Today is our one-year anniversary and we couldn't have asked for a better way to celebrate it. We spent a good six hours today walking around and seeing the sights of Oxford, followed by an excellent dinner.
It wasn't that cold today, but it began to mist before too long, the type of traditional UK rain I remember well from Edinburgh. It doesn't soak you like Oregon rain, but it does get your hair curly and your camera lens wet! And we both thought it wouldn't rain, so I didn't bring along my brand-new raincoat from REI. But despite the iffy weather, we enjoyed ourselves thoroughly and took over 150 photos each. Can't wait to share them with everyone! We've been preparing our photo albums and they should be ready to publish as soon as we get our internet.
One major highlight of our sightseeing was the University Church of St. Mary the Virgin, a beautiful old church complete with a tower with insanely steep spiral stairs and great views of the city. Outside the church was a little garden with gravestones from the 1600s and 1700s, which had tables set up right on top of them for a cafe. I wonder how the six-foot-under inhabitants would feel about that - personally, I would be honored! :)
The church also featured fun gargoyles and a great bit of history - it's where, in 1555, Archbishop Thomas Cranmer was put on trial and condemned to burn at the stake for his Protestant views under "Bloody" Queen Mary (who was attempting to reverse the Reformation in England). Two of his bishop friends suffered the same fate, and there's a large memorial to the "Three Martyrs" in one of the main streets of Oxford.
Another great sight was Christ Church College (the most famous college in Oxford, which has produced something like 16 prime ministers). It was gorgeous on the outside and surrounded by a lush green meadow. Unfortunately the inside was closed to visitors today, so we'll have to save that for another day. We also saw Merton College, another college that looks just like an Oxford college should look. Its "chapel" is more like a cathedral.
Lunch was at a French patisserie called Bonjour Rapide, where David had a wonderful felafel baguette that he said took him right back to Paris. I had a really good croissant with a bottle of guava nectar. We followed this with tea from Starbucks, which was just next door. The American institution was a nice dose of familiarity. In UK Starbucks, there is a different price depending on whether you want to "eat in" or "take away." The former is a bit more expensive, but includes a real mug or plate.
We also did a bit of shopping - I got some coconut stuff for the bath at the Body Shop and we got a decent deal on bath towels and dinner plates from Marks & Spencers. Until then, we had been drying off with David's yellow microfiber auto towels - quite a comedic sight - and eating off a paper towel on top of a tray made of a cardboard box. Poor us, right? ;)
We followed all this with a good two-hour evening siesta, then got up and went out for our anniversary dinner. We went to the Eagle and Child pub, which was just perfect for such a celebratory occasion. The pub goes back to 1650 and was frequented by C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien in the 1940s (who called it "The Bird and Baby"). On the wall is a framed piece of paper they and their literary drinking buddies all signed, saying they had drunk to the health of the landlord.
Not only is it a great historical spot for a C.S. Lewis fan such as myself, the Eagle and Child has great food. I had visited once with my friend Lizzie in 2002 and couldn't wait to come back. David had his first traditional English fish and chips, which came with the skin on and a side of mushy peas. He liked it a lot, sans the skin and mushy peas. He also enjoyed a couple pints of English bitter ales. I had the same ham and pineapple melt I had three years ago, and it was tasty as ever.
But the main highlight was dessert - actually one of the best we've ever had anywhere. It was called Chocolate Puddle Pudding, and was a steaming heap of rich, moist chocolate cake covered in chocolate sauce. De-lish. Thankfully, it wasn't as huge as it might be back in the States, or we would have had serious trouble walking home.