Third Time's a Charm: 2015

Winter Wonderland

It has finally snowed!! I have been hoping and hoping that it would snow this winter. There is no prettier city than Oxford in the snow. The funniest part was to see all of the tourist disappear due to the "bad weather" and all of the students pour out onto the streets with their cameras.

The only group of tourists to be found.

Already melting!

This, right here, is what had to have inspired Narnia: college gardens blanketed in snow.

And here, a sign which is not only chuckle-worthy given the current weather conditions, but which I suspect inspired the following scene from Alice in Wonderland:

Lo, How a Rose E'er Blooming

These are the lyrics to a medieval Christmas carol. Most of the carols we know came much later than the medieval era. The music to this has been lost, but it has a pretty rhythm to it.

And this is a bloom from the SJC gardens!

"Early each day to the steps of St Paul's"

or late one night, as the case may be. Look what Sam and I happened to walk by!

"Feed the Birds", Mary Poppins.

A Very Merry Harry Potter Christmas

My friend Olivia came to visit me for Christmas! And of course when you find yourselves spending the holidays in the closest approximation muggles have to Hogwarts, the most appropriate action is to theme your Christmas accordingly.

Fittingly, I took the Oxford Tube down to London and met Olivia at Platform 9 3/4, King's Cross Station.

We spent some time wandering around London before catching the night bus back to Oxford.

We took the official tour of the Bodleian and generally explored Oxford.

The Divinity School in the Bodleian,

the oldest part of the Bodleian and where they used to hold final exams

The Convocation House, adjoining the Divinity School.

Parliament was held here during the Civil War and the reign of Charles II (1642-6; 1665; 1681).

Oscar Wilde, amongst other misbehaving Oxford students,

had to attend disciplinary hearings at this table.

This chair was constructed from pieces of the Golden Hind,

Sir Francis Drake's ship.

The courtyard of the Bodleian is looking festive!

Exploring Oxford

The SJC chapel, all dressed up for Christmas.

Our humble, homemade ornaments-decorated MCR Christmas tree!

On Christmas Eve and Day, Olivia and I had fun doing low-key activities. We played chess in the SJC chess room. Yes, we have a room for chess. Because why not?

Unsurprisingly, Olivia won. About ten minutes before she checkmated me, I looked at the board and said, "You've killed me. I know you have. I just don't see how it's going to happen yet." And let me tell you, knowing you're doomed but not knowing the when or how is the worst feeling ever.

Crackers, paper hats, groan-worthy jokes, à cappella Christmas carols in the kitchen, and homemade feasts abounded.

Christmas morning brought stuffed stockings and pain au chocolat!

United in Manchester

My friend Will invited me to visit him in Manchester for my birthday! Manchester is a great city, very fun and packed with friendly people. I don't know what southerners are grousing about; it's like people who roll their eyes and scoff at my home city and when you ask them what parts of it they've seen they sheepishly admit that they've only taken the freeway through.

Will knows how to throw a birthday celebration. The first thing he did was find us a delicious lamburger stand, after which promptly took me to the historical John Rylands Library, where he was a very good sport while I ooh'd and aah'd over everything from the beautiful architecture to the extensive rare book collection. We trolled the Christmas markets for macarons and toffee and then embarked on a best-of-Manchester pub crawl.