first impressions

england is wet and old. in that order.

oxford is impressively pretty, and you can't help but be awed by its history. on our first night we had a guiness at the pub where c.s. lewis and j.r.r. tolkien met every week for 20 years to discuss who would be responsible for more 35 year old virgins and our gracious host, erin's brother matthew, lives around the corner from the site of some historic scientific discoveries (boyle's law, cells). so ya it's been a pretty nerdtastic trip so far.

a couple of days ago we did a day-trip (e.g., get out of matthew's hair for a while so he a) could study and thus not flunk out and b) doesn't kill us) to a small town called woodstock, about half an hour north of oxford. we couldn't find any brown acid, so instead we headed to blenheim palace, which claims to be the grandest of all the private homes in england and happens to be the birthplace of winston churchill (his mother was visiting and old winston came out early... in the cloakroom). grand it was. the grounds were expansive and dotted with sheep (erin: SHEEP!). apparently there was a train that would take you to a hedge maze (all on the property) but it was pretty chilly and the shining scared me enough for me to know not to play in hedge mazes in the cold. anyway, the much warmer tours of the palace were pretty good, given by some very stuffy british ladies. after the tour we walked to a supertall 300 year old monument in the middle of a field of sheep. erin chased the sheep. i stepped in poop. was the day a success? depends on whom you ask.

on our search for an "authentic" pub (whatever that means) we came across some pheasants hanging in the doorway of a butcher/bakery. the pies in the window all looked very good. all of them were meaty. now, normally i don't eat meat, but food is an important enough part of the traveling experience (says the fatty) that i'm willing to bend the rules for interesting local dishes. the pies were that:
- steak and kidney
- pork and apple
- wild game (pheasant, rabbit, venison, wild boar)

they were good, if a bit gelatinous. but i'm looking forward to the food in... um, everywhere else.
thanks again, matthew, who put us up and put up with us for so long.