From Sunny Spain to Darkest England

I (Julia) am enjoying two glorious weeks off work. The break began with a wonderful visit from our friend Kelli, who lives in Spain. We met her and her husband David last year in Tübingen, where he was playing professional volleyball. They have since been living in more countries than we can count, playing volleyball and making us seem sedentary by comparison.

We had the chance to do a lot of sight-seeing. Here's a shot of me and Kelli in front of Christ Church Hall:

We also visited Magdalen (pronounced 'Maudlin') College, the sometime academic home of C.S. Lewis.

Yes, Mom, I climbed this narrow tower at the University Church of St. Mary the Virgin (167 steps!) while 31 weeks pregnant. We took a picture as proof:

Here's a view of the Radcliffe Camera (an undergraduate library) from the top of the tower:

We also made it into London. We wanted to see the changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace, but the crowds meant this is about as close as we could get. The guys in red are headed to relieve some other guys in red in an event we didn't witness.

We also went to Westminster Abby, one of my all-time favorite tourist spots. Buried here are Queen Elizabeth I, Mary Queen of Scots, and giants like Chaucer, Handel, Dickens and Darwin. Crazy.

Speaking of crazy, we explored Harrods London, a circus of a department store. I took a picture of this gaudy monstrosity of a cake, on offer for the small price of £4999.99. Any takers?

Finally, we also visited Dave's college.  Here's a view of the library.

Kelli, thanks so much for coming. It was so much fun. Next year we'll come your way?