Kickin Along the Cobblestones

we miss you!

2009-06-21T11:15:00.000-07:00

While we all sleep in, eat American food, and enjoy air conditioning, Molly, Laura, Walter and James continue their adventures in France. Here's a pic for them, from our 24+ hour trip home.

We miss you guys!

Sorrento--another vacation from the vacation

2009-06-21T00:09:00.000-07:00

Sorrento was our second vacation from the vacation, and it was a blast, although (to me, at least) it had somewhat less charm and lots less culture than Venice. I'll always remember two things about it, though: the lemon trees (which were truly amazing) . . . and the mosquitoes. Unfortunately, the two seemed to go together. We slept a lot, waded in the Meditteranean, ate local seafood at a seaside restaurant, and wandered around in a lemon and orange grove.

lemonness

(oceanness)

(local seafood)

(and Molly and I planned a party! chocolate, lemons, wine lemoncello, Barnyard, dancing)

Rome

2009-06-20T21:22:00.000-07:00

If I start writing about Rome here, I don't think I'd be able to stop, so instead here are pictures from our 4 days there.

wandering around Rome at night. favorite.

(this is the Victor Emmanuelle Monument. it has eternal flames with soldiers guarding them and all that good stuff.)

and by day. verrry hot and humid.

the Colosseum. 2000 years old, held 50,000 Romans (usually including the Emperor), 1 death (on average) every 5 minutes during the games. how does one interact with place like this?

a sea-horse in the Trevi Fountain

the next few are from the Vatican Museum. yep, that's Raphael's School of Athens.

I loved the hall of maps. why don't we have gorgeous maps like this nowdays?

this was on the ceiling somewhere, and we found it amusing--infidels being confounded by angels holding Aquinas's Summa Theologica

this next group is from St. Peter's. (to give some perspective, that blackish canopy-thing in the 3rd picture is actually a 7-story altar-cover. the place was astronomical.)

Michelangelo's Pieta is inside, behind bullet-proof glass. We were happily surprised that most famous art, etc wasn't protected nearly this severely.
Kathryn, Mere, Ty and I climbed 550+ stairs like these

to get to this:

(the halfway point of the climb. there was even a little cafe and--against all odds--a free water closet)

and, of course, the Roman Forum. We even saw the spot where Mark Antony said Friends, Romans, Countrymen . . .

(I had enough postage to mail two students postcards from Rome: Arwen's and Emmy's.
Kate, Zack, Gib, Ellie, Amelia, and Jack--yours are sent from Bath, England though they're all from Rome!)

San Gimignano

2009-06-20T20:44:00.000-07:00

Italy didn't have much free wifi (or water fountains. or water closets. or parks.) so I will be putting up overdo pictures from San Gimignano, Rome, Sorrento, and Bath soonishly. After 28 hours of travel, some of us are home (some of us are still in France). I have never been happier to be in America, where toilets are free and I actually know how to flush them.

If you ever go to Florence, I recommend taking a day to side-trip to San Gimignano. Something that surprised me about the three major Italian cities we toured is their utter lack of grass and growing plants. One begins to long for a bit of green--and so we were thrilled to find huge fields, olive groves, and vineyards (AND the world's best gelato!) in the medieval town of San Gimignano.

(this gelato is from the shop that won the 2008-2009 world gelato competition. It tasted like it, too.)

random peoples and places

2009-06-16T04:40:00.000-07:00

I have dearly bought internet time that I am unwilling to squander . . . so here is a random splat of pictures from our trip =)

2009-06-16T04:18:00.000-07:00

We rode the train from Rome to Sorrento last night. After traveling by boat, subway, metro, tube, taxi, bus, plane, and foot (sometimes most of the above in a day!) our professional opinion is that trains are the most comfy and enjoyable mode of travel =)

Attempting to catch y'all up to where we are, here's a post from Florence, courtesy of our hotel's wifi =).

Here are Rachel, Laura, Mere, and Molly in front of the Duomo, Florence's HUGE pink and green cathedral. That big dome on the right is Brunelleschi's Dome!
Brunelleschi's dome crowns the Duomo (cathedral) in the middle of Florence and is considered by some to be the starting point of the Renaissance.

Dome-building was one of the many arts lost since the Classical period, and revived in the Renaissance.
After studying domes built by the Greeks and Romans (yesterday we saw a little hole cut by Brunelleschi in the Pantheon's dome), Brunelleschi won an architectural competition held in Florence. (Ty took this pic standing ON the dome, so you can see a bit of the curve of the dome's outside and the city faaaaaaar below.)

His prize? To spend most of the rest of his life craning his neck up at the dome he was designing/building/painting.

We all climbed Brunelleschi's Dome—all 463 dark, squished, claustrophobic steps! Here are Laura, I, and the gorgeous and somewhat petrifying view below.

