Birthday in Oxford

Me, Cody, Marilena and Leonel

The Great Hall

Stairway to the Great Hall

Tom Quad

Exterior shot

Cloisters


My birthday didn't go quite as planned, but it still turned out alright. I have lots of pictures, but unfortunately, my USB ports aren't working, so I can't load them from my camera. I could go burn a photo CD at Boots, but I'll just wait until I get home and do it from Mom's laptop. As the Brits say in situations like this, "I can't be bothered." These pics (that I found on various websites) are better than the ones I took actually...especially my shot of the Cloisters, because I couldn't get a shot without people in it...

So, we got to Oxford too late to make it to Blenheim. Also, there were just four of us: Cody, Marilena and Leonel. I was sad to miss out on Blenheim, but I tried to make the best of it and had us go to Christ Church college. It's absolutely gorgeous. Lewis Carroll, C.S. Lewis, W.H. Auden, etc. were all here, and bits of Harry Potter were filmed here (as you can see in the pics).
We had dinner at The Bear, a very traditional little pub on a side street that I'd found in my guidebook. I had steak & ale pie--very hearty and drowning in gravy, but good. We got home about 8, I called Mom & Kelly & opened presents, so that was fun.
I'd been trying to get friends to go out for a birthday drink, but most people said they needed to study. The Saracen's Head (the place I'd wanted to go) was closed, so I met John at All Bar One. Luis, Siv, and some of her friends came, but they'd stopped serving too. John and I walked all over Bath looking for an open pub, and eventually we went to Rat & Parrot, which was the first pub I went to here in Bath. Cody joined us there, so I ended my birthday with the boys & a pint of John Smith's.
So, it was a strange birthday, but that's a good excuse to celebrate again when I get home...just 8 more days until I'm back!