First thing this morning, I went to hang up my poster. I checked the dimension a hundred times and everything said "1 meter by 2 meters". This is outrageously huge. But, I'm such a rule follower that I followed the rules. Wow. When I turned the corner to look at the posters, mine is about twice the size as everyone elses. Yay for looking ridiculous! Actually, I just started laughing, hung up my poster, and went to catch the bus for Blenheim Palace. (After picking up a science walking tour pamphlet Brian Sutton had left for me at the Porter's Lodge, I'm going to do that tomorrow.) Then, I boarded the bus to Blenheim. The giant double decker bus is the way to go. From the high vantage point, it looks as if the bus is going to run down all the cyclists and peds . . . uh, I mean you can see the countryside. No, it is funny how dangerous it looks from the top. I wouldn't actually want them to get hurt, I just want them to stay on the sidewalk. So, walking through the front gates of Blenheim reminded me of when Elizabeth goes to visit Pemberley. She remarks, "do you think we'll make it to the house before dark?" Here's the walk to Blenheim.
And here is a little bit closer but more than several minutes later of walking.
And yet again more minutes of walking, and I'm still far away from the frontish gate (which was actually the second of four gates in.
But it was worth the walk because look at these digs!!!
This is the palatial estate of the Dukes of Marlborough. It was built in the 1700s or something for John Churchill who took the French to town and won the battle of Blenheim. As a reward, Queen Anne gave him $500,000 and a whole lotta land, told him to build Blenheim and call himself the Duke of Marlborough.
I think they did a good job. On the ceiling of the main portico in this picture, are these paintings of eyes. No idea what they're for, but they're big and so they're keeping with the theme of the day.
We couldn't take pictures inside, but just imagine the most over the top outrageous and beautiful palace and you're pretty close to the truth. Okay here's a picture of the opening hall/foyer!
And here's the amazing library with a giant organ at the far end.
Winston Churchill was actually born in this house (his uncle was the Duke at the time) and they had a great exhibit on this great man's life including showing the room where he was born (cool) and a frame containing curly golden locks of his hair (gross). After wandering through about six or seven palace rooms, I wandered out back to the gardens for some lunch. Here's the view,
Then I went for a walk around the water gardens, clearly we're not thinking on a big enough scale for our own backyard.
And then I went for a walk around the grounds. They have two huge lakes on the property (2100 acres) that have swans swimming through the cool waters and sheep on the nearby hillsides. No wonder people went for walks back in those days. Wowzahs.
I won't bore you with all the pictures of the trees I took, but I will bore you with another picture of the palace from the direction of the road that runs between the rose gardens and the secret garden.
Uh, did I mention this is a big place? Oh mom, I think you might appreciate this one. These are the bathrooms. I give it an "A". No worries, the bathroom was empty at the time . . . everything was just so pretty.
Here's another one of the lakes on the property with a beautiful bridge.
And here is what is nationally recognized as "The finest view in all England". It really is amazing. I don't think this picture comes close to capturing the sweeping and epic landscape.
And here I am.
Here's their photography of the view in which you can actually see that Blenheim is in the frame back there somewhere.
When I got back to Oxford (Blenheim is just a short 8 miles outside of town), I ran to Blackwell's to buy Jeff his birthday present. Happy Birthday! Jeff, I bought you a hardcover 50th anniversary edition of "The Fellowship of the Ring" and took it over a few blocks to this place.
This is the Eagle and Child Pub in Oxford. This is where JRR Tolkien, CS Lewis, and others had a literary club called the Inklings. Your copy of this book has cruised through The Rabbit Room where they met and probably discussed Frodo and Sam's journey to Mordor. Here's a picture of your book in the pub while I enjoy a lemonade . . . which is unwittingly 7-Up over here. Hello! LEMONADE.
I'll ship it to you when I get back. Here's the room I was sitting in, it's a great little pub with lots of small adjoining rooms. The Rabbit Room was further in the back.
Then I had my poster session where I actually didn't explain my poster once because I spent the first part talking to another guy about his work, then the guy next to me was blocking my poster, then I was talking to a post-doc who actually interviewed with Roland and then STRONGLY suggested that I use my post-doc as an opportunity to learn an entirely new skill and to not do crystallography. There was a LOT of sense in what he said. It gives me some more things to think about. At dinner, I sat down across from a grad student in the dining hall and it came out that she's not at the conference, she's a student at Oxford. She was actually Susan Lea's graduate student. What are the odds people? Really. Really. Anyway, we chatted about Susan's lab for a while. She loves it and thinks Susan is wonderful. And I'm the "Oh, you're the American post-doc!" That gave me more things to think about. I hate thinking. I really do. Anyway, tonight, I went to see Midsummer's Night Dream in Headington Hill Park. It was a promenade style which meant we saw each scene in a different part of the park. It was incredible. Fantastic acting and absolutely hilarious. It was wonderful. Here's a picture of last year's cast of Titiana, Oberon, and Puck in front. Um, let's just say last year's Titiana was probably a better casting. This year's fairy queen was well, a faerie queen . . . yeah. Pretty ugly dude. The rest of the cast was excellent, and yes, both king and queen were on stilts.
See, it was a big day all around. Tomorrow is my last day in Oxford, then I have Friday and Saturday. Then two days, and then off to Peru. This is nuts.
