Last evening in Oxford

Friday, 25th August 2017

We enjoyed one more night on the town... we strolled downtown and visited our favorite buildings.  Then we had dinner at The Red Lion.  This made A happy because apparently Toad had coffee at this pub in The Wind in the Willows.

Then we stopped in at the Ashmolean Museum, which was open late on the fourth Friday of the month.  We saw completely different areas than during our previous visit, including the Egyptian exhibit.

Then we took a bus home.  It was hard to believe that our summer in Oxford was coming to an end!

Radcliffe Camera

Sheldonian Theatre

The Kings Arms Pub

Tuesday, 22nd August 2017

Tonight we dined at the Kings Arms, just south of Oxford.  It is a quaint place along the River Thames, next to the Sandford lock.  We enjoyed good food and beer, and the kids had fun feeding the ducks and swans!

Museum Day

Tuesday, 22nd August 2017

Today we finished up the kids' summer museum "passport" program.  They've now collected stickers from six of the seven Oxford landmarks on their passports!  Today we visited the Bodleian Library, Museum of Natural History, and the Pitt Rivers Museum.

The Bodleian Library is one of Europe's oldest libraries.  Its collection officially began in the 1300s, and the first library room was built in 1488.  We couldn't take a tour or see any of the book collections because kids have to be at least 11 to go in.  We did get a fun walking/spotting tour of the library quad, and we were also allowed inside the Divinity School.  This room was built in 1427 for lectures and exams, and it has quite an intricate ceiling.

Then we walked to the Natural History Museum, where the kids have visited several times.  We saw all the favorites, including the queen bee in the honey bee hive!  We noticed that the columns on the outer colonnade are all clad with stone from various parts of the UK and Ireland.  We also enjoyed the touchable rocks area.

The Pitt Rivers Museum is attached to the Natural History Museum, and that was our final stop.  This museum is absolutely packed with cultural artifacts from around the world.  They are grouped by category, so as to demonstrate how there are many similarities among cultures, even if things look a little different from place to place.  That was my interpretation, anyhow :)

Examining college shields on the entrance door

to the Bodleian Library complex

The Divinity School

Natural History Museum

Quartz, 1.1 billion years old

Ammonite fossil, 140 million years old

Orbicular granite, 2.7 billion years old

Nantan Meteroite, 4.5 billion years old

Pitt Rivers Museum

Dinner at The Liberty Bounds

Saturday, 20th August 2017

After our day at the Tower of London, dinner at a cozy pub sounded nice.  I mentioned that I would love a restaurant with a view of the Tower Bridge.  Lo and behold, we passed The Liberty Bounds, and it was exactly what we were looking for!  Cozy, good food, AND a view of the bridge!  Also, free beer with a burger purchase was a plus.  Couldn't ask for more.

Then we rode the tube back to Paddington Station and took the train home.  It was a fun final London outing for this summer!

I continued gazing at the bridge during dinner

Tower Bridge

Saturday, 20th August 2017

I couldn't stop gazing at the Tower Bridge.  There is a great view of the bridge from inside the Tower of London complex, and we also strolled along the River Thames for a bit to get another view.  Its towers look powerful, and the stately turrets at the top give it charm.  It is architecturally pleasing.  Modern bridges are also designed to appeal to the viewer, but in a more streamlined and functional way.

That's my artistic and architectural two pence.

Unfortunately, I didn't get to rouse my structural engineering psyche, because we didn't have time to walk over the bridge or take a tour of its lift mechanisms.  I will look forward to doing that next time!  ;)

View of Tower Bridge from inside the Tower of London

The Tower of London

Saturday, 19th August 2017

This was our most spontaneous London trip yet.  Up until an hour before we left, we thought we would drive... then changed our minds at the last minute and bought train tickets (money WELL spent!).  Up until we arrived at Tower Hill Station, we thought we were going to Greenwich and the Prime Meridian site... but we decided to check out the Tower instead, and it captivated us for the whole day.

So, we traveled by train to Paddington Station, and took the Underground to Tower Hill.  The kids were psyched about the long Tube ride.

We were surprised by how much there was to do and see at the Tower.  The site is fairly large, with the iconic "White Tower" in the centre of a larger fortress and medieval wall.  The White Tower was constructed in 1075-9 by William the Conqueror.  Most of the additional buildings and defensive walls were constructed in the 13th century.

We started off by getting in line to see the Crown Jewels.  Luckily, the line moved quickly.  Seeing the jewels and other Royal treasures was fascinating.  It was well-presented, with a moving walkway taking visitors past the main attraction - the dazzling Royal crowns, orbs and scepters.  No photography allowed :)

Then we walked through the White Tower.  It was originally home for the monarchs, but was used as a munitions storehouse from the 14th to 19th centuries.  Now it houses artifacts, including the "Line of Kings."  The Line is a display of statues, carvings and armor of the Royal monarchs.  We enjoyed seeing Henry VIII's armor, as well as some child-size armor.

We continued our walk around the complex, and climbed along the battlements and into towers along the defensive wall.  We spoke with a Yeoman Warder and learned that the 37 Warders still live in the Tower complex.

We learned about the menagerie of animals that once resided in the Tower.   Exotic animals like lions and monkeys were often gifts from far-off lands.

We also visited the ravens - six or seven ravens have resided at the Tower ever since Charles II protected them there, and the legend says that if the ravens leave, the Tower and kingdom will fall.

The White Tower

Tower Green, site of several storied executions.  

Also where some of the Yeoman Warders 

live (behind the blue doors)

Entrance to the vault

Armor of Henry VIII

Toy canons

Swords of Georges I-VI

One animal kept in the Tower was a polar bear, 

who was allowed to go fishing in the River Thames!

Yeoman Warder

Portcullis mechanism

Portcullis

Touring Blenheim Palace

Friday 18th August, 2017

After the jousting tournament, the kids and I went in the palace and around the grounds.  We were amazed at the size and splendor of the palace.  It is a UNESCO World Heritage site.  The Spencer-Churchill family (The Dukes of Marlborough) built Blenheim Palace in the early 1700s.  The 12th Duke of Marlborough and his family still use the palace as their home today. We learned a lot about Winston Churchill - his grandfather was the 7th Duke of Marlborough.  Winston was born in the palace two months prematurely while his parents were visiting.

In 1892, the 9th Duke of Marlborough succeeded, and inherited a basically bankrupt family home and dukedom.  He married Consuelo Vanderbilt, whose family money saved the Blenheim estate.  Their marriage was not happy, however.  Today the estate is funded by tourists!