May 29, 2010

May 29, 2010

So we headed to Oxford this morning and after eating our lovely hot breakfast which included croissants, eggs, orange juice and much more, we loaded the coach and rode for an early hour or so.  Our first stop was C.S. Lewis's quarters in which we saw his house, gravesite, church and pond.  These were not only remarkable sites but simply enchanting.  C.S. Lewis's house had been rented out after his death to people like college kids and so it was basically disgusting by the time the C.S. Lewis foundation raised money and bought it out.  They spent a long time with volunteers living in the house, remodeling and renovating it closer to the way it was set up during the Lewis brothers lifetime.  It was so crazy to be able to walk through the rooms and up the stairs in which the great mind of C.S. Lewis also saw.  The tour guide (current resident scholar living in the house) said that C.S. Lewis even left the curtain from the WW2 times up because they were thick and black and basically the brothers were just lazy about it.  Haha they even just dumped their cigarette ashes on the carpet!  It was not until C.S. Lewis's wife moved in that anything was cleaned and put away.  I wish I could have just seen that bachelor pad and been able to enjoy a pipe with those Lewis brothers, who, admiringly were thick as thieves and dependent upon each other a lot of the time.  
C.S. Lewis's grave was right next to the church where he and his brother worshipped and was not the usual famous persons "huge memorial tombstone."  It was rather quaint and simple just as they were I suppose and had an unusual quote on the front of it that apparently not many people know the significance of, but because Mrs. H is really smart- she told us all about it.  When Jack (CS Lewis) died, his brother was distraught and did not know what to do with out him.  He chose the quote that was on their "quote of the day" like thing on the day of their mother's death.  I do not think I would have ever figured that out and not many people understand the emotional attatchment to that quote those two men had.  
The church in which the Lewis's worshipped was again, quaint and cozy.  They put a little gold plaque on the bench place where the brothers typically sat and surprisingly, it is the worst seat looking towards the alter because there is a huge column in front of you!  I was just in awe that I could sit in the same spot and look at the same podium that one of the most profound Christians and scholar viewed.  The same windows and the same benches that have been there the whole time! I just think that is the neatest thing.  
We also went to the pond directly across from CS Lewis's house and saw where him and Tolkien took many a stroll around and boat ride upon.  Apparently the land was not filled with houses as it is now, but 9 acres of land surrounding his house in the countryside and the pond was seen from his front door.  It used to be a brick kiln and that is why his house is known as "The Kilns."  
It was quite rainy and cold the whole day here in Oxford but that did not stop me from enjoying the significance and simple pleasure of this place.  Everyone walking around seemed to be so smart and there were bikes all over the place! I wanted to just go in a bookstore and read as much as I could!  We got to go and see what looked to be the middle of the University of Oxford and I think I could handle studying there...  You can tell the difference between the accents here and the accents in London but just barely.  We ate lunch at the infamous "Eagle and Child" restaurant and got to sit in the actual nook where the "Inklings" such as Lewis and Tolkien met every Tuesday morning!  We enjoyed a nice burger and fries, I know, so American sounding, but it was delicious and that place is TINY! You can just walk in, find a seat, if any and then go order at the bar.  I can't imagine coming to Oxford and not eating at such a place. And it is so crazy that a person can make a place famous!? 
After browsing around the Oxford area in which many of the buildings look exactly alike so its very easy to get lost, we went back to the hotel to unwind a little until we needed to meet back in the lobby.  We went back to thew Lewis house and listened to a remarkable G.K. Chesterton scholar.  This 87 year old man was the cutest, most gentleman like man I have ever seen and his beautiful accent only made his reading of Chsterton's "White Horse" exerpts that much better!  He talked to us about his studies and how he read his first Chesterton the day before his 14 birthday and then how he fell in love with his essays and began to study them.  He was a notable scholar and I was very honored to be in his presence in such a place as that.  He even read us Winnie the Pooh and I almost was in a state of bliss as I sat back and listened to this lovely old English man talk like Pooh and Piglet in C.S. Lewis's house with the sun shining a little through the clouds and the birds chirping through the vines of the house on the outside.  I could have sat there for hours and just enjoyed that moment.  
We were able to roam free for the rest of the night and being as tired as we are and wanting to rest up for early church in the morning, we ate at a local Chinese buffet and headed back to our rooms to unwind and go to sleep.  Tomorrow we head for Cambridge!