Roadtrips with Roommates

"The wheels on the bus go round and round, round and round, round and round..."

Story of my life these past two weekends.  Not kidding.

The roomies and I signed up for a triad of weekend day trips earlier this month, spanning over two weekends, and we were really looking forward to them!  I personally was really excited to have the chance to see the surrounding areas of England.  While I love that I have the chance to visit other countries while I'm here, it was really important to me to see more of the whole country that I'm living in, as well.

The first of our three trips was to Oxford and Blenheim Palace!
Now for those of you who are political history buffs, you may know that Blenheim Palace is the birthplace of Sir Winston Churchill, and the only privately-owned palace in England currently in operation.

For those of you who are Harry Potter buffs, you probably know that Oxford was the filming location and inspiration for a number of scenes from the eight-movie series.

I must say, I proudly identified with the latter of these two groups, and was prepared for a magical daytrip!

We toured Blenheim Palace first, and it was just spectacular.  The palace is just this incredible estate set in the middle of countryside surroundings, but it seems to fit well at the same time.  The beige, earthy colors complement the greenery so beautifully.

Front of Blenheim Palace, from the driveway leading up to it

The back pebbled courtyard of Blenheim

 While we weren't allowed to take pictures inside the palace, the roomies and I made up for it with a photo shoot in the outside gardens after our guided tour.  They had beautiful fountains, hedgery, and green fields that went on for miles.

Blenheim Gardens

Aww, aren't we cute? :)

After a quick lunch at Blenheim, we set off for Oxford!  Home of Harry Potter!  Oh, and a few centuries of academic enlightenment and achievement.  Priorities, people.  Priorities.

Our Blue Badge tour guide gave us a nice walking tour of the area, pointing out notable academic buildings, such as the Radcliffe Science Library and the different colleges that make up Oxford.  Since there was a university event going on that day we weren't allowed to walk in and actually see one of the colleges, but we peeked our heads into one of the squares.  The whole campus is amazing; the style of the buildings is something you just don't see every day in the U.S.

Radcliffe Science Library

Oxford, in all its glory :)

And, come on... you knew it was coming... nerd Megan takes over!  Haha, but I was really excited to see the University, as well as these highlights.  As I said to my roommate, it's the closest I'll ever come to my Hogwarts letter! :-P

My roommate Sarah in front of the Divinity School, where they filmed some of the infirmary scenes in Harry Potter.  They were having an event that day so we couldn't go in... but you can tell it's the door!

The steps leading up to the Great Hall!

Somanypeople.  It's like "Where's Waldo?"  Oxford style.

The Great Hall... sort of!  While Oxford allowed filming in the steps and hallways outside this room in my previous pictures, they actually did not permit the Harry Potter crew to film in this room.  But as you can see, this room was obviously direct, strong inspiration for the Great Hall set the filmmakers created.

The "bewitched" ceiling

And a view from the top of the staircase!

After a lovely afternoon of reliving my childhood and exploring Oxford Village, it was time to head back to South Kensington for the evening.

As a sidenote, the next day I actually had a special treat- a bonus "day trip!"  My roommate from freshman year at Fordham (who transferred to the University of Georgia, a school closer to her home, after our freshman year) Victoria, is also studying abroad in England this semester (ironically, at Oxford!  I didn't have free time to see her the day before, but luckily that was okay...).  She and a friend of hers decided to take a bus and spend the day in London, to see the sights as well as the Tour de Britain (the bicycle race, which was holding its final stage that Sunday).  So I hopped on the Tube and met up with the two of them for an afternoon of catching up, good food, and cyclists!  It was so great to see her, I miss her so much at Fordham!  We had a lovely day in London :)

Victoria and me, enjoying a sunny day on the Thames!

Our next weekend was a double-header-- two daytrips in one weekend!

Saturday took us to Bath and Avebury.  After an extremely long bus ride, full of detours and backroads, we found ourselves in the town housing the original Roman Baths.

Bath was such an interesting city.  The amount of preservation that has gone into the whole place is so evident, from the ancient coins and tools in display cases, to the Baths themselves.  The Baths were more than just a place to go for hygiene; it was a social experience, where someone would go to see friends, catch up on gossip, have a steam in a hot bath or a swim in a cold one... I got the impression of it as an ancient Roman day spa!

By the Great Bath!  I felt squeaky clean after my visit :)

After taking our audio-guided tour of the Baths, the roomies and I walked around the village for awhile!  We grabbed a quick bite to eat, and then took our tour guide's advice and walked up the hilly roads to get a more scenic view of the area.

View of Bath Village

A refreshing change from the cityscape!

Next stop: Avebury!  Avebury is a henge stone monument containing three stone circles.  It's actually the largest stone circle in Europe, even though Stonehenge may seem more well known.

One thing that distinguishes Avebury is that visitors are able to walk up to the stones and touch them, as opposed to Stonehenge, which is roped off.  People interpret this freedom in their own ways, whether it be sweet, or... special.

My lovely roommate embracing an Avebury stone.  As she put it, she had to "take advantage of touching the rocks while I can!"  I'm with you, my dear.  Carpe diem.

Or, you could be this guy.  In a full-on cape holding his hands to the Avebury stones in "worship."

 

Oh yeah.  And he had a staff.

After a "rockin'" afternoon at Avebury (oh so punny), it was back home to rest up for our next full day.

Day 2: Stonehenge and Winchester!

Stonehenge was incredible... It's just amazing to think of how long it took to build- 1,500 years!- and how it was done without our modern tools of today.  It especially impressed me to see how the rocks lay across each other elevated, as well.  It's such an architectural wonder, so well preserved, and a display of such immense labor and manpower.



Stonehenge



 

Roomies!

After we wandered around the Stonehenge circle for about an hour or so, we headed off to Winchester.  Winchester is actually where Jane Austen spent the last few weeks of her life and is buried.

So after a lunch break at an adorable cafe in the Winchester village area, we took a walking tour of the area.  In addition to seeing the last wall standing from when Winchester was a Roman city and the Bishop of Winchester's mansion, we made our way to... Jane Austen's house!

It's yellow.  With a brick facade.  Too perfect!



The plaque on the house!

 What's funny is that the house isn't a designated landmark!  There are people who live there... and they've even hung a little handwritten sign in the window asking such Austenites as myself to respect that fact that it is a private residence.  Didn't stop us from taking pictures from across the street.  God bless the inventor of the zoom lens.

We also visited Winchester Cathedral, which our tour guide informed us is actually a very typical European church, built over a long period of time in varying styles representing different architectural periods.  Nevertheless, it's absolutely beautiful as a whole!

Winchester Cathedral from the back courtyard

Winchester Cathedral

Jane Austen's grave, located inside the cathedral

The cathedral had set up a whole exhibition about the life of Jane Austen, and the areas in England where she lived and wrote.  In addition to her grave, we saw a beautiful memorial window that was dedicated to her.  It was such an honoring tribute for one of history's greatest authors.

While it may have been an exhausting weekend, it was also an exhilarating one!  I'm so happy I got to see so many historic, noteworthy parts of England.  It was great to journey outside of the City for awhile...

Speaking of which, one of my upcoming journies maaaay or may not involve venturing out of the country!  Teehee.

Stay tuned!