When in Rome...

2009-06-13T08:48:00.000-07:00

Be sure to bring water! (and suncreen, a camera, and 8 friends!)

We (Walter, James, Molly, Laura and I) are hanging out at an Internet Cafe, waiting for the rest of the gang to emerge from the Sistine Chapel. We started out touring St. Peters Basilica, (I dont know where the apostrophes are on Italian keyboards!), in two groups. You would have laughed to see us...Ty put Rick Steves audio guide of the Basilica on 2 iPods, and with a splitter, we were able to have four people listen to each iPod. So for about an hour, Walter, Molly, Laura and I shuffled side-by-side, an earbud for each of us, around the building, looking at the ceiling, floors, walls, the famous Pieta (Michaelangelo), etc. After the tour, we waited for Ty, Jenny, M & K to climb the dome (they saw us from the top), made dinner plans, then split up again and went through the museum leading into the Sistine Chapel. Yes, amazing.

Then emerging hot and sweaty, we each got 3 scoops of gelato, and checked our email, and now I need to dash off to meet the group again.

R

Florence

2009-06-12T04:31:00.000-07:00

We're getting ready to leave Florence and head to Rome! We haven't been posting because our hotel doesn't have internet, but we've been having a great time here. On our first day here, we covered both the Academy (which has the David) and the Uffizi gallery (including Boticelli, da Vinci, and Rembrandt). Yesterday we daytripped to a gorgeous Tuscan hill town, and today we climbed Brunelleschi's dome--463 steps to a knee-weakening view far over the rooftops of all Florence.

Students, I have been sending you postcards as I promised!! I mailed off a whole package that I'd accumulated from Venice. So, Elyse, Liz, Christian, Maggie, Kirsten, and Rebecca--look for postcards from me soon--all from different areas in the UK. The rest of you will be getting postcards from Italy--woohoo!

more pictures from Venice

2009-06-09T00:55:00.000-07:00

The more time we spend in Venice, the more we LOVE it.

Yesterday we went to Saint Mark's Basilica (supposedly Mark--the gospel writer--is buried there). Everyone went inside, and then Ty, Molly, and I climbed the tower, while everyone else opted for the other great cultural experience of Venice: purse shopping!
These are THE horses!!! Remember these, students?

There were, in fact, many cultural things to appreciate about Venice. Here is Ty appreciating the coffee, and Kathryn and Mere appreciating Ty's appreciation of coffee.

Walter appreciated the hats (and the sunglasses).
I attempted to appreciate a whole sea bass (teeth, bones, guts, tail, fins, scales included) served up to me at the canal-side Venetian restaurant.

We all also loved hanging out, talking, laughing and eating Venetian pizza together at Rosa Rossa.

Viva la Venice!

Ciao
--JRR

Alexander, Venice, Napoleon, Venice. Everyone Has Owned These Horses!

2009-06-08T16:46:00.001-07:00

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Atop Saint Mark's

2009-06-08T16:41:00.001-07:00

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NEWS FLASH

2009-06-08T15:42:00.000-07:00

Interview with the Americans in Venezia UNEDITED
(except for most of walterś comments)

1.) How many blisters do you have?

Ty: 5.
Rachel: "IIII don't have any."
Mere: "None. My flipflops are incredible."
Jenny: "Not many. But the bottoms of my feet are permanently black."
Rachel: "But my Chaco tan is working on building."
Laura: "Ummm.... ow?"

2.) How many times have you fallen down today?

James: "2."
Rachel: "I stitched up his face with superglue from the supermarket from the 2nd fall."
Walter: "Laura is keeping tabs. At least one in every major city, but I've lost count."

3.) Fav Memoire:

James: No Comment (humming the Chariots of Fire theme.)
Walter: The Coastal Walk.
Rachel: The one where Joey took us in the evening. Coastal walk in St. Andrews in the Evening."
Ty: Meeting Mr. Merkle at 12:00 without knowing that was the plan - by evolution."
Kathryn: "Probably finding GLORIOUS [with a tilt of the nose] Fraser plaid at the tartan mill right outside the castle."
Jenny: "Recognizing the Narnia lamp post before anyone told us it was the one."
Mere: "I don't have any memories. My brain is shot."
Laura: "My memory is stored under 9 different 4gb memory cards."

4.) Are my feet in your cheese picture?

Laura: "I hope not."

5.) Fav quote of the trip:

Kathryn: "Human dollars" [i.e. U.S. currency. snob.]
James: "Slainte. That's how you spell it!"
Jenny: "Americans are born on Pro-Plus [anti-depressent]." - Jonathon the ice cream man in Oxford.
Me: "I loooof you." - random Scotsman in Edinburgh.
Rachel: "What's on the American menu?" - Rachel.
Walter: "These ARE the public bathrooms." - Ty.
Mere + James: sausage!

