are teams from the United States: Jackson (cannot remember the team name) versus the Ravens; the Saints versus the Dolphins, etc.
For people who enjoy Dr. Who, the current one is said to be not returning. There is a strong rumor that the next Dr. Who will be a female. I do not watch the program, but if you do, that is the latest from the London folk.
Now for things that happened today. I really loved visiting Oxford. A great place to walk around. There are 24,000 students that attend the 44 colleges in Oxford. This place has educated some of the world's most prominent scholars and statesmen. I walked thru the city center, passing some of the legendary colleges that have been seats of learning for many prime ministers, great writers, and various scholars, including Oscar Wilde, Jonathan Swift, and John Wesley.
110,000 applications are received for attendance, and Oxford has 145 different nationalities represented. It is older than Cambridge. It has 17,000 employees, and it cost 20,000 British pounds to live in the halls.
The University Colleges dominate the center of Oxford, which has spires and numerous stone walls bordering the college buildings.
Oxford University was established in the 11th Century, but there is evidence of structured teaching dating back as far as 872 AD by various groups of monks. For this reason, rather than orienting around a central campus, the University is a collection of 44 colleges and buildings spread throughout the city.
Oxford is also one of the settings for the Harry Potter movies, and I got a photo of the building that serves as the hospital wing of Hogwarts....very gothic looking.
The city also has the Radcliffe Room, which is periodically featured in the Inspector Morse and Endeavor Morse PBS movies.
There is a library here that contains 12 million books. It is called Bodleian Library. It is one of the oldest libraries in Europe. I would love to hang out in there! It is second in size only to the British Library in London.
As a side note, Bill Clinton went to Oxford on a Rhodes Scholarship. They refer to the King's Arms as "Billie's Bar," as it is infamously known as the place where he said he did NOT take drugs/cannabis. I saw the housing he had during his time here. Nothing fancy and on the main street.
And if you are like me and do not know how one gets to be a Rhodes Scholar, I found out that students apply for Rhodes scholarships because it provides a chance to study at Oxford University in almost any field. The all-expense-paid scholarship is awarded to 80 scholars each year, with 32 students from the United States.
The criteria for a Rhodes scholar include academic excellence, energy to pursue achievement, a moral character that seeks to lead others, and devotion to the service of others. Students across the globe can learn how to become a Rhodes scholar to pursue and realize their academic dream. You have to live in a country that has been allocated Rhodes Scholarships. I think there are 14 countries that qualify.
Bikes are everywhere in Oxford. They outnumber the cars, I think. What is really bad walking around town is that the students are riding their bikes while looking at their phones, or in a few cases riding their bikes and looking at their books! Either way, you really had to look out for them. Although most of the students are out for the summer, there are many classes still going on.
I did pop into Trinity College and also Balliol college, rivals. They play pranks on each other and are right next door to each other. One example was when the Balliol college students one night went up on the roof of Trinity College and laid down lots of lawn/sod on their nice roof. Have photos of Trinity, not very good because they shooed me away, saying I could not go in there; but I got one good shot of an interesting building.
Then I went to Bladon, where Sir Winston Churchill is buried outside St. Martin's Church. Got a photo of his grave. It was interesting to me that the reason he is buried there and not Westminster Abbey is because he requested to be buried with his family instead of in the Abbey. He knew that he would be allowed the honor of the Abbey, but laid out his wishes well in advance. He was given a state funeral with procession, but then he was taken by train to Bladon. He was raised in Plenham Palace, not far from the cemetery.
Some words I am learning:
Chips are our French fries, as in fish and chips
Flat is the same as our apartment
Sweets are candy
Caravan is the same as our trailers
Loo is the bathroom/toilet
There is an expression that if you see cattle sitting down, there is going to be rain, and if they are standing up, there is no rain expected. That is because cows do not like to eat their grass wet; they want it dry. If it is going to rain, then they sit down to protect some of the grass from getting wet. Do not know if that is true, but there it is! I've been keeping a close eye on the cows around here!
The Cotswold area is neat. Lots of greenery, thatched homes, villages, etc. Really like the area. Stopped off at Bourton-on-the-Water, which is a village dubbed the Venice of Cotswold. Lots of cute bridges, pleasant little shops where you can stop off for tea, and lots of items with clotted cream, like Clotted Cream Fudge and Shortbread Rounds. Yummy! As always, I tried the chocolate ice cream here. My aim when traveling is to find the finest chocolate ice cream in the world. Right now, Germany and Switzerland are on the top of my list!
Spending a couple of nights at the Doubletree Hotel by Hilton, in Cheltenham. Plan to visit Bath and Stonehenge tomorrow.
Stay tuned!
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