Miscellaneous events of November and December

Having been a bit slack on a) the uploading photos front and b) writing blog posts, here it all is in a big jumble to round out 2008.

We had visits from Bronwyn and Steve from London and Stina from Sweden. It's great having visits because we can do all the touristy things we've been saving up to do for ages! My number 1 favourite would have to be the Oxford University Museum of Natural History, it's a definite must-see if you come and visit.

I also went to London for a study day with my class to meet people from SustainAbility and the European Bank among others. Another trip to London happened because of a gathering of all the Commonwealth Scholars - it was so interesting to meet people from all around the world and see the flash insides of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office - very swish although no photos allowed I'm afraid, you'll just have to get invited to something there yourself!

Christmas was a great time to spend in Oxford too. The covered market was absolutely bustling with Christmas trees, what seemed like thousands of turkeys and dead boars/deer hanging up most days too. The highlight though was the Mummers Play that we saw after an intense game of Risk at the Bookbinder's pub in Jericho. It's a tradition dating back to medieval times and was great fun.

The random collection of photos are here.

Weekend in Cardiff

A couple of months ago we went for a weekend visit to Cardiff to visit Adrian's friends John and Jen and to watch the All Blacks take on Wales at the Millennium Stadium.

We started off with a quick jaunt around Caerphilly Castle, home of the legendary leaning tower and where the grand hall was all set up for a wedding. Caerphilly cheese is pretty famous too (apparently) and succumbing to the temptation of buying something in the gift shop, I can now report that it is very delicious and highly recommend it to all!


We got back just in time to watch the England/South Africa over some pizza and beer in central Cardiff. It was very difficult to know who to cheer for - we couldn't cheer for England while in Wales, and it's always hard for a Kiwi to cheer for SA! But thankfully that was over quickly, and a quick spray paint on the cheek of a silver fern later, we were in our seats and cheering the All Blacks on. It's always great to see the haka live and this one was particularly good as there was a long stand-off between the two teams afterwards - who says it's meaningless these days?!


Wales started the game with a hiss and a roar, which was great for us as we'd been told that the Welsh fans only sing when they're winning - we got an earfull alright! But the boys did us proud, coming back to win 29-9.

And, as with all good Antipodean fixtures, it was a crazy small world as Lucy from school happened to be sitting on the very same row as us! Was great to catch up and marvel at how 'small world' it always is. A few celebratory drinks and a wander down Cardiff's infamous 'Chippy Alley' rounded off the night.


Home James the next day - but herein lies the cautionary message of this post. Do NOT, I repeat, DO NOT be tricked into getting the bus from Cardiff to London, then the train from London to Oxford to get home (instead of the train straight from Cardiff to Oxford). I don't care how expensive it is to get the single train, a two hour journey versus an eight hour marathon is definitely worth it!

The rest of the photos here.

Blenheim Palace

In early November, Adrian's brother Dominik and his fiancee Nikki came up and visited us in Oxford for the weekend. One of the things they had on their list to do was Blenheim Palace, which is about 30 minutes on the bus north of here. Unfortunately we visited on one of the worst days we'd had in a while so most of our outdoor exploring was limited! I also realised the negatives of my extremely cheap Primarni padded coat - rather than repel water it literally sucks it in through the seams, great.



But enough about my coat! Blenheim Palace is pretty incredible. It's a World Heritage Site and unlike most of the UK's stately homes, is not managed by the National Trust which makes it pretty different inside. Rather than preserve all the rooms as they would have been previously, they've created this incredibly high-tech and interactive tour that leads you through the house and gives you a brief history of its previous inhabitants. It's most recent (and probably most famous) was Sir Winston Churchill and there was another exhibition in another part of the house detailing his life.


The gardens were absolutely stunning as well and we will definitely be heading back there during summer for some picnics and exploring. We caught the last of the Autumn colours (through the rain)
although I know that all the North American students in my class would definitely look down their noses at it compared to what they get back home!


The link above (and again here) gives a hugely detailed run-down of the history, construction etc. of the palace and is well worth a look. The rest of our photos are here, so enjoy!

Port Meadow

Before it all got completely submerged, back in late October we went and did a bit of exploring around Port Meadow which is a massive open space/common grassed area near to our house. There are some horses, allotments, completely wild areas and lots of grass. It seems quite strange to me that these type of areas exist - there's even mention of being able to graze your animals here in the Doomsday Book!


During summer the whole area is grass, but slowly (and then a lot more rapidly!) it gets wetter and wetter until now (December) it seems like there's a huge lake in the middle of it. The allotment that I'm working on with some friends from class is on the edge of it, so I've been spending more time there lately - and hopefully more when the weather gets better!

More photos here.

St John's bops

A 'bop' is one of the bizarre Oxfordisms that you have to get used to around here - not using them would be worse than trying to get people to understand the accent! A bop is basically a party at a college bar or common room and has a theme (with our without dress-ups). Each college generally has two or three bops per term, ours were 'Heaven and Hell' and 'Jungle' themed.

We were a devil and St Peter for the first one at my college (home made costumes thank you!) and as Adrian was in London for the second one, I was a bird of paradise for the second one - although maybe the beak that I made looked more like Gonzo than a bird!

Hope you enjoy the rest of the photos here.