We Give a Forty Pound Tip // UK, Part 6

  Now we come to the last day of my UK trip. Technically, we were there for another full day, plus the day of traveling home - but this is the last day where we went sightseeing. The other days were full of getting lost trying to find the Downton Abbey house (it was closed when we did find it) and packing and cleaning the holiday home. Just comparatively boring stuff.

  On the sixth day of our trip we went to Oxford.

  It was the best.

 First, we headed for "The Eagle and Child" for lunch. Do you know what this place is? DO YOU? It's the pub where C.S Lewis, J. R. R. Tolkien, and their friends met for their Inklings club.

Not only was there the cool-factor of it being a favorite spot of two of my favorite authors, it also was just the cutest place ever and the food was delish.

After lunch, we found the place where our walking tour was to start. Our tour guide arrived as well as a bunch of other people who were taking the tour. The tour guide took us to a bunch of different colleges (the "colleges" all being part of Oxford University, obvs), all the while telling us all about the history of the University and about all the bizarre things that go on there.

One of the Bizarre Things I Heard from our Tour Guide:

- The university has pet tortoises that they race yearly, a tradition that has been going on for years. One of the colleges had a tortoise for over 40 years, named Rosa. Their beloved Rosa always won the races. Eventually, the other colleges couldn't stand it any longer. One day Rosa disappeared (supposedly kidnapped by another college) and was never seen again.

| The architecture in this town is cray |

| This beautiful thing is Radcliffe's Camera. It's a library. GOOD GOLLY. |

| Ewwww so ugly am I right. |

| Look! Young chaps dressed in fancy white outfits playing cricket in the well-trimmed green! What is this, Downton Abbey? ||

 We heard about a lot of smart, distinguished people. Hearing about all those geniuses who changed the world really starts to get to you. At first you're like, oh yay, this is cool. Smart people!

 

But then it hits you how very dumb and insignificant you are and you just feel like:

 It's weird.

| Evidence of another Oxford tradition. Trashing fellow students with confetti, feathers, flour etc. after their last exam. |

 See that random patch of unpaved cobblestone up there? That's really special. I don't know if you guys know this, but one of my favorite things in the whole world is learning about church history. And especially church history involving the Reformation. So seeing that spot up there, where Hugh Latimer and Nicholas Ridley were martyred, was pretty amazing.

"Play the man, Master Ridley; we shall this day light such a candle, by God's grace, in England, as I trust shall never be put out."

NO I'M NOT ALRIGHT, OKAY? IT'S A BIG DEAL.

***

Anyway, one more cool thing to see. The last cool thing of this post, and the last cool thing of my trip.

And that, of course, was seeing C. S. Lewis' home.

 And at that moment it all became too much for me and I just collapsed from seeing too many cool things.

 When I woke up from my feels-overload-coma I was back at home in Ireland scrolling pinterest and worrying about my rich tea biscuits falling into my tea and wondering if that England thing really did happen. ME? GO TO ENGLAND? NO, THAT CAN'T BE. WHO TOOK THESE PICTURES?

Anywho. That's the end of my trip. Hope you liked reading about it.

Laters.

Hannah