Seoxfordinia - on to Oxford

After my week in Seattle, I moved on to Oxford, where I met up with my good friend Alex. She's smart and stuff. S-M-R-T.

We went on a walk around town on my first full day there (I was a little sore because the air mattress had deflated under me the night before and I'd slept all contorted on my elbow on a cement floor). A lot of the traditional gargoyles have had spouts added to them, I guess to save the walls or something. This poor lion has the funniest expression on his face... surprise at being whacked over the head and having a tube shoved in it's mouth. Brilliant... Anyway, did you know that gargoyles are called that because they're actually drainage spouts for when it rains, and they "gargle" as the water shoots out of their mouths? Just a little trivia for ye thar.

We did a quick-and-dirty tour of London, where I discovered that, yes. They do drive on the wrong side of the road. I discovered this by almost being run over by about fourteen taxis, two motorcycles, and a verious sundry assortment of cars, carraiges, and bikes. Well, there's never a dull moment, I suppose.

And, humps. Heh, heh.

Like I said, quick-and-dirty tour of London. First is the London Eye ($25 to go, forget it!), and then the Parliament buildings. It's funny, the ones in Ottawa are so similar... but I was going to try to go to London without making a point of seeing Big Ben (big freaking deal, it's a big clock). I'm a total failure.

While I was in England, I had a chance to meet up with my friend Simon, who came to Montreal on an exchange while we were in University. He's from a small town waaaay outside all the cities, and he's great. I usurped his hospitality for three days, tromping around in wellies, eating good food, drinking Pimm's, and having myself a wholesome English country experience. It. Was. Great.

This is Simon, Alex, and Max, on our drunken walk through the countryside. We met some cows, we stomped in some mud, and climbed some fences. I fell in love on this trip, with Max. Max is a dog, and he is the best damn dog ever. Friendly, energetic, but cuddly and calm at the same time. I was really upset to leave Max, because I know I'll see Simon and Alex again, but I don't know about Max.

(How do you not love this guy??)

Anyway, that's the skinny on my trip to England. I'll save you from the "artsy" pictures I took, mostly because I'm fascinated by support structures and big bolts and things like that. Maybe if i get my act together (riiiiiight) I'll put them up on Flickr.