September 11, 2012
Well a faxed copy of my interim drivers license arrived just before midnight last night, thanks to Harry and Carol.  The fax came in 10 minutes before the desk clerk was to go home and the desk is unmanned until 6 am.  It was a relief to get it, and I only hope the rental company will accept it. 

We are off to Oxford today, and cannot check in until 2 PM so had to kill some time in London before we  caught the train.  We decided to take a walk in Hyde Park which is only 5 minutes away.  As a side note, the underground runs near the border of Kennsington and Hyde park and when it is quiet at night we can hear the trains going when we are in bed.  Back to Hyde Park.  I still have not mastered the maps and road system in London.  I keep thinking I know what I am doing, but I still manage to end up somewhere other than what I intended.  I don't know if its all the maps fault, it could be the person reading it, but there are streets, lanes etc not on the map.  Also a lot of corners still have no signage, I guess you just have to know where you are going.  And lastly some streets keep changing names and all the names are not always on the map.  In Oxford today we started up a street, it shortly changed its name for one block and then had a third name.  Not the easiest to find your way around.  Where was I?  Oh yes we went for a walk in Hyde Park to speakers corner and ended up somewhere else.  It was either go back and almost start again or go somewhere else.  So we took option "B".  We walked over to the Albert Memorial and Albert Hall.  When the Queen decided to make a memorial to her husband she didn't fool around.  It is spectacular.  After walking around and taking pictures we decided to get a coffee and just sit and enjoy the monument and the hall.

Albert Memorial




 

There are 4 statues, one at each corner which are marked with the continents of Asia, Africa, Europe, and America.  There is a golden statue of Albert and a lot of guilding and very ornate.








Albert Memorial

After coffee it was time to continue on to Kensington palace.  There wasn't time to go in and spend the time needed to enjoy it so instead we just wandered around the outside and enjoyed the gardens.  The only garden we saw that was something to write home about was the sunken gardens out back between the palace and the "round pond" 

Kensington Palace sunken garden



From there back across Kensington Park and Hyde Park to our hotel where we picked up our bags and headed for Paddington station.  One of the good things about our hotel was its location,  It is only about a 10 minute walk to Paddington Train station.  I didn't think we could catch the 12:20 train but lo and behold we got to the station before 12, got our tickets and were waiting for boarding instructions.  We wanted the 12:20 train because it was about an hour to Oxford.  Some of the trains are almost 2 hours and a bunch with stops in between.  It was a quick trip to Oxford and once there we had a lunch snack, bought a map and headed out.  It is just over 2 km from the train station to Keble College so it wasn't a long walk, but the roads and sidewalks are sure rough and hard on the little wheels of our suitcase.
Over to Linda
My turn.  I am just back from the laundrette.  Not the most efficient laundry machines but sure better than doing it all by hand. 

Roy mentioned the gardens out back at Kennsington Palace.  Wow, can he understate.  They were fabulous.  The flowers were gorgeous, with the water feature in the centre.  The hedge around it opened every few feet so you could enjoy it.  I'd go for that out back at home.

I enjoyed London and would go back in a heart beat.  There is so much to see and do.  the underground gets you everywhere - great.  I saw a pregnant gal in the underground with a pin on her shirt that said "Baby on board" "underground" and thought that would be a cute think for Rose.  I asked the young man at our corner store about it and he very gently explained that it was for pregnant ladies (he didn't say I didn't need it but I got the message).  I explained that my daughter-in-law was expecting.  I could almost see him sigh with relief.  Anyway we checked at Paddington this morning and they are given to pregnant women so that people know to give them a seat on the train.  Very nice.  I felt old and Roy must have too as people were constantly offering us their seats.  Old, wrinklies are well treated.

Sitting at this desk, in this chair, in Keble College, I feel that I should write something scholarly.  Wish Pete was here, I think he would enjoy it.  Anyway, I will have to be content with trying to spell the words correctly.

Oxford is made up of 18 different colleges.  the town is one big university.  Book stores and libraries everywhere.  The college founders wanted to create a High Church Seminary but today students study a wide range of subjects.  They have 435 under grads and 226 graduate students.

We went for a walk after we checked in and visited the outside of a good many churches and colleges as well as the Bodeliean Library.  World's oldest library with over 3 million books.  It receives a copy of each new book printed.  We are going on a two hour walking tour tomorrow that includes the library.  I hope they have a criteria.  Wouldn't it be awful if they included Harlequin Romances.  They must pump half a million a year of those things.

The best pub dinner yet.  Best dinner yet for me.  The White Horse serves a delicious salad with crab, smoked salmon and prawns.  Yum.  They had pictures of Morse and Lewis and Lewis and Hathaway on the wall.  They must have been drinking there at some time.  We could have taken the "Morse" tour if we'd been here Saturday, Monday or Friday.  alas we are not.
                                                A portion of Keble College

Our room is pretty much what you'd expect.  A bed that doesn't look too comfy, a big desk with a comfortable chair, an arm chair, lots of cupboard and a closet that has a rail for hangers about 7 feet off the floor.  You must need to be very tall to study here.

All for now
God Bless