Day 21, July 4 ,2024: Coventry, England to Oxford, England

Happy Independence Day! 

Up and had a nice breakfast with John. We’ve had such a nice visit in Coventry and feel refreshed and ready to walk less than two minutes to the train station and hop on a train to Oxford, England.

We arrived in Oxford and it was about a 15 minute walk from the train station to the lovely apartment that we would be staying in , that was very close to the central city. We met our Airbnb host, Mark, and their two very large, beautiful dogs, and then headed off for our Oxford adventure.

Oxford, as you may know, is the place that the first university in England, started over 1000 years ago. Our time here is going to be spent exploring the various colleges and old buildings of the university.

We quickly found a nice place to have a sandwiches for lunch, and got ready to start the first of our walking tours of Oxford. There was some chaos in trying to figure out which of the small groups we would be part of, but in the end, it was perfect that our group leader, Chris, happened to originally be from San Diego. He had been in Oxford for over 10 years, and was now a British citizen .He came here to do his doctorate in Sanskrit, and stayed around for more education and is currently studying law.

Chris was a particularly gifted storyteller and told the dramatic stories of the long ago background for the Oxford University colleges. He was also able to bring some real personal experiences as a student of the university. 

This area was used extensively to film some of the Harry Potter movies, and he was able to show us some places that the filming had happened. He also used some of the information that we all knew about English schools that we learned from the Harry Potter books and films in telling us about the various colleges at Oxford .

One of the fun things we learned is Oxford was the town where the author went by the name of Lewis Carol developed and wrote the Alice in Wonderland stories. Our tour ended underneath the very tree that Lewis Carol sat under while the girl who was named Alice was up in the tree doing her math homework. Lewis Carol was a tutor and he made up the stories about Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. He used the nearby beautiful large meadow as inspiration. They explored the meadow together.

Besides Lewis Carroll , JR Tolkien also got his inspiration for the Hobbit  here on the campus of Oxford University. And we got to see where CS Lewis got the inspiration for his Narnia books. We saw the lamppost that is prominently featured in the first book: The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe . We also saw a lion on a door as well as a couple of other creatures that are in the books. It was fun to think about what a rich time, with these amazing authors were working on these classic books.

The tour was amazing and we were excited to be already soaking in some of the wonderful history of this fine place.

We walked around for a bit and found that there was a concert tonight in Christ Church  cathedral. The concert was called Songs for a Summer Evening and featured a soprano and very talented pianist. In this beautiful cathedral setting, we were in the second row and had the opportunity to listen to traditional folk songs, modern pieces, and just a bunch of really fun, wonderful songs. Some of them were quite humorous. We really enjoyed being in this beautiful church.

Then it was just a five minute walk back to our flat and off to bed. We have had a great taste of Oxford. 

Day 20, July 3, 2024: Coventry, England

 

We agreed it would be nice to have a quieter “chill” day today. We gratefully slept in until 8:30 and then had a delicious breakfast. It was a dark and rainy morning and we all settled into check on some things on the computer, work on some photos and watch some rain fall.

Around noon it cleared off, and so we went on a wonderful walk over to John’s "garden allotment". This is kind of similar to the community gardens that happen in places around the US. But it was community gardens on steroids. This particular garden went on for a really long ways, and had been started perhaps as early as the late 1890s. It was divided to different areas, but John’s area was perhaps 10 yards x 20 yards, and he didn’t even have one of the larger ones. Because they have been around for so long, they included things like apple and plum trees, as well as lots of raspberries, blackberries and many many other fruits, vegetables and flowers. We were amazed as we walked around paths that were lined with hedges of holly and really enjoyed being able to go inside and see these amazing garden plots. John told us it was common to have allotments around the UK, but these ones were particularly large and long standing.

We had a chance to poke around a little bit and see what John was growing. Because he spends much of his time in Manchester rather than locally, he currently doesn’t grow too much here. Patti was able to pick some raspberries, and then the three of us all did some serious weeding. There was an invasive plant that was a vine that had taken over some trees and raspberry canes. And there were weeds and thistles in the raised bed strawberry patch. A little bit of working together made some visible difference in tending to the garden. We walked out another gate and saw even more plants and garden plots. Clearly, this was really a wonderful sanctuary for birds and wildlife really nearly in the middle of this small city.

