There once lived a hobbit. Before Middle Earth, Gandalf, and the ring, a hobbit was born in the mind of J.R.R.Tolkien. Today, we had the opportunity to explore Oxford, the old stomping grounds of the great scholars and storytellers C.S. Lewis and J. R.R. Tolkien. After a fairly decent breakfast (fruit is few and far between) we loaded onto the bus with our guides, Christian who has been touring with us since France and Margaret who we met on our very first day touring Windsor Castle. Traffic was difficult but we enjoyed Margaret’s explanations about British health care, English monarchs, and the Congestion tax in London. A little over two hours later we joined our local guide who gave us a walk about around the city. Oxford is a beautiful town known for its numerous and well known “universities” which are the equivalent to an expedited college experience. I thoroughly enjoyed the red brick buildings bedecked with gargoyles and the tremendous library which holds over three million texts. Our guide lead us down a little alley next to the church Lewis frequently preached in and pointed out the inspirations for some of his ideas. As if we had walked through the wardrobe ourselves, there was a lion’s head gargoyle, a lamppost in the middle of the cobblestone walk way, and two half men half fawn creatures guarding the door of an adjacent building. Previously, I thought you could only enter Narnia through the pages of a book but in that alleyway the fiction became alive. Tummies growling we found our way to “The Eagle and Child,” a pub both Lewis and Tolkien frequented. On entering I noticed a quote from The Lord of the Rings “Pippin: What’s that? Merry: This, my friend, is a pint. Pippin: It comes in pints? I’m getting one.” This was going to be a great lunch! Most of us got fish and chips, but whatever we had everyone enjoyed the atmosphere. We continued to tour the city, shop around, then got on the bus and headed to London. The sun bathed the English countryside on the ride back giving us a warm hug. Covent Garden, a square of shops, street performers, and food stalls, was our stop for dinner. Mmmmm, more fish and chips! Very stuffed we hurried over to the great London Eye. Similar to an oversized Ferris Wheel, we entered into a large capsule and saw the city of London from a bird’s eye view: spectacular. We rode back to the hotel on the tube (underground train system) and packed up to leave in the morning. What an adventure!
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