06 November 2009

all this beauty

There's not much news in my life. I've pretty much just been in the library all day every day for the last week. Yep. But here's that exciting place so you can see it!




And here's what the rest of the library looks like:


So exciting, I know. And here's my view out the window:


So that's all the news in my life!
The end.

Just kidding.
Here are some other important places in my life you should see. Those of you who've spent time in Oxford can look and reminisce...

These are the Exam Schools where I have all of my lectures every week:


I actually only have one lecture I have to go to every week, but why limit yourself to one when there's a million crazy interesting subjects that I could be learning from really smart people? Well, I guess maybe if you wanted to avoid the label of "nerd"... But I've been going to some great lecture series that are fulfilling my thus-far thwarted desire to take religion classes at Jewell: The Gospel of John, History of Israel, Doctrine Before Nicea, The Christian Doctrine of Creation, and Liturgy, as well as Comparative Government and Plato's Republic. Oh yeah. So they're pretty much like normal classes in the U.S. except for the fact that they're at Oxford, so of course they're in some crazy cool building like the Exam Schools and of course they're in huge impressive lecture halls:


This is the street I ride my bike down every day to get to the Exam Schools: High Street (affectionately known by locals as "The High"):


Not going to lie, I feel really cool riding my bike around town. I think it helps me blend in. Here are some of the sights to see on the way there. First of all: Blackwell. I have gushed about Blackwell before, so I'll just say that it is to bookstores as the National Cathedral is to churches. I know it doesn't look that impressive on the outside, but on the inside, it goes on FOREVER:


And here's the Rad Cam, the classic icon of Oxford:


It's used to house books for the Bodleian.
Moving a little closer to home, this is the road we live on:




And here's the grocery store we shop at in Summertown. We actually live closer to Summertown on Banbury Road than we do to City Centre. Anna would like this place...


Moving towards Regent's, here's a sweet cemetery I like to hang out at:


And here, just for De, is the Eagle and Child. Yes, Regent's Park College is immediately behind it. Incredible.


De, if you come visit me, I'll take you there... pleeeease??
Regent's Park is a relatively new college. The organization that eventually became RPC was started in 1752, and the college didn't move to this location until the 1920s. But it's still beautiful, albeit in a very different way from the huge impressive colleges. Here's our quad:


Melody took a few pictures when we were down at the river for rowing practice the other morning. Here's the river at 6:45 am:


It's magical. We walk back through Christ Church Meadows along this path. That's Christ Church College at the end, well-beloved by all Harry Potter fans:


And here's Christ Church on the left and a distant Magdalen College tower on the right:


All this beauty... you might have to close your eyes
And slowly open wide.
All this beauty, we traveled all night.
We drank the ocean dry, and watched the sun rise...

"He led them by a straight way to a city where they could settle.
Let them give thanks to the LORD for his unfailing love and his wonderful deeds for men..." Psalm 107:7-8

1 comment:

  1. Is that a Barney outside of the grocery store!! The pictures are SO beautiful I can't believe it. wow, I am SO jealous. :)

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