O Happy Day!

Wednesday marked our second weekly excursion. The destination(s) this week? Jane Austen’s house in Chawton and burial place in Winchester!

Chawton is the post-card perfect little town, with winding narrow streets, thatched-roof cottages, and rolling green farmlands. (I nearly died upon seeing some of the cottages. On a scale of 1 to quaint, they put the Martha’s Vineyard vacation homes to shame!)

Chawton Cottages: when can I move in?

We started the excursion at the Chawton Library at Jane Austen’s brother’s former house. While the house was grand, my favorite part was seeing—and sitting at!—the original dining room table, where Jane would’ve eaten while visiting her brother. (Judging by the looks on some of the Austenist’s faces, this was a really emotional moment for them. I can’t wait for that overwhelming sense of connection when we visit Stratford-Upon-Avon in 2 weeks!!!!!)

On the way to Jane Austen’s house, I fed a horse!!! There were two black and one black horses standing at the edge of the farm grazing in the shade. (I didn’t realize just how MASSIVE horses are! I mean, I barely came up to their noses!!!) I just happened to be munching on an apple & decided to feed it to the brown horse we later dubbed ‘Duke.’ In a whirlwind of panic, excitement, and muted squeals, I held my half-eaten apple on my overly-flattened hand for fear of my fingers being munched with the apple(!), when Duke walked over, sniffed my hand, and gobbled the apple in one bite!

:D

It was one of those moments when you realize the ferocious beauty of nature and how destructively violent, yet gentle and calm, she can be. (I now have a new understanding of riding accidents you read about in (Victorian) novels…Duke could’ve easily squished me with one hoof!) Yet as I stroked the baby-soft skin on his nose (snout?), I was dumbfounded at how gentle he was. It really was a priceless moment. So thank you, Duke, for not squishing me in exchange for the apple. I hope you enjoyed it. I know I did!

Duke!

 Jane Austen’s house followed my date with Duke, and while the house was again beautiful, I was disappointed at how few of Jane Austen’s pieces they had at the museum. They did have her quilt, lace collar, and cross-stitch sampler (all of which she’d made!), in addition to her writing table, shawl, and riding jacket. In the kitchen, they’d set up “Write-with-a-Quill!” and “Make-a-Lavender-Sachet-like-Jane-Austen!” craft stations for the kids, both of which I enjoyed thoroughly. (More so with the lavender. Good thing they had a donation jar to help with replenishing the supplies…)

Me in front of Jane Austen's House

I thoroughly enjoyed the morning at Chawton, but the highlight of the day was to come in Winchester!

Jane is buried at Winchester Cathedral, but once we saw her grave, many of us were simply too tired to tour the rest of the church. I’d grabbed a Winchester map from a tourist center en route to the cathedral, so we left in pursuit of King Arthur’s round table!

The table was on the other end of the small town of Winchester, which reminds me a lot of Cantebury. It’s a very quaint medieval village, and it was decorated for the Olympic Torch Relay with banners, streamers, and makeshift statues strewn about the city.

The Round Table was SO NEAT! First of all, there are super old castle ruins beneath the medieval Great Hall, which means they’re probably at least 1,000 years old. The Round Table was suspended beneath a stained glass window & was more grand than The HUGE table was divided into 25 “slices,” each labeled with the name of a knight. King Arthur’s place at the table was adorned with an elaborate of him sitting in what looked something like the coronation chair.

Epic is the only word I can think to describe the table. Not only was the table regal, but the stories of the men who once sat around that table—whether they actually were the Arthurian knights we know today—were truly epic, war-torn, and least of all, awe-inspiring.

Once I’d gotten over the initial shock at seeing the table, I turned around and BAM! On the opposite wall of the Great Hall were A) Middle Earth-worthy metal doors and B) a HUGE family tree (?) of the English Monarchs since the mid 1200’s. It covered the ENTIRE wall. And was intricately painted, with scrolls, leaves, calligraphy, etc. 

I got chills. Big Time. (As they say in England, “It was really excellent!”) Definitely one of my favorite things I’ve seen here so far.

We had about 30 minutes before we were supposed to meet at the bus, so we made our way down to a SUPER cute patisserie/café I’d seen on the way in. On the way, we ran into the Olympic torch! We’d seen it being lit the previous morning in Oxford, and while the newly-lit torch had just taken off from Winchester, we got to hold and take pictures with the previous runner! (Apparently he’s a famous American athlete of some sort, but none of us could place him.) It was really neat being THAT close to a part of global history. London 2012, baby! (Did I mention that I ran part of the Olympic Marathon course during the 10K?!)

No caption needed.

The café was really relaxing after a day of so much sight-seeing. Our waitress reminded me SO much of my female celebrity crush, Carrie Mulligan, from P&P, An Education, Never Let Me Go, etc. She was so nice, and talking with her made me want to get a pixie haircut right then and there, but I abstained. I ordered an espresso (my first ever!) and some gourmet truffles they had in the window, and while she forgot to charge/give me the truffles in our haste to make the bus, the espresso hit the spot. It was much bitter than I’d anticipated, but the flavor of the bean was perfect. Truth be told, I ended up taking half of the espresso shot like a real shot, but I definitely can’t wait til my next espresso!

As can be expected, I was WIRED for about 20 minutes on the bus until I dozed off on the ride home.

The Patisserie where we enjoyed coffee and desserts

To top off the perfect sightseeing day with friends, we all met to go out to Open Mic Night at the Cape of Good Hope, one of the bars near Magdalen College. It has a really good atmosphere and a heated terrace out back, not to mention a trap door behind the bar that leads to the beer fridge!)

It was one of the most enjoyable nights I’ve had in months, and after the stress of trying to develop a routine at Oxford, it was nice just to relax and have fun with new friends. (There’s a group of Clemson business students here as an alternative to the Academic Program, and while I was more than skeptical of the group at first—I was afraid and resentful that they’d tarnish our Duckenfield experience—I was completely wrong. While they do tend to be a bit more sociable than some of the other students in the Academic Program, its nice to have a bit of the Clemson family here at Oxford, especially with so many people from Michigan around! ;) (Just kidding, I love my 20-something new Michigan friends!)

Like I said, it was the first truly amazing night in a really long time.

It’s good to be back.

At the Cape of Good Hope Garden Terrace