Disappointment and Delight: An Oxford Saga in Two Acts

Dearest readers,

I promised I would update you on my time at Oxford, and the time has come to pay my vow. As many of you may know, I am something of a Lewisphile, by which I mean that I simply adore the Protestant Saint—if such a designation will be allowed me sans outcries of "heresy!"—the instructive, the imaginative, the illustrious: C. S. Lewis. 

 

I love him. 

 

I love his winsome wit. I love his wild story. I love the Wonderful World of Narnia. 

 

When asked by various persons of my acquaintance which artistic figure (living or dead) I would most like to meet for a drink, surprisingly (especially of those who know of my equally great, as George Bernard Shaw would term it, “Bardolatry”), I have always, without fail, chosen Lewis over Shakespeare. Clive Staples Lewis (or “Jack” as he liked to be called), has loomed large in my life ever since my parents settled on the nightly ritual of reading through the Chronicles of Narnia with my sister and me when we were small children. This love of the mythical world of Narnia was intensified when (in 2002, when I was eight) I received the complete Chronicles on CD, dramatized by Focus on the Family. Leah can attest to the fact that we then listened to those CDs every night before bed for years and years. Her favorite was The Horse and His Boy; mine was Prince Caspian. I’ve even written about my experience in the world of Narnia for a National Humanities Center project called “Humanities Moments.” That can be read here, should it be of interest. To bring this argument for the preeminence of Lewis in my life to a close, let me just say that my idealization of Lewis did not end with the wonderful world of Narnia. As an adult, I have continued to read my favorite author, enjoying such classics as Mere Christianity, The Screwtape Letters, The Abolition of Man, and (most recently) Surprised by Joy.

 

As most of you will by now be aware (if only because of the precedence that Lewis has taken thus far in my build up to my sojourn at Oxford), there is a strong connection between this paragon of Protestantism and the college at which I find myself for the next few days. Lewis attended University College, Oxford and in later life was a Fellow of Magdalen College—the college in which I am currently residing. The beautiful story of his conversion is set mainly within green, peaceful Addison Walk in the Deer Grove on the College grounds, where he would go for long rambles with J. R. R. Tolkien and discuss the power of myth and legend and the possibility of a “true myth.” 

 

In the past few days, I have gotten to explore some of Lewis’s haunts – and I have not had to sacrifice my bardalotry on Lewis’s altar. Indeed, the past week or so has been filled to the brim with three of my favorite things: C. S. Lewis, William Shakespeare, and friends. 

But I’m getting a bit ahead of myself chronologically. While Lewis has certainly been the culmination of a lovely few days spent amongst Oxford’s “dreaming spires,” the first of these “favorites” to greet me upon arrival in Oxford was actually the last on the list. My friend Stephen, Lord bless him, was kind enough to wait for me at the Oxford train station so that he could help me locate Magdalen College when I arrived. We are both renting rooms at the college in which Lewis served as a Fellow, so it made sense for us to drag along our luggage and make the trek to the school together. Unfortunately, Stephen arrived significantly before I did, but he agreed to wait at the station for me. So upon arrival in Oxford, I was greeted with a very friendly face. 

We found the Porter’s Lodge without mishap and checked into the college. Our rooms are in the “new building,” which is in itself a significant misnomer. The “new building” is not really “new” it is just new(er) than the old building. Still quite old, however, and (unfortunately) a/c-less, which is unsurprising, but has proven a bit annoying as Oxford has been experiencing a significant heatwave. 

 

July 4

 

Our first day in Oxford was paradoxically both unsatisfactory (part 1) and celebratory (part 2). One of the things I was looking forward to the very most about Oxford was visiting the famous Inklings' haunt, The Eagle and the Child (or what the initiated call “The Bird and the Baby”). So one of the first things Stephen and I did was go to find this famous pub. To my infinite disappointment, The Bird and the Baby is currently closed for “renovations.” According to the locals, it has been closed for years and they are despairing of it ever reopening again. It was a blow! Luckily, Stephen is much more even keeled than me, and he helped salvage the evening by reminding me that we had something to celebrate: the Fourth of July!

 

As Americans, we figured (or at least I did) that we should celebrate the fourth in so-called “enemy territory” with great pizzazz. We ended up doing what Stephen and I do best: we went to Trivia. Sadly, my dreams of beating the Oxford College students soundly went up in flames as most of the trivia questions were about pop culture (from England) and current events (in England), neither of which are our forte. It was still fun, though, and it was nice to play a trivia game, which is certainly one of the most steady and habitual aspects of my life in Houston. 

We met some interesting people at trivia. The duo running the game were quite odd ducks—the man actually laid down on a bed of nails as an amusing “intermission” to the game, and I got the distinct impression that he had never performed this maneuver before. After a burger (lackluster—more on Oxford’s distinct lack of fine cuisine to follow), a trivia performance (lackluster as well, both ours and the host’s), we went back to the college to get some rest and prepare for loads of research and exploring the following day. 

 

July 5

 

Rise and shine! It was a beautiful day in Oxford. Sunny, warm (not too warm yet) and full of 

potential! We first went to the Covered Market for a coffee (lovely! My coffee had a Pegasus on it—see below) and then raced on to the Bodleian Library to pick up our Reader’s Cards. After completing the necessary paperwork and paying the necessary fees, we were off to the proverbial races. I worked for a bit (but none of my requested material arrived to the reading room, so I ended up just finishing Lewis’s Surprised by Joy—certainly a nice way to spend the early afternoon), while Stephen worked a lot and even was able to check out some books from one of the campus libraries in (what we would come to find out was) a freak mistake. We quit work early to explore the city and do some thrifting. We found a load of Oxfams (charity shops a la Goodwill, but infinitely superior in their book offerings) and each purchased a few tomes. We had a supremely disappointing dinner at a local joint, and then it was off to the Magdalen College grounds where we walked in Lewis’s footsteps around Addison’s Walk and found a lovely little bridge to perch on and read the first act of Richard III. Then off to The Bear Inn, one of the oldest pubs in Oxford, for a drink and some live music, and finally, a trip to the cemetery where Charles Williams is buried, in the deep and dark of night, where Stephen read me a ghost story! It was beautiful, and ghoulful, and wonderful! 

 

July 6

 

This was a fun day, with each of us getting a lot of work done. Some of my materials had arrived at the reading room by this point, so I spent several delightful hours reading and looking at manuscripts. I also had lunch with a sweet friend I met several years ago in California at the Dickens Universe Conference. Amazingly, we were both here to do research at the Bodleian at the same time! It was such fun catching up with her. Afterwards, Stephen and I met up once again for a second round of exploration. I was determined to have a good dinner this night (the food up to this point had be absolutely dreadful) so I looked over the recommendations I had received from various Oxford aficionados and we ