yep, that's snow

we woke up this morning to a delightful sight...lots and lots of snow! it was a very pretty and some of the students in the house were up bright and early to enjoy every minute of it, especially the ones from california.

the backyard

being the devoted church-goers that we are, jackie and i biked through the snow to church and then shopped around oxford a bit. we had lunch at the lamb & flag pub, and are now back at the vines [which is the name of the house they live in] to enjoy a relaxing afternoon. clint is off in lincoln doing some pioneer research and finding out things no one else in the world knows. you know, typical stuff. this is what makes him the most educated person i know.

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our day in london

jackie and i took the train to london yesterday [i love being able to say that] for a little sight seeing. the weather was beautiful, especially for england.

one of our first stops was the british library. now, i'm not usually very fond of museum-type attractions, but this was really cool. there is a room filled with old books and writings on different subjects, all kept under glass. they have some of jane austen's writings [these are originals mind you] and the codex sinaitcius, which is the world's oldest complete christian bible. i feel like i should say that was my favorite, but my true favorite was in the music section. they had one area dedicated to the beatles, with papers where they had scribbled down lyrics for songs. and my very, very favorite...handel's messiah. in the flesh. i think i teared up a bit when i first saw it. they also had headphones on the wall so you could listen to the pieces you were looking at, so i had a grand time listening to the hallelujah chorus as i looked at the music.

next i made a quick detour to hogwarts...unfortunately there was no photography allowed and i was sworn to secrecy, so i can't tell you what it was like. you'll have to read the books. but i was able to take a photo on my way in.

platform 9 3/4 @ kings cross

in the evening we ended up at westminster abbey just in time for the evensong [which you can attend for free]. the service was centered around martin luther king jr. and his message of hope, since it was the 40th anniversary of his assassination. we didn't get a chance to see william wilberforce's grave, but i liked the experience of attending a service there.

our last surprise find of the day came at the train station. we headed back to paddington to grab some dinner and wait for our train back to oxford, and all of a sudden a live band started playing! not just a few random musicians, a full 20-ish piece band playing some good tunes. it was mostly older folks, but it was great entertainment as we were waiting.

and that was our day in london.

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adventures in amsterdam

jackie and i are back in oxford after our little adventure to amsterdam. it is a pretty cool city. we walked around a lot [which did make our feet quite tired] and discovered that amsterdam has one of the largest bicycle populations on the planet. i really liked exploring all the little streets and canals, they were super charming.

a few of the highlights were the anne frank house, where anne's family and four other jews hid from the nazi's; the keukenhof park [basically a botanical garden created just for tulips]; and the really amazing waffle i had for dessert one day. it was covered in white chocolate and nuts, warmed up, and had a dollop of creme on top. simply divine. we also had a short, unintentional tour of the red light district...but that's a story for another day.

an amsterdam canal

tulips for sale

jackie and i @ keukenhof park

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