6.) What's your favorite thing you've eaten so far?
-"A true Miltenberger question," - Walter.

Kathryn: "Shandy from Brewmasters!"
Laura: "DRINK."
Mere: "Digestives."
Laura: "Tea, tea, tea, tea, tea."
Mere: "Sausage."
Walter: "Fish n chips from the U.K.'s best."
Rachel: "those dry crusty cracker things we had last night at 1.30 in the morning."
Laura: "whatever that food was that we stuffed in our mouth at 2.00 last morning."
Kathryn: "the passion fruit gelato."
Jenny: "I'm waiting for my favorite food to appear."
Laura: "Whatever it was we ate in Great Hall of Hogwarts."
James: "Oh my gosh."
Molly: me too, prolly.
James: pizza.
Jenny: a sandwhich with fresh basil and cheese.
Mere: food food food food food.
[Rachel is practising eating tomatoes.]
Also, the 5 pound Mark & Spencer cooperative picnic feast near Trafalgar Square but greener in London.
All: blueberry cheese!!!!!!!! [screaming.]

7.) How many rabbits have you seen in Scotland?

Laura: "enough to make a giant's stew."
Me: "wallace & grommet's werebunny come true!"
Jenny: "enough to make the queen's cloak."

8.) What's your fav purchase?

Laura: original art in Venice.
Walter: the white hat and the blue sunglasses. Now, people will call me 'The Man in the White Hat and the Blue Sunglasses.'
Me: walter's hat. also, my fetching blue plaid beret."
jenny: original art in venice and...my designer gown from Scotland.
Me: Jenny's designer gown.
Jenny: my sister's birthday present. also...
Me: the Italian bag I haven't bought yet.
Jenny: the Italian bag I will buy tomorrow.
KJF: my dress.
Me: my ticket to Pocketbooks. Also, every taxi.
James: my sunglasses that age me five years.
Ty: gelato.
Jenny: my tickets to the Shakespeare play.

8.) WHAT is your favorite combination of gelato flavors?

Jenny: peach - all the way, right away, with a good attitude every day.
James: tuttifrutti - wait, no, tuttobosco, a frrruity flavor.
Rachel: chocolate.
Ty: lemon.
Laura: you think I can pronounce that?
Walter: strawberry and peach - MIXED. stirred, not shaken.

9.) How many scoops of gelato have you had today?

Walter: as a group?

...

...

51.

Jenny: "which is why we are still giggling at this hour."

10.) How many icecream men have told you that you sound like the queen?

All: sigh.
Laura: JUST one - - -.

11.) What is the best advice that you would give to someone going on this trip?

Jenny: cultivate a love for granola bars.
Rachel: bring 15 granola bars per person per day.
Walter: bring a roller suitcase.
Jenny: sleep.
Ty: yeah.
Laura: the way to cure jetlag is to sleep at least 6 hours immediately after you get off the plane.
Ty: walk it off.
Me: bring sunglasses that you LOVE.

12.) Do you know how to flush the toilet?

James: It depends in which country you're in.
Laura: flush? who flushes?
Mere: one of the funniest experiences was when a really well-dressed business man went into the women's and came busting out of the stalls.
... irrelevent.
James: I've done that before. It's really embarrassing.
Laura: buttons, light switches, what will they come up with next?
Ty: how many ways did you think there were to flush a toilet?

15.) Should you dip your feet in the Venetian Canal?

Jenny: only until a man tells you that rats and AIDS swim in it.
Me: I'm in trouble.
Laura: only in the moonlight. that way it's magical, and you can't tell what's in it.

16.) Which queue do you want to join?

Jenny: the one where you -might- escape a full-body pat-down.
Rachel: the one that has the most people.
KJF: priority.
Ty: I prefer to start my own queue.
James: if you see a queue, get in it.
Laura: I'm British now, I love queues.
Jenny: I must be British.

17.) What's your favorite foreign expression?

KJF: everything's going pear-shaped!
Jenny: POSH.
Laura: Cheers. It basically means whatever you want it to mean.
Walter: Prego. No one knows all the meanings of it.
Jenny: slainte!
Jenny: it's just spittin now.
KJF: I like ta!
TY: Cafe latte.
KJF: grazie!
Me: whatever I know how to say.
KJF: I like ciao!

18.) How many feet can you walk without taking a picture?

KJF: the world may never know.
Laura: it's never been documented.
Rachel: "where's meredith?"

19.) In what sitch can you not say prego/cheers/ciao/grazie?

Laura: when you want to offend someone.
Jenny: when a scary Italian dude is in your face.
Me: I haven't been in one yet.

20.) Where do you feel most comfortable using your Scottish accent?

Mere: in Italy.

21.) Who has the best Scottish accent?

Jenny: MOLLY.
Rachel: Gordon.

22.) Do you know what the exchange rate is?

Laura: uh-oh.
Walter: who's money are we talking about here?
Walter: "Sorry Dad - Molly."

23.) How many pictures do you have of you sleeping?

Rachel: ask James.

24.) How many times have you agitated the local officers?

Walter: gleefully raises a hand.

25.) How many modes of transportation can you take in one day?

Everything except apparition, obviously.

A Venice Date

2009-06-08T15:35:00.001-07:00

Jenny and I went on a date tonight.

We arrived early so we walked around picturesque Venice taking advantage of photo ops as much as possible:

This is the restaurant we ate at (our table was on the canal, right by the second boat):

The second course (adventurous, but good!):

This is the view from the restaurant (a little earlier in the evening):

View with us included:

After dinner, sunset over Venice:

Saint Mark's Square at night:

pictures!

2009-06-08T09:47:00.000-07:00

This is for Hannah - just .0003% of the Venician glass beads on that particular square of shops!

Our very first Italian gelato experience! ...we are quite learned now. :)

on one of the many bridges. wish you were here. (then I wouldnt have such a hard time picking out a present for you!)

St. Markś Square. Meet back here at four o´clock.

Sunglasses...james´s are by far the coolest :) (those are Jennyś, not mine).
Today. Making sure itś as good as it was yesterday. (There are actually better/worse places to get it...fortunately the shop on the corner of the block weŕe staying has the best)
this is kinda what we look like today - wandering around looking at shops, eating...um..very very healthy food.
Getting lunch. Its often hard to decide what to get!

Since I'm on a roll, have access to a camera cord, and am waiting for the girls to return from their shopping, here are some more pics from Scotland. St. Andrews has been one of my favorite places so far!

Need i say anything? :)
Chariots of Fire beach.
with Joe and Anna and little Dan in St. Andrews. A definite huge highlight of this holiday!
sooooooo many shells! they broke as you walked along, because they were everywhere and you couldnt avoid them!

Swinging over the Scottish Seas. Very fun.
Ok...Iĺl try to limit myself to just one more pic...this is in Edinburgh..
This is what we did while everyone else was exploring great castles and cathedrals. And it was chilly in Edinburgh, so standing by the dryer was comforting!
Energy drinks. :)

The girls are home from shopping...Jenny and ty are off on their date, so we are going to have a powow and figure out what we want to do for our last evening in Venice!

:) r

2009-06-08T09:02:00.000-07:00

Venice is basically our vacation from vacation. Yesterday we slept in, ate and kicked along the cobblestones near the canals. We all liked it so much we decided to do exactly the same thing today!

Being here is like strolling through a story book. Not only because of the vibrant colors and picturesque scenes - but because while breezing through exotic lands such as Venice you become overpowered by the realization of millions of stories all rushing past you. The tiny Italian boy skipping through a flock of pidgeons -the weathered-looking man who would be thrilled to sell at least a bit of his merchandise - the old, suited proffesor who happened to be walking past at two in the morning and tried to help us with directions two nights ago. I'm excited to be discovering more and more of Godś creativity as I peak into a few of the billions and billions of stories that God has poured into his ultimate story.

On a different note: We didn´t think finding a bathroom in Europe could get any more exciting, turns out, it can. I wish I would have saved my ADMISSON TICKET so I could prove it to everyone.

more...

2009-06-08T02:51:00.000-07:00

It seems like each day of our trip is better than the day before, and sometimes I think ¨how much more rad can this get?¨ and it gets radder. Venice has been, as some people would say, ammaaaaayzing!
Hannah asked me to get some Venecian beads for her - and I thought that´d be easy enough. But there are MILLIONS of bead vendors and gazbillions of beads! I took some pics to show you, but I dont have a what--cha-ma-call it to transfer them here.

We´ve done so much stuff that I don't know what to highlight! I got dad a cool present... (But if i tell you, it wont be a surprise)...and am looking for neat things for the other family members.

We are off to see St. Marks now! :)

r

Edinburgh

2009-06-08T00:18:00.000-07:00

We are having such a blast in Venice! Like Molly says, it feels just like we stepped into a picture or movie. Ty calls it our "vacation from the vacation." Yesterday, after wandering around the city for hours (and having gelato about four times over the course of the afternoon), we ate dinner all together at a pizzaria. Then we got wine and cheese and moved the talking and laughing (till 2 am!) to our hotel.

We are trying to take advantage of the hotel's great wifi and our relaxed schedule to get caught up on blogging . . . so here is a taste of Edinburgh, Scotland.

all the girls with the Royal Mile in the background

Edinburgh Castle! It has been a fortress since King Mynyddog and his band took refuge there in 600 AD
Some of us went inside the castle . . .

. . .and saw things like Macbeth and Duncan (along with many other Scottish monarchs) painted on the wall (look--Macbeth is holding a dagger!) . . .

. . . and the room in which Mary Queen of Scots gave birth to James VI (who was also James I of England). actually, to be precise, this is Mary's bedroom--James was born in a small wooden closet adjoining. amazing to think about it. The enormous painting on the right wall is a portrait of James when he was older.

view from both sides of the castle (we had great weather--even SUN most of the time, which we hear, is uncommon for Scotland)

Here are Laura and Meredith standing below one of the other facades of the castle. Supposedly this castle has never been taken in war.

then we had dinner with our Scottish friend, Gordon. He wanted to go out for Chinese, so we had Scottish Chinese food, which is actually does taste quite a bit different than American Chinese food. Makes me wonder what Chinese Chinese food would taste like???

there was also fantastic shopping and fashion in Edinburgh. Frazier family, we saw loads of "Fraser" stuff--and I bought a dress from "House of Fraser" :D. Rachel (sister) I almost got you these shoes, but decided on something a little less rambunctious :).

Tech'd Out Guy In Saint Mark's, No Idea What He Was Doing

2009-06-07T16:03:00.001-07:00

Posted with LifeCast

Relax.

2009-06-07T15:58:00.001-07:00

In Venice. Here's how:

Sleep in.
Don't have an agenda.
Have gelato 4 times.
Walk (mostly) aimlessly, shopping in all interesting shops.
See Saint Mark's in the evening, when the sun lights the front.
Have pizza with friends in a great restaurant.
Have snacks and blog together back at the hotel.

Repeat?

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today in Venice

2009-06-07T15:23:00.000-07:00

six flavors of gelato
broke the hotel key
smelled leather
successfully wiped the magnetic strip from my Visa card with hand sanitizer
can't wait to crack a local crustacean!

:) KjF

Scottish Sky and Scottish Sea

2009-06-07T10:44:00.001-07:00

Last Thursday, Ty and I joined the rest of our group in Saint Andrews. It was great to get to spend some time with Joe and Anna, the Miltenbergers' cousins. Joe lead all of us on a breathtaking hike along the Scottish coast.

Joe and Ty walked ahead and discussed deep philosophical matters as they walked :) . . .

. . . while Molly and I followed, watching for the renown fairy appearances . . .

. . . and Laura, Walter, James, Kathryn, and Mere followed, taking pictures every second or so :) or stopping for some extracurriculur fun. There were even swings! Can you imagine--swinging over the greenest greennesses under the Scottish sky, next to the sea?!

My favorite thing about Scotland is that it combines the two things I love most about the outdoors: endless fields of greenness and the ocean.

(we passed through some uber-picturesque villages)

(part of the group next to St. Fillan's cave. Fillan was an early missionary who preached to the people of St. Andrews and lived in this cave.)

(and finally, a phot of the lovely photographer!)

We're in Venice

2009-06-07T04:39:00.000-07:00

. . . and it is even more beautiful and enchanting than all the pictures and stories report. We had an uproariously difficult time finding our hotel last night. Molly has agreed to tell the full story, so all I will says is that it included 4 or 5 hours, about 10 miles (of walking, mind you, and sans food, water, or water closets--as they call them here),transversing over literally almost all of Venice by moonlight, getting stampeded by drunken Italians attempting to board the vaporetto (water taxi), the help of a cigar-puffing, round-spectacled, blue-suited, poofy-gray-haired, Italian proffesor, and nine bedraggled Americans with their puffy line of rolly bags clattering along behind. Needless to say, we were ridiculously conspicuous and highly amusing to all the suave, Prada-clad Italians and other well-dressed tourists who laughed at us behind their cosmopolitans as we tottered past.

--j for all

All The World's A Stage

2009-06-04T15:08:00.000-07:00

As You Like It is a perfect play to see at the Shakespeare's Globe Theater in London. First of all, I never realized til now how many references the play makes to the Globe itself. “All the World's a Stage” has a lot more meaning when the actor is speaking from a stage in a place called a “globe.” Throughout the play, the actors were bringing the world into their story and thereby bringing us, the audience, into their story as well because we made up that “world.” The actors ran on and off the stage through the “yard” where we were standing, uniting us with them by making the play take place among us. The costumes were Shakespearean and the theater is as much like the Globe as they could make it. While we were there, it felt like we could have been in the 16th century. At the end, the actors did a really fun disco-style dance while we applauded. It seemed to me to bridge the gap between the time we had spent in Arden Forest and the 21st century just outside the doors. Everything about the production was done thoughtfully and well. The cast was huge and every single actor was top-notch. Even the lesser parts like Phoebe and the shepherd boy were played by impressive actors who really delivered the lines naturally, as if they spoke Shakespearean language natively. Yet, I was able to understand much more depth, in some ways, from seeing the play performed than from simply reading it. I'd say I understood more of the immediate sense of the words by seeing the staging, especially how the words go with actions and movements of the people. But, I am going to read the play again now to study the Love-theme and Rosalind's training of Orlando and the rustics. Although the character of Jacques was played incredibly well, I did not pick up very much of the connection (contrast, really) between his Melancholy and the other characters' various expressions of Love. I am certain that he is meant to be a foil for the lovers. Hopefully when I read it again (and again and again) then I'll be able to remember seeing the play and put more of the pieces together. That's really the best part, I'd say. Seeing a Shakespeare play in the Globe was a fantastic experience all alone. Reading the play many times over in the future and remembering this production will be sublime.

Oxford--a few days late

2009-06-04T14:27:00.000-07:00

(This is Jenny in Ty's account :D)

(We finally got internet at our hotel! It is so fun hearing from you all half a world away and knowing that you get to see a taste of the amazing adventures we are having--thanks for keeping up with us and commenting. We all love hearing from you! We spent all of today in St. Andrews, including a breathtaking 4-mile hike along the rural coastland near St. Andrews in Scotland, and it was the most insanely beautiful outdoors adventure I've ever had. More on that later. Here's a belated post on Oxford--my favorite place so far.)

Oxford has some of the most beautiful places I have ever seen, and I think today it might have become one of my favorite places in the world. Oxford was home (and inspiration) to many literary giants such as Lewis Carroll, J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, W.H. Auden, and Evelyn Waugh. We spent all of today exploring Oxford, and it was easy to see how the cultural majesty combined with magical whimsy, dreaminess, and beauty (overgrown graveyards, soaring spires, sun-speckled cloisters, green river, and, yes—Harry Potter hall, along with a ridiculous amount of what the English call “posh” architecture) inspired all this creativity. It is not surprising that Oxford was the birthplace of both modern mythology and so-called modern fairytales/fantasy. We stopped at the lampost that inspired Lewis's Narnia series, visited the spot where Carroll first saw “Alice,” made a pilgrimage to Tolkien's grave, and ate dinner at The Eagle and Child. We also toured Oxford University, ate lunch at Christ Church College (thanks to Ben Merkle!)--the dining room hall of the Harry Potter movies, met with the director of the graduate program of economics at Oxford, bought ice cream from a guy named Jonathan who told us Americans seem born on happy drugs, and trespassed (accidentally) by climbing a huge green mound overlooking the city (it included a gated grave shaft with dark stairs leading deep into the hillside. Unfortunately, the gate was locked.)

1.Oxford University

(Christ Church College from the outside)

(inside of CCC. This part is usually off-limits to tourists, but Ben Merkle snuck us in, and we even got to eat lunch there!)

3.This is St. Mary's, a cathedral inside Oxford University. Inside the church, a list of martyrs who have been tried in St. Mary's hangs near the entrance. I didn't count, but I think there are about 30-40 names on the list, including Archibishop Cranmer and Bishops Ridley and Latimer. After their trial, Latimer and Ridley were burnt at the stake in 1555, but Cranmer recanted. In 1556, however, Cranmer took back his recantation. He was again brought to trial at St. Mary's and chained to the pillar (in the last picture below—you can see the iron ring to which he was chained). This time, Cranmer refused to recant. He was burnt in the same place as Latimer and Ridley, famously holding the hand that signed the recantation in the fire first.

4.The lamp post that inspired the Narnia series—and below, the door opposite the lamp post, out of which Lewis stepped one fateful snowy night.

5.Ty met with the Director of the Economic program, and I got to tag along. Unfortunately (but appropriately), the Social Science departments are housed in the one and only ugly building of Oxford. These steps are pretty sweet though.

6.Yes, we did eat at the Eagle and Child! Students of mine, if you are reading (and I hope you are--I know Amelia and Maggie are--hi girls! Thanks for your comments!) the Eagle and Child is the pub where Lewis and Tolkien met regularly with a few other friends to discuss the books they were writing—including Narnia, and the Lord of the Rings. Do any of you remember the name their writing group was called? We got to see the fireplace where Tolkien and Lewis met for the first time, and the room they always used. Tolkien's signature (below) is hanging over the mantle, signed under a toast written for The Eagle and Child.

Scotland

2009-06-03T11:13:00.001-07:00

We are in Scotland for the next three days. We took a night train from London last night, and I am posting on Ty's iPhone from a random wifi hotspot in Edinburgh. It's amazing here! We will try to get caught up on blogging once we get back to our hotel tonight. Rachel, I got you a shirt here :)

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Orange Shirts in London

2009-06-03T11:05:00.001-07:00

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Walter and James and Tower Bridge

2009-06-03T11:01:00.001-07:00

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Stage At Shakespeare's Globe

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Somebody's Getting A Postcard

2009-06-03T10:56:00.003-07:00

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Jenny, Molly, Parliament.

2009-06-03T10:56:00.001-07:00

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Old Roommates

2009-06-03T10:55:00.003-07:00

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Christ Church College Gardens And Hall

2009-06-03T10:55:00.001-07:00

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Saint Paul's. We Went To Church Here!

2009-06-03T10:54:00.001-07:00

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Wednesday, we think

2009-06-03T09:53:00.001-07:00

Last night we ran like mad to catch an 11:50 train Edinburough. We made it! Mere & Rachel shared a sleeper car, as did Jenny and Ty, but the rest of us chose to sit. We arrived at 7:30, ate breakfast, left Jenny and Ty (they are staying in Edinburough tonight) ran to the next train to get to St. Andrews, rode it through the Scottish countryside, hopped on a taxi, and arrived at the Bernard's.

Joey Bernard took us on a tour to some castle ruins along the coast, and then to the beach. The very beach where Chariots of Fire was filmed! And we took LOTS of pictures. (Mostly of us running and leaping in the air!).

Then we walked around town, got lost, found the Bernards, and now we're back at their house, eating Digestives (crackers), crisps (chips), tea, brie, and oatcakes.

--James and Rachel for all of us

oxford

2009-06-02T02:20:00.001-07:00

While you all were asleep, we were strolling around Oxford...which was smaller than London and we liked it a lot more. We spent most of the day looking at a lot of the different colleges (and took SOO many pictures - and this is only day 3!).

God did a rad miracle for us...Ty had emailed the Merkles, telling them we were going to Oxford, but he wasn't able to check his email again. Mr. Merkle had emailed back, saying he'd meet us at the Christ Church front gate at noon. Magically, in all of Oxford, we happened to be at the gate at noon, looking for the three-adventure-filled-Laura-James-and-Walter, who'd gone on ahead, and there was Mr. Merkle! (yes, Miltenbergers, we found the three- they were exactly where they were suppose to be!). Mr. Merkle got us into Christ Church [college] for free (it's usually 12 dollars!) (because he's a 'member of the house') and showed us all sorts of things. Then he snuck us, 3-4 people at a time, cameras hidden in our backpacks, into the Great Hall (a 'cafeteria') (where Harry Potter scenes were filmed) to eat lunch! Mr. Merkle took us to more places (C.S. Lewis lamp post, burn spot of Cranmer, Ridley, etc,) while Ty had a really good meeting with the Economics people. (so he and Jenny might get to live here some day!!)

Then we wandered around looking at more stuff, ate dinner at 'The Eagle and Child' where C.S. Lewis and Tolkein met a lot, climbed a huge hill, while meredith stayed on the ground and took pics of us jumping...and then we got in trouble for being on the hill!!...and we did other rad things I can't remember, and then piled back on the train and rode exhausted home to London.

We're still exhausted and loopy, but we're off now to see Westminster castle, etc, and then watch 'As you like it' at the Globe, then ride a sleeper train to Scotland!

:) R

The UK Dead

2009-06-01T15:03:00.000-07:00

The parts of England we have seen so far has been full of death. In the past three days, we've seen more mummified corpses, graveyards, martyr memorials, tombs, et al, than I have probably seen in all the rest of my life. And walking through the British Museum or Wolvercote Cemetery, I couldn't stop thinking about resurrection. What will happen to those 4000-year-old brittle bones curled on Pompeii sand, imprisoned in Windexed plexiglass under bright lights, when the resurrection happens? Like the dry bones from the valley in Ezekial, will they suddenly leap to life, pop through the glass, and skip down the marble stairs, joined perhaps by the mummies from the Africa Room, still unravelling their gravecloths as they run? I imagine the British Museum at the resurrection turning into something resembling the White Witch's castle after Aslan breathed on all the stone figures. Or, in C.S. Lewis's words (from his wife's tombstone):

Here the whole world (stars, water, air,
And field, and forest, as they were
Reflected in a single mind)
Like cast off clothes was left behind
In ashes, yet with hope that she,
Re-born from holy poverty,
In lenten lands, hereafter may
Resume them on her Easter day.

1. Greek tomb from about 380 BC.

2. This is an Egyptian man's bones, preserved by the hot, dry desert sand and dating c. 3800 BC.

3. This is the post where Cranmer refused to recant a second time in the Cathedral of the Virgin Mary (I think that's its name) on the Oxford campus. Below is a picture of Kathryn and me standing next to the cross in the road that marks the spot where Latimer, Ridley, and Cranmer were burned for their faith.

4. Tolkien's grave and graveyard.

1st two days in London

2009-05-31T14:10:00.001-07:00

Here's a fly-by commentary of our first two days in London featuring Jenny and Rachel, who are sacrificing sleep and blistered-feet-soaking time to bring you this picture tour of our fabulous past two days.

