Oxford with Carly

 On Tuesday of last week I went to visit my friend Carly in Oxford. She moved there in September from Palo Alto (she was my fabulous visiting teacher, a fellow temple ordinance worker, and remains my dear friend) to start a two year masters program in physical therapy. She loves England so much and does a lot of adventure trips on her own. She's been to visit me here in Bath and Chippenham already. We had such a great day together! It was bitterly cold, but we saw some interesting things, ate some good food, and paid tribute to a literary hero of mine--JRR Tolkien. On the way home that evening, I did get stuck in Didcot Parkway for over an hour, so that was a bummer and major failure yet again on the part of First Great Western. My kingdom for a reliable train system! (Didcot Parkway is a train station where lots of interchanges happen.)

I love big Christmas trees. This one is inside the university library courtyard.

Inside The Eagle & Child pub, where Tolkien and C.S. Lewis had their literary meetings of the Inklings. Carly and I discussed how she was an Austen-head and I more of a Bronte girl. Delicious vegetarian wellington.

I made it. Found Tokien's gravestone and pulled out my library copy of The Two Towers, which I am currently reading.

The Headington Shark is a piece of modern art in a neighborhood of Oxford. Random but cool.

A beautiful facade of Christ's college.

We were wondering how we would find Tolkien's grave, when we saw this! Wolvecote Cemetery was prepared for tourists like us.

Some beautiful leaves around the 18th and 19th century gravestones.

The Radcliffe Camera.

Thirsty Meeples! Oxford's clever board game cafe. We drank tea and played a Japanese maze game.