England with Matildabishop, Day 3

[thrihyrne]

Yes, we all went. I watched the flurry of activity as the Bishopettes got ready and went off to school, and had a brief chat with Mr. Bishop before he, too, went out for the day. When Matt came back, we packed up small bags with cameras, water, tissues (for me), lunch and snacks and… Harry and Ron. I had Harry in my bag; Ron, being more delicate, stayed with Matt. I was Chief Navigator while she drove and we did quite well. The weather was at last stereotypically English, and it was my first day to really need my coat, but it didn't rain. The cathedral is quite impressive, and it's another of the ones where I sang Choral Evensong 16 years ago. The oddest memories came back, including the realization that it was at this particular cathedral where I left my favorite pair of shoes. We changed into black shoes before each service, and at that point I still had my school shoes from my year in Australia in 1986; they were perfectly worn in. Well, I left them in the changing room. I remember I even contacted them back in the day, but they weren't returned. Matt suggested I check the lost and found. :P

So. Matt and I enjoyed looking around the cathedral and— taking surreptitious photos of the boys around the establishment. *maniacal giggle* It was so much fun! We almost got caught; don't really know what they would have said, but anyway, it was great fun. I'm not sure when they'll be posted on Matt's journal, but I'll let you all know. It was hilarious.

After that we sat and ate our lunch on a bench at the bustling High Street, where Matt was thrilled to find about 6 charity shops, a fave pasttime of hers. I didn't mind, and, in fact, I found my gift to myself to take back as a souvenier: a 50p plaid wool scarf! I'd wanted to get a scarf, and I loved the colors, and it was 50p! We wandered around there and then took a stroll by the river; it was so picturesque and I shared with her my new knowledge about not killing swans because they 'belong' to the Queen, trivia Callum had told me. There were some students sculling on the river, including a lovely ginger in one boat; if only I'd had my camera ready. We took some more photos of Harry and Ron having a bit of a snog on a park bench facing the river, discreetly covering them up when curious people walked by while I tried not to die laughing. I only wish that I'd taken a photo of Matt whilst taking the photos. :(

Acting once again as Chief Navigator, we drove back to Brum and had a domestic evening. I spent some time with the 5 yo, who at first overwhelmed me and I thought would make me a bit crazy. She's often very endearing, though, so I spent some time playing a couple of games and then we sat and just drew and colored. I now have a handprint butterfly she drew which I'll bring back with me and put above my desk. The Bishops were wiped out, as was I, really, so it was an early night.

I arranged my Oxford trip: the coach from here to Oxford, the place where I'm staying (which I now find out could be quite skanky, but oh well; it's done now and I have that local bus route printed out from the coach station), and the coach from Oxford to Heathrow airport Monday morning. ::sniffles::

Today's adventure with Matt will include a tour of the Cadbury factory here in Bournville, Cadbury World, then going into Birmingham to see some of the places where Tolkien frequented as a youth before he went off to Oxford. Not sure about the rest of the day; I do need to print out a map of central Oxford before I have to go searching for internet cafes for any kind of internet access.

I'll leave you with a droll comment made by the 10 yo Bishopette this morning as she and I were standing in the kitchen talking about salt. She'd left part of a bagel sprinkled with white stuff which I thought I'd finish off, thinking it was sugar. No, it was salt. So I opted out. But her precocious comment was:

"How can such a tiny crystal bring such joy to people?"

I will definitely miss being around friends when I get to Oxford. But that's not today. ;)