We had a delicious lunch of potato leek soup and bread and cheese. A perfect lunch for a now again rainy afternoon. We chatted for a while then rested and were on our phones and computers for a bit. Then we walked a little ways and went out for delightful meal at a nearby Chinese restaurant. 

We were so pleased just to be able to take a little time “off “now at day 20 we’re a tiny bit over halfway with our time. There’s only so much one can take in and then it’s good to have some time just to let it settle out and feel good  catching your breath. Patti finished this time with some renewed commitment to doing some more gardening. When we get back home, we’re gonna check if we can grow potatoes as well as put in an herb garden. Fun to be inspired.

Some homemade apple crumble from John's own apple trees, and then off to bed. We have enjoyed Coventry.

Day 19, July 2, 2024: York, England to Coventry, England

We’ve been getting spoiled and able to sleep in later, but today’s train left before nine. We were up at 6:30. Doing the routine of having breakfast and packing things up, as well as doing a little light cleaning of our Airbnb space. The walk to the train station was much more straightforward than the way Google Maps had brought us when we arrived a couple of days before.

The train went quite well. But, when we got to the place where we needed to change trains in Birmingham, it was very confusing to figure out where the platform was for our train. A very nice train employee came up asked where we were going and then actually led us through an employee-only elevator and down below passageways. We apparently looked too old to walk so far carrying our suitcases. But we were willing to accept a little extra help. It has been a little bit sobering having people regularly ask if we need help carrying our suitcases or we apparently look really lost and they want to help us. Very nice of people to be kind but you don’t really want to be those old people who really need extra help. 

Then it was just 15 minutes to the train station in Coventry where we would be met by our Servas host, John.

As it turns out, John lived literally a one minute walk from the train station. We thought we were walking to a car and then we turned a corner and we were at his house. We had a lovely time chatting and having some lunch and then we walked together to the central part of Coventry. This was a 15 minute easy walk. 

Coventry is particularly well-known because its grand Cathedral was bombed and nearly 90% destroyed early in World War II, leaving only a shell. Incendiary bombs hit the roof causing it to collapse with the timbers inside burning and destroyed.   After the war was over, the community, after long, complicated debates, made a decision to leave the shell of the cathedral there, and build a new cathedral right next door, as a sign of hope, forgiveness, reconciliation and peace. Visiting there is a very powerful experience. 

Dick remembers coming 50 years ago and what an impression it made up upon him then. It is extremely powerful to remember the fear and hatred that resulted in this beautiful building being nearly destroyed. But the amount of hopefulness in the new building is so powerful.

Dick remembered and sought out a particular piece of art that had just been donated the year before he had originally seen it in 1972. As we looked at it, he realized it was donated by a congregation in Cincinnati, Ohio, where his parents lived the last years of their life. And they were living there at the time it had been donated.

We learned from our host many of the back stories about the cathedral and activities there. They do a special ceremony every year in August in memory of the dropping of the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. There are also many other important peacemaking groups and events that happen in this amazing church.

The other major reason that Coventry became famous is because this was the place that Lady Godiva lived, and took her famous ride in 1678. John was able to bring us to the Coventry Art Museum that had a whole gallery based on the Lady Godiva legend. It was one we were vaguely familiar with, but very fun to see a whole variety of different paintings and writings of the story. The basic core was this was a woman whose husband decided to impose unfair taxes on the community. His wife protested this and he answered if she were to ride through the town naked on a horse, he would not impose the taxes. The word spread that she was going to do this, and that all men should avert their eyes and stay away from watching her. All obeyed this except for one man, Tom, who couldn’t resist, and poked his head out the window to see her. When he saw her, he was immediately blinded, and was forever known as Peeping Tom. Who knew that’s where that expression came from? So Patti is now going to percolate and see if there’s a tellable story somewhere in this. 

We went and had some afternoon coffee and tea, but were sure to be back in place for the mechanical clock of lady Godiva and Peeping Tom that chimed on the hour. Lady Godiva rode out, while Tom pepped at her from above. Not super impressive, but fun.

Back to John’s home for a little rest and then a delicious vegetarian meal of nut loaf and vegetables, including the first of the new potatoes fresh out of the garden, homegrown by John.

A little more visiting about traveling and gardening and then off to bed. Always so much to visit with our Servas hosts about.