Inklings

Today after class, we had an Inklings tour scheduled with a well-known tour guide named Peter. The Inklings were a group of writers (including C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien) who met regularly for drinks and to discuss and criticize each other's latest writings. Our tour started at 3:45 pm and ended around 5:30 pm. We walked all around Oxford and saw where these famous writers went to school, taught, ate, lived, etc. It was really exciting to imagine them living in these exact same buildings! There is so much history under our feet.

This is where Lewis Carroll got his inspiration to write Alice in Wonderland:




J.R.R. Tolkien lived here when he was attending Exeter College:




J.R.R. Tolkien lived here while he taught at Merton College near the end of his life:




Here is the place where he wrote Lord of the Rings! 99 Holywell Street:





This is the oldest building left in Oxford, St. Michael's Tower. It's about 800 years old:



After the Inklings tour, most of the group went back, but 8 of us stayed in the city to eat dinner. We found a café that sells their sanwiches for only £1 after 5:30! We all got a "take away" sandwich (meaning "to go"), and started walking home. The sandwiches were really good too! I got a hummus, falafel, and tomato sandwich - yummy :). Kelly spotted a theatre that was showing the play "The Importance of Being Earnest" that week, so we decided to stop in and check dates/times and prices. We thought it would be fun to go to a show at a local theatre. The tickets were £7, and we actually ended up buying tickets for that night at 8:00!

We loved being able to dress up, since we had just been wearing jeans and t-shirts so far! The play was so funny, lots of British humor, quick and clever ... We really enjoyed doing something with the community. I think it made us feel less like tourists :)

The group before the play:



Sarah, Jennifer, Me: