Drawings

Istanbul flashback (just kidding).

Looking for something to draw while my MacBook updates my iPad and iPhone operating systems.

Drawing in class again.

Live The Dream & Back To Reality

Just a few more Oxford photos before we move on to other adventures.

In the middle of downtown Oxford is the Covered Market which officially opened November 1, 1774. There have been changes over the years, but still a popular place for eating and shopping.

A butcher shop in the Covered Market. 

As you enter, a poster advertises some of the shops inside. My favorites are Nothing and Next to Nothing.

One of the Covered Market entrances retains an original wall and window. 

Merton College, Robin's old stomping grounds where she studied a couple of summer semesters in recent years. 

Merton College tower. Merton is one of the three oldest colleges in Oxford.

Walking past Merton College.

Across the street from Merton College, this frieze represents an ancient symbol of maternal love and sacrifice that appears several times in Shakespeare plays and in many other works of literature. The mother pelican pricks her breast to give moisture to her young. 

Merton College campus. 

A cobblestone street outside the Merton College walls.

A game store on the edge of downtown. The sign on the entrance says "Live the dream." The exit door, as you leave, says "Back to reality." Those signs would also work well posted at the Oxford city limits. 

I Am In The Oxford Vein Today

When you can't think of a good blog title, just paraphrase a line from Shakespeare. It makes you feel so much smarter. 

Speaking of the man from Stratford (William Shakespeare), I didn't see a single pub sign claiming that he had caroused there, or written a play there (like the one I saw in Windsor). That confirms my impression that Oxford is too cool for that kind of misinformation. In fact, I thought I saw an old sign on the original Town Wall that had a picture of Shakespeare on it and said "Call security if you see this man." It was dark, so maybe I'm wrong. I wouldn't want to spread any misinformation.

Even though we're back in Uxbridge, I've been gathering up some of the Oxford photos that I haven't posted yet.

Maybe "left here" means "overnight" or "more than 8 hours."

These statues are of various emperors. They surround a building that's used for a ceremony to matriculate new Oxford students.

If you study hard, you too can apply for those vacant emperor jobs.

The Ivory Towers of Academia. They're actually here.

Maria and Robin ponder the academia of the ivory towers. 

An old house on Cornmarket Street.

Lots of reminders in town that Oxford has been around for a while.

Cornmarket street again.

Not your average small town.

Entering the Bodleian Library courtyard.

In the Bodleian courtyard.

Also in the Bodleian courtyard is a bronze statue of William Herbert, oldest son of Mary Sidney Herbert, Countess of Pembroke. He and his brother Philip were two of the wealthiest and most powerful men in England, after the king (King James). He might not have gone in The Turf or The Bear where the lower class types were drinking, but I'm guessing he knew where they were.