Wandering North. First stop: York

John and I have just returned from a two week wander up North seeing much of what makes Great Britain so great.  We drove to York, St. Andrews, then around parts of Scotland and Hadrian's Wall, then the Lake District and Liverpool, and finally Snowdonia and Northern Wales.  It has been a grand tour and we have a long list of new favorite places we want to go back to.

Many Brits have told me that York is their favorite city and cathedral.  I can see why. The Cathedral, known as the Minster, is spectacular inside and out. It is one of the largest Gothic cathedrals of its kind in Northern Europe and it really is breathtakingly beautiful. And the town is just picture perfect -- it looks like what everyone imagines an old English city should look like. 

For me the most memorable part of the Minster was attending Evensong.  It was so beautiful that we went back again the next evening.  The York Minster Choir sang the first night and  a secondary school choir sang the next evening. Both were the loveliest Evensong I've been too. 

The Minster dates back to the 6th century with the final incarnation from the 15th century.  You can spend a day in the Cathedral and still not see all there is to see.  It is filled with such history and beauty. 

Each window has amazing detail.   Some of the stained glass in York Minster dates back to the 12th century. The 76-foot  tall Great East Window was under repair while we were there.  We'll have to return someday to see it.  ,Much of the glass was removed before both world wars and pieced back together.  That is in part why the windows are in such good shape.

The windows and the natural light in the Minster took my breath away.  Approximately 2 million individual pieces of glass make up the cathedral's 128 stained glass windows!

These are statues of the  Kings of England starting with William the 1st and going all the way to Henry 6th.  They are not particularly flattering likenesses.

There is a charge to get into the Monster but if you come for daily Evensong (5pm) and then tour the cathedral afterward, there is no charge for that. 

The Minster ceilings

Roman Coffins in a park on the outskirts of York.

Beautiful architecture everywhere.

Another view from the wall.

One of  the "bars" or gates to the city.

The Shambles

York Castle

The Bar Walls of York are the finest and most complete of any town in England.  You can walk 2/3 around the city on top of the walls. At two miles  they are also the

longest town walls in the country.

I highly recommend the "wall walk".  It really gives you amazing views of the entire city.  York is now on our favorite list!

"Hey Batter, Batter!" British Style

 This is what batting cages look like in England.  

Radley College is a private boys boarding school that is behind the woods that are behind our house. The school is well known for its sports programs and has every kind of field and sporting activities you can imagine, including a lovely golf course that John enjoys when he can.  

The sport of the season happens to be Cricket and the batting cages are getting a lot of use.  We are looking forward to wandering over on a warm summer afternoon to watch a game of Cricket, although I am still a bit befuddled as to how the game works.  

crick·et  

/ˈkrikit/

Noun An insect (family Gryllidae) related to the grasshoppers. The male produces a characteristic rhythmical chirping sound. An outdoor game played on a large grass field with ball, bats, and two wickets, between teams of eleven players, the object of the game... A low stool, typically with a rectangular or oval seat and four legs splayed out.

Synonyms grig

Encaenia -- The Venerable Wizard's Party

I made it back to Oxford this week just in time to attend the Encaenia -- the ceremony in which Oxford bestows honorary degrees on worthy recipients.

 Sometime mid-morning the Heads of Colleges, university dignitaries and the honorands gathered in their full academic dress, at one of the nearby colleges.  They then walked in formal procession to the Sheldonian Theatre. Since I was seated inside the Sheldonian, I missed the procession walk this year.

 The University dignitaries entered the theatre in procession; those who are to receive honorary degrees waited in the Divinity School where they signed their names in the Honorary Degrees Book. They were then escorted into the theatre by the Bedels, the folks with the large staffs.

The proceedings were opened by the Chancellor and each honorand was introduced by the Public Orator with a speech in Latin and admitted to his or her new degree by the Chancellor. This year's honorands included the playwright Tom Stoppard. 

 Also included were Honourable Andrew Li Kwok Nang, Dame Anne Owers, Professor Anthony Grafton, Professor Ingrid Daubechies, Baroness (Tanni) Grey-Thompson (one of Britain’s most successful Paralympic athletes), Mr Colin Smith, and Murray Perahi.

 Sir Tom Stoppard received his degree from the Chancellor.

 After the degrees were conferred, the Orator  delivered a very funny Creweian Oration (in English) on the events of the past year and in commemoration of the University's benefactors. This year (being an alternate year) the Professor of Poetry delivered the second part of this speech and it too was very witty.  Then everyone was off to the garden party...

 ....what I call the Venerable Wizard's Party, or Dress-up Day at Oxford.

 Case in point!

 My favorite wizard wore his Stanford robe.

 The party was held this year at Trinity College and the grounds were absolutely lovely. Tea, strawberries and cream, and small sandwiches were served, along with champagne and lemonade.

 I know the caps and gowns are supposed to make one look dignified and accomplished but who thought of a lamp shade  for a hat? 

 I used to think that J.K. Rowling was so creative and clever as she described the young wizards in training at Hogwarts.  Now I know that much of what she described came from what she saw at  Oxford and Cambridge.

Clayton and Christine Christensen and family (Anne, Kate and Mike) attended the garden party with us. It was such an honor to spend the afternoon with them!  Even Clayton got in on the act and wore his Harvard robe while Kate sported a lovely hat.

If you go down in the woods today you're sure of a big surprise
If you go down in the woods today you'd better go in disguise
For every Wizard that ever there was will gather there for certain
Because today's the day the Oxford Wizards have their picnic