First thing this morning, I went to hang up my poster. I checked the dimension a hundred times and everything said "1 meter by 2 meters". This is outrageously huge. But, I'm such a rule follower that I followed the rules. Wow. When I turned the corner to look at the posters, mine is about twice the size as everyone elses. Yay for looking ridiculous! Actually, I just started laughing, hung up my poster, and went to catch the bus for Blenheim Palace. (After picking up a science walking tour pamphlet Brian Sutton had left for me at the Porter's Lodge, I'm going to do that tomorrow.) Then, I boarded the bus to Blenheim. The giant double decker bus is the way to go. From the high vantage point, it looks as if the bus is going to run down all the cyclists and peds . . . uh, I mean you can see the countryside. No, it is funny how dangerous it looks from the top. I wouldn't actually want them to get hurt, I just want them to stay on the sidewalk. So, walking through the front gates of Blenheim reminded me of when Elizabeth goes to visit Pemberley. She remarks, "do you think we'll make it to the house before dark?" Here's the walk to Blenheim. 
And here is a little bit closer but more than several minutes later of walking. 
And yet again more minutes of walking, and I'm still far away from the frontish gate (which was actually the second of four gates in. 
But it was worth the walk because look at these digs!!! 
This is the palatial estate of the Dukes of Marlborough. It was built in the 1700s or something for John Churchill who took the French to town and won the battle of Blenheim. As a reward, Queen Anne gave him $500,000 and a whole lotta land, told him to build Blenheim and call himself the Duke of Marlborough. 
I think they did a good job. On the ceiling of the main portico in this picture, are these paintings of eyes. No idea what they're for, but they're big and so they're keeping with the theme of the day. 
We couldn't take pictures inside, but just imagine the most over the top outrageous and beautiful palace and you're pretty close to the truth. Okay here's a picture of the opening hall/foyer! 
And here's the amazing library with a giant organ at the far end. 
Winston Churchill was actually born in this house (his uncle was the Duke at the time) and they had a great exhibit on this great man's life including showing the room where he was born (cool) and a frame containing curly golden locks of his hair (gross). After wandering through about six or seven palace rooms, I wandered out back to the gardens for some lunch. Here's the view, 
Then I went for a walk around the water gardens, clearly we're not thinking on a big enough scale for our own backyard. 
And then I went for a walk around the grounds. They have two huge lakes on the property (2100 acres) that have swans swimming through the cool waters and sheep on the nearby hillsides. No wonder people went for walks back in those days. Wowzahs. 
I won't bore you with all the pictures of the trees I took, but I will bore you with another picture of the palace from the direction of the road that runs between the rose gardens and the secret garden. 
Uh, did I mention this is a big place? Oh mom, I think you might appreciate this one. These are the bathrooms. I give it an "A". No worries, the bathroom was empty at the time . . . everything was just so pretty. 
Here's another one of the lakes on the property with a beautiful bridge. 
And here is what is nationally recognized as "The finest view in all England". It really is amazing. I don't think this picture comes close to capturing the sweeping and epic landscape. 
And here I am. 
Here's their photography of the view in which you can actually see that Blenheim is in the frame back there somewhere. 
When I got back to Oxford (Blenheim is just a short 8 miles outside of town), I ran to Blackwell's to buy Jeff his birthday present. Happy Birthday! Jeff, I bought you a hardcover 50th anniversary edition of "The Fellowship of the Ring" and took it over a few blocks to this place. 
This is the Eagle and Child Pub in Oxford. This is where JRR Tolkien, CS Lewis, and others had a literary club called the Inklings. Your copy of this book has cruised through The Rabbit Room where they met and probably discussed Frodo and Sam's journey to Mordor. Here's a picture of your book in the pub while I enjoy a lemonade . . . which is unwittingly 7-Up over here. Hello! LEMONADE. 
I'll ship it to you when I get back. Here's the room I was sitting in, it's a great little pub with lots of small adjoining rooms. The Rabbit Room was further in the back. 
Then I had my poster session where I actually didn't explain my poster once because I spent the first part talking to another guy about his work, then the guy next to me was blocking my poster, then I was talking to a post-doc who actually interviewed with Roland and then STRONGLY suggested that I use my post-doc as an opportunity to learn an entirely new skill and to not do crystallography. There was a LOT of sense in what he said. It gives me some more things to think about. At dinner, I sat down across from a grad student in the dining hall and it came out that she's not at the conference, she's a student at Oxford. She was actually Susan Lea's graduate student. What are the odds people? Really. Really. Anyway, we chatted about Susan's lab for a while. She loves it and thinks Susan is wonderful. And I'm the "Oh, you're the American post-doc!" That gave me more things to think about. I hate thinking. I really do. Anyway, tonight, I went to see Midsummer's Night Dream in Headington Hill Park. It was a promenade style which meant we saw each scene in a different part of the park. It was incredible. Fantastic acting and absolutely hilarious. It was wonderful. Here's a picture of last year's cast of Titiana, Oberon, and Puck in front. Um, let's just say last year's Titiana was probably a better casting. This year's fairy queen was well, a faerie queen . . . yeah. Pretty ugly dude. The rest of the cast was excellent, and yes, both king and queen were on stilts. 
See, it was a big day all around. Tomorrow is my last day in Oxford, then I have Friday and Saturday. Then two days, and then off to Peru. This is nuts.
2 comments:
Same thing happened to my poster for my conference. I reversed the width and height making for a poster that really stood out...and yet no one asked me about anything on it.
Looks like you are having a blast!
That library is incredible. I need to re-think my library plans to incorporate that design. Keep up the good blogging. It has been fun to follow your trip.
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