1. Delayed in the Charlotte airport (for five hours--our plane "broke.")

2. After dumping our stuff at Hyde Park Radnor Hotel, we walked to Hyde Park. beautiful.

3. Later that evening we wandered into Harrod's, capitol of London fashion snobbery. We managed to tear Rachel away before she bought a $4000 purple purse for Krissy. As you can see, by this point, some of our smiles had been caffienated.

4. Buckingham Palace. Elizabeth wasn't home. (But Molly's favorite-fuzzy-head-men were there)

5. This morning we attended Holy Communion and Mattins at St. Paul's Cathedral. AMAaaaaaaayZING!

6. Then we crossed the Millennium Bridge over the chocolate Thames River

7. On the opposite side, we bought tickets to Shakespeare's As You Like It for Tuesday night!!! Then on to the Tate modern art museum. (Featuring Picasso, Monet, and other people of great importance.)

8. (Here's a pic from the "Tube" - which we have thoroughly enjoyed. "Hurry! You can feel the air! It's coming!" - Ty)
9. British Museum: Cyrus's scroll allowing the Israelites to return to Canaan (read about it in Daniel).

10. More British Museum.

Sunday...

2009-05-31T08:50:00.000-07:00

We dragged ourselves out of bed at 6:30 and raced, via the Tube, to worship at St. Paul's Cathedral. Molly and Laura call it the "Feed the Birds" church. We fed the birds...Mary Poppins style. Then we talked across the Millenium Bridge to Tate Modern Museum (which James would loooove). Next was the British Museum. (I'm having issues writing this post because keyboards here are slightly different. So are coins, driving on roads, transportation in general, coffee, etc etc.) Ruth, Mr. Schlect will be proud - we saw the Black Obelisk, and those big 5-leg Griffin-door-way-gaurds. And now we have to run, because we're meeting Ty and Jenny at the "Square."

:) R

Planes, Trains and Taxis

2009-05-30T16:48:00.000-07:00

We're fitting in with the locals already. :) It seems like every time we're looking around for someone to give us directions, someone pops up and asks US for directions!

Planes, trains and taxis. Check check check. Tiny street side hamburger shack on the cobblestones. Check. Heard about a million genuine English accents. Check. Done "the most un-touristy thing we possibly could have done" (-Ian, guitar, The Pocketbooks). Check. Details: A local music show in an almost impossible to find little pub. Shandy. Interview by Molly. Very much fun. Check.

Cheers! Love, Laura

Yes. This Is An Actual Picture From London!

2009-05-30T15:06:00.001-07:00

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Delayed In Charlotte

2009-05-29T18:48:00.001-07:00

Rachel, Kathryn, Meredith, Jenny and I are waking for a new plane to come from Philidelphia for us. Apparently our original plane is broken.

....

They just announced that the new plane will arrive at 10:38. Then we can be on our way again! At least this gave Jenny the opportunity to finish her report cards!

Really, our biggest worry is how to find the Miltenbergers in Lpndon tomorrow. Hopefully they will get our messages, or see this post, and go out on their own since now they'll most likely arrive several hours before us.

Anyway, we'll still be in London tomorrow!

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LONG Line Of Planes Waiting To Take Off From Phoenix.

2009-05-29T17:25:00.001-07:00

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Phoenix Airport...(Jenny And Ty)

2009-05-29T08:41:00.001-07:00

And we're off! Bags all weigh in at less than 32 pound. Check. Passports. Check. Starbucks. Check! Our next flight will take us to Charlotte, where we'll meet Rachel, Kathryn and Meredith. And then, London!

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Preparing For Europe, By Blogging ;-)

2009-05-27T20:42:00.001-07:00

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Itinerary!

2009-05-27T20:17:00.000-07:00

Welcome to the Euroblog of the nine travelers! We hope this blog will be enlightening, enheartening, and most of all, entertaining to family, students, and friends alike. Thanks for stopping by.

We are all flying out from our respective little towns this Friday morning. Some of us are congregating on the East coast and braving the trans-At red-eye together, fully armed with sleeping pills and good music. We will ALL arrive in London Saturday morning, take one first bleary-eyed peek at the British cityscape, and crash in the nearest coffeeshop. From there, our travels go like this:

May 30-June 2: London (with a side trip to Oxford)
June 2: overnight train travel to Edinburgh
June 3-6: Edinburgh (with a side trip to St. Andrews)
June 6: fly from Edinburgh to Bologna, Italy, and then take the train to Venice. oh yes.
June 6-9: Venice
June 9-12: Florence
June 12-15: Rome
June 15-16: Sorrento, land of lemons
June 17: Rome
June 18: London
June 19: Fly home

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And a test from Rachel. :)

2009-05-25T22:55:00.001-07:00

Testing, Testing . . .