Oxford and Stratford
May. 17th, 2005 02:04 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
icepixieOxford, Stratford, and all the stops in between have been photographed, and said pictures are up at
the usual spot. There are five albums for ease of viewing.
- Oxford is way prettier than Exeter. Why didn't I study abroad there? (Oh, wait, they only let in people with GPAs of 4.5 billion or something like that. Right.)
- We went to Christchurch and saw all the Harry Potter stuff. While the cloisters and cathedral were fantastic, I have to say, I'm disappointed with the dining hall--it's much smaller than the HP movies make it look, and the ceiling is kind of ugly. And the three rows of tables don't have benches like sensible dining halls, but rather large chairs squished up against each other all down the row. The Great Hall in Peirce is way cooler. See what I mean? (Check out the iPix 360 thing while you're there. It's spinny!)
- The bank of the Thames behind Christchurch meadow is absolutely the only place in the world that The Wind in the Willows could have taken place. Very pretty.
- Alice's Shop, across the street from Christchurch, was so cute I thought I might implode. Alice Liddell used to go there when she was a child and buy barley sugar sweets, and it was used in Through the Looking Glass (the original illustration of it is reversed, because of course it's in the looking glass world). I got a barley sugar lollipop and it's...odd. Kind of like chewy chalk with lemon flavoring. Sort of. I think I could maybe like it if I tried hard enough.
- We saw a cracktastic version of The Winter's Tale on our night in Oxford. There were musical numbers in iambic pentameter sung by men dressed as sheep. It was highly amusing.
- We saw very little of Stratford, regrettably, as we got there late and left early. I saw Shakespeare's grave, but that was all that was open at 9 AM on a Saturday morning. We did see A Midsummer Night's Dream performed by the RSC, though. I still hate the play, but at least they did something vaguely innovative with it this time, instead of having it be a collection of people acting badly with minimal set, like the other two we've seen. Puck was amusing as a slacker. And they had a really pretty set with twinkle lights and projections of silhouetted fairies and such.
- William Morris's house (Kelmscott) is very pretty. I want one like it, although maybe not decorated in his style. I liked the architecture, though.
- Charlecote Park was pretty as well, but the best part was the two friendly cats, one of whom was really interested in hunkering down inside my nice warm coat for all eternity. Hee.
- We tried flying another cheap kite on a very windy day up on a very windy hill. We apparently don't learn. I think we should put our money together and get a decently-constructed kite that has a chance of getting up in the air.
Bed now.
the usual spot. There are five albums for ease of viewing.
- Oxford is way prettier than Exeter. Why didn't I study abroad there? (Oh, wait, they only let in people with GPAs of 4.5 billion or something like that. Right.)
- We went to Christchurch and saw all the Harry Potter stuff. While the cloisters and cathedral were fantastic, I have to say, I'm disappointed with the dining hall--it's much smaller than the HP movies make it look, and the ceiling is kind of ugly. And the three rows of tables don't have benches like sensible dining halls, but rather large chairs squished up against each other all down the row. The Great Hall in Peirce is way cooler. See what I mean? (Check out the iPix 360 thing while you're there. It's spinny!)
- The bank of the Thames behind Christchurch meadow is absolutely the only place in the world that The Wind in the Willows could have taken place. Very pretty.
- Alice's Shop, across the street from Christchurch, was so cute I thought I might implode. Alice Liddell used to go there when she was a child and buy barley sugar sweets, and it was used in Through the Looking Glass (the original illustration of it is reversed, because of course it's in the looking glass world). I got a barley sugar lollipop and it's...odd. Kind of like chewy chalk with lemon flavoring. Sort of. I think I could maybe like it if I tried hard enough.
- We saw a cracktastic version of The Winter's Tale on our night in Oxford. There were musical numbers in iambic pentameter sung by men dressed as sheep. It was highly amusing.
- We saw very little of Stratford, regrettably, as we got there late and left early. I saw Shakespeare's grave, but that was all that was open at 9 AM on a Saturday morning. We did see A Midsummer Night's Dream performed by the RSC, though. I still hate the play, but at least they did something vaguely innovative with it this time, instead of having it be a collection of people acting badly with minimal set, like the other two we've seen. Puck was amusing as a slacker. And they had a really pretty set with twinkle lights and projections of silhouetted fairies and such.
- William Morris's house (Kelmscott) is very pretty. I want one like it, although maybe not decorated in his style. I liked the architecture, though.
- Charlecote Park was pretty as well, but the best part was the two friendly cats, one of whom was really interested in hunkering down inside my nice warm coat for all eternity. Hee.
- We tried flying another cheap kite on a very windy day up on a very windy hill. We apparently don't learn. I think we should put our money together and get a decently-constructed kite that has a chance of getting up in the air.
Bed now.
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Date: 2005-05-17 02:01 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-05-17 05:36 pm (UTC)