Ireland and Oxford

I had three days in Dublin that I filled up with historical and literary tours.  The Irish love to tell their history to whoever will listen, especially about how awful the British are.  They are also justifiably proud of their four Nobel winners in literature and numerous other famous writers.  I did go on a literary pub crawl - without ever having a drink, of course.  And the tour of James Joyce's Dublin was quite interesting.  The most surprising thing I learned ... St. Patrick's cathedral in Dublin is not Catholic.

St. Patrick's Cathedral

James Joyce

Dublin Castle

After three days I took the train to Cork to meet up with my Backroads group.  I don't know how I can summarize five days of bike riding in southwestern Ireland.  The weather was as good as it ever gets here - in the 60's with no rain and occasional sun.  One day when it was 67 and sunny our innkeeper said that was all they could handle.  Any warmer and they would wilt.  Although we got lucky, this is the Emerald Island because it normally rains all the time.  And it was emerald and beautiful, gently rolling countryside through villages and along the coast that they call the Wild Atlantic Way.  The tour buses all take the same route so we just went on other, similar roads to see stunning views with more sheep than cars.









From Cork I flew to London where I met my Oxford group.  Oxford is amazing.  We are at Merton College which is the oldest of the thirty eight colleges in Oxford, dating back to the thirteenth century.  Two other colleges claim to be older but our guide assured us that they are mistaken.  The college is built around quads and I am staying in Mob Quad, on of the oldest.





Every morning we have lectures from 9 to noon and most afternoon tours are available - around Oxford, around Merton, and to other colleges and libraries.  Even with the everpresent tourists, Oxford is like walking through a medieval wonderland.  One night I went to a production of Macbeth at the Oxford Castle and another night to a wonderful Beethoven piano concert.

My class is titled The Rise and Fall of the British Empire, but the professor has an incredibly encyclopedic knowledge of all history and he insists on giving context and tying things together.  So it is more like The History of the World from the point of view of England.  The professor has written over one hundred history books - a positively impossible thing to do - although I will say that his books are unreadable; he needs an editor.  Fortunately, he is a brilliant lecturer.  Some of my classmates are annoyed that he strays off topic but he has kept my attention the whole time.

My room in Mob Quad is up a narrow staircase.  It has a very large sitting room with a small, separate bedroom.











The last photo is of the bench in one of the quads where I sit outside and read since it is just too nice to be inside.

Each of the colleges has a main gate with a "porter," and most are closed to visitors.  It feels special every time I walk into Merton College, especially when I use my key fob to enter one of the private, hidden doors.



Tomorrow morning I leave Oxford for London (and theater) and while I always like going to London, it will be bittersweet leaving my little home at Merton College.