Alice in Wonderland

The books, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass were written here in Oxford by a teacher at Christ Church College (part of Oxford University), Charles Dodgson. He used the pen name Lewis Carroll.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lewis_Carroll

Matthew's school curriculum consists of many of the Oxford written classics. We have read Wind in the Willows, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, and are now partly through Through the Looking-Glass. Our reading inspired us to travel the river Isis (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Isis), the place that inspired all of these stories.

We rode the bus to city centre and walked to the river, passing Christ Church college (background) and Alice's Shop; the sweet shop visited by Alice Little that was made part of the Carroll tales. It is now a souvenir store.

Our boat moors at the Folly Bridge, across the river from the Head of the River Pub. This is the very spot Dr. Dodgson would use to take Alice and her sisters rowing on the river.

The boat company, Salters Steamers, has been in continuous operation since 1858 and offer boat trips to many destinations. 

http://www.salterssteamers.co.uk/

The first part of our journey took us downstream to the Iffley lock, where we  turned around. The river was narrow and lined with the many boathouses of the various colleges that race between the lock and Folly bridge. 

http://www.atm.ox.ac.uk/rowing/history.html

When we arrived back at the dock, we stopped to disembark the passengers who were not booked on the upstream  portion of the journey. We also picked up lunch baskets, provided by Head of the River pub. We didn't know that lunch was an option before booking our tickets so we had the sandwiches we purchased from a local Tesco.

The river seemed calm and surreal because I knew, for this first portion, we were in the center of Oxford, a city of  over 134,000 people.

After passing through the Osney Lock, we arrived at the south end of Port Meadow. The meadow is listed as freemen grazing ground in the Domesday Book of 1086 and has not ever been ploughed but has played a role in the English Civil War and was used by the military in both world wars.

We live a short distance NE of the meadow (in this general direction).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Port_Meadow,_Oxford

These horses in the meadow did not move during the entire time that we  were nearby . They looked the same when we passed by on the return. Is there a special breed of horse that looks like a statue?

On the west side of the river is the village of Binsey with a herd of milk cows grazing.

We reached the lock near the Trout Inn in Wolvercote and turned the boat around. I am still trying to figure out why there are trees on the west side of the river  and nothing grows on the east side.

The river was full of wildlife.

The sea of ducks parted so we could pass through.

We followed a narrow boat back through the Osney lock from the high water side...

...to the low water side.

I was surprised by all of the locks in Oxford.

   

Another adventure complete - time for some shopping while we are in the city.

 After reading the rest of Through the Looking-Glass, we plan to read The Chronicles of Narnia series, followed by The Lord of the Rings; both of which were inspired by the same river. What additional adventures might we find to accompany these new books?

Queen's Diamond Jubilee Weekend in Tenby, Wales

We spent the first three days of our four day holiday weekend enjoying the beach city of Tenby, Wales. We went to Wales without a plan other than to relax and we discovered a gem of a beach community that we may very well return to again.

We stayed at The Imperial Hotel. I think we had the best room in the place, top floor with a bay window so we could look down the beach as well as out to sea. The hotel consists of five old homes built on the ancient city wall that were connected many years ago. The hotel needs some updating but the location is fantastic; near city centre, too.

This is one set of the steps down to the beach.

This is our hotel as seen from the beach at low tide. At high tide, the beach disappears and the waves crash against the rocks. Our room is the top right window in the yellow section. The city wall was built by the Normans to protect the city against Welsh rebellion.

The water was cold but Matthew went swimming....

...and found a crab-like creature in the surf...

...and collected shells with Lori.

At low tide, we walked to an island with a castle on top. This cave extends through the island and the interior is  covered with sea life because it is submerged most of the time.

At low tide, the boats in the marina are stranded. If I owned a boat, I think that I would want to keep it in a place where I could use it at any time.

The city was decorated for Queen Elizabeth's Diamond Jubilee weekend.

Horse and carriage rides were only 3 pounds per person.

Matthew picked up a souvenir Wales flag and tried on a traditional Welsh hat (that we later learned for a girl). From the shop owner, we learned how to say "thanks" in Welsh.

The marina was busy at high tide.

All of the road signs were in Welsh. I was surprised as I always thought of Welsh as an ancient and little used language (like Latin).

We had a Queen Tea (instead of cream tea) that came with fresh local strawberries - yum! We also ate in the hotel dining room and had local fish and chips. According to Piper's Fish shop, fish and chips are more nutritious than pizza... really?

Matthew rode the boogie board until his teeth were chattering. On Sunday, since it was raining, we spent the day swimming inside at the Blue Lagoon water park (see link) nearby.

http://www.bluelagoonwales.com/

 

The view down the beach from our room as the tide comes in.

The water reaches the rocks.

Flowers on castle hill.

What are these called?

I think that the Welsh boy with the flag is attacking?

 

The flowers were planted in honor of the Queen.