Random observations from two weeks in England…
We spent an educational afternoon at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, taking in the exhibits. One highlight was tea and dessert amid the opulent surroundings of the world’s first museum café, built in 1852. Europe has America beat hands down in terms of offering plenty of places for folks to gather, with varied food and drink offerings at reasonable prices.
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We were fortunate to spend two nights in guest quarters at Hertford College in Oxford, where Marilynn gave a talk. We stayed about 15 feet from the Bridge of Sighs, a famous decorative bridge that connects two parts of the college and is modelled on a similar (and older) structure in Venice. That was the good news. The bad news is that from about 8:30 a.m., tour groups gathered under our bedroom windows for a history lesson. Then from about 10 p.m., loud students spilled from the alley leading to the Turf Tavern, a semi-famous pub that offers “an Education in Intoxication.”
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My apologies to the young woman on the train from Birmingham to Oxford who was either copying passages from the New Testament or writing her impressions of scripture while I was reading horror master Clive Barker’s novel “The Scarlet Gospels” about Pinhead, the demon from the “Hellraiser” movies. Heaven and hell, indeed!
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Many European hotels still don’t have air conditioning, including the hotel in Birmingham the Friday we attended the Elbow concert. I couldn’t figure out how to defeat the device that only allowed opened the window about two inches until we got back at past 11. Consequently, we kept the windows wide open that night. By 6 a.m., however, we felt like we were sleeping rough by the motorway, the traffic noise was so bad.
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When traveling, we always find something to climb, something to ride, and a drunkie cab. Fortunately, we saw no drunkie cab in Oxford, but Marilynn and I did climb Carfax Tower, which dates to the 13th century and offers nice views of the city. I was most impressed it wasn’t named for the company that sells wreck reports on used cars. According to displays in the tower, “carfax” is derived from the Latin word “quadrifurcus,” meaning four. The tower is still near the intersection of four central roads in Oxford.
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We traveled many miles during our two weeks in England, much of it to catch up with colleagues and old friends. Our sincere thanks to everyone who hosted us, met us for a meal, or let us stay the weekend in the Cotswolds (thinking of you, Michael and Aleksandra!).
To Europe ... and Back 