a few hours in london on sunday...what to do and see and eat?

on sunday we'll be heading into london to see "alls well that ends well" at the globe.

going to be a real treat indeed!

however, we arrive in london around 10:00 or 11:00 in the morning,

and the play won't start until 6:00 or 7:00 in the evening...

so, if i was interested in strolling around the city,

taking in the sights, finding a lovely cafe to eat in

and maybe a boutique or two to window-shop in

where should i go?

{image source}

old pubs, closed graves, boats named after famous women, and a theater experience of a lifetime

last week we all took a coach (aka a bus..."coach" sounds so fancy, doesn't it?!)

to stratford-upon-avon to see the royal shakespeare company perform

"the merchant of venice."

we started out by finding food, and just haphazardly ran into the oldest

pub in the city, and decided to eat there.

my tea was perfect, and the curry was so comforting.

we tried to hurry and run to shakespeare's grave, but were too late.

at least we got to stroll around the church grounds and look at the headstones.

very pretty city indeed. hoping to have time to go back and explore.

i had never seen the merchant of venice performed before

so i didn't really know what to expect.

i was worried, at first, when i saw that it was a las vegas theme...

but it ended up fitting the plot and characters quite well.

and, to top it all off, i was really thrilled to see patrick stewart

play shylock, the rich jewish money-lender.

was a great night. next week we go back to see macbeth!

the old bodleian & the radcilffe camera : taking oaths and basically studying where hermoine did

yes, this is the library i get to use this summer,

and, yes, i had to take an oath (promising, among other things, not to light fire to anything).

this place is closed off to tourists (mostly)

and is a wonderful place to study.

the duke humfrey's library is where i favorite wizards & witches spent their time here.

no big deal. (not to mention all the killer original manuscripts this library owns!).

so much more to show you all:

a shakespeare play in stratford starring one of these brilliant actors,

a visit to a place that inspired this book and this book

see you soon!

favorites

just around the corner today at the market i ran into my dream bike.

you know, things just happen all the time like that when you're in oxford.

sheesh. this place is way too dreamy. i can hardly stand it!

however, speaking of favorites, i'm wondering why school is such a favorite of mine...

it can be so so difficult trying to make my brain work so hard.

and it can be so so difficult getting my tongue to catch up with

all the ideas running around in my head...

this is when i know i need to take an afternoon in the countryside enjoying a picnic.

this brain needs a rest!

have a lovely weekend!

{p.s. photos of my library will come sometime this weekend or monday...sorry for the delay!}

here's our incredible college library that we won't be able to use at all this summer...seriously can't believe my bad luck

turns out it's a bit of a rough summer to be at oxford...

especially lincoln college. our beautiful little college

library is closed for the entire summer due to some

massive refurbishing to help keep it cool in summer

and warm in winter...very sad they had to close it up

this summer. at least we had ten minutes to see what

we were missing. sheesh. anyway, beautiful, yes?

but, i can't complain for too long...

tomorrow i will show you the library that i can

spend every day within its old walls this summer pouring over my books.

a high table dinner in our pre-columbian dining hall...no bid deal.

we had our first high table dinner last night: complete with latin and other lovely oxford traditions.

1427. that's the year our little lincoln college was built.

and, yes, those wood beams way up there in the ceiling: original.

this place makes it easy to dream and get lost in books

as we walk back and forth between century-old libraries, halls, and professor's offices.

speaking of professors, mine. is. awesome.

first class was today after lunch. i was giddy with anxiety at lunch.

only three others in my class. and we would be meeting oxford style (in our professor's office)

where i would not be able to hide so easily behind so many other students' wit & intellect.

but, the great news is is that i was giddy in class with all of the lovely and interesting things our professor had to say.

i've happily begun my research and studying.

i'm thrilled that everyone is here now.

and i'm even more thrilled to have the "intertube" here in my

very own room where i can skype ceej whenever. i. want.

goodbye twice-a-day peppermint tea. i think it's a pretty good trade-off.

thanks for all of your encouraging words, lovely readers.

this place has quickly grown on me, and now hogwarts makes a lot more sense.

i'm tempted to sneak around "forbidden" areas, and to spend my time in these

lovely old libraries and halls. seriously people. this is what schools everywhere should be.

i made it! (and i'll be sipping lots of peppermint tea)

well. here i am. in oxford. this is my new street. campus on the left. very unadorned dorm room on the right.

cried a lot when i got here. realized i won't see ceej for six weeks and i'm a stranger here.

have made multiple trips to the cafe to use their wi-fi, which means i'm consuming a lot of peppermint tea just to be "near" cj via glorious skype. blessed technology.

anyway, i'm totally jet-lagged, tired, and confused. which means i need a nap.

plan on going to bed straight after dinner.

by the way, this place is amazing. my neighborhood is amazing. just neeed some rest to really enjoy it.

have no idea what posting will be like...bear with me as i figure out my school/study/travel schedule.

a baby graflex for my uk travels!

tomorrow. i leave tomorrow! lots of mixed feelings of course.

but overall, e.x.c.i.t.e.d. beyond the dreamiest of dreams.

school is going to be fantastic. can't wait to meet up with classmates from last summer,

and then to meet a whole new slew of awesome people.

a friend of ours let me borrow this little twin lens reflex camera. woohoo!

should be a fun little toy to have as i travel (hopefully) on the weekends.

am thinking i need to find a way to obtain one of these tents

to properly experience the england i hope to see.

we'll see if that happens...i wonder how much they are to ship?

am signing off for the next few days...

when i see you next, it will be from the beautiful city of oxford.

(still pinching myself that i'll be going to school here!)

since we all like macarons so much...

a few months ago mercedes, marte marie, and i got together to take some photos

of mercedes' delicious macarons. what a fun afternoon we had together!

which shots are your favorites?

{la boulangere: mercedes; stylists: marte marie, mercedes, and ann marie; photography: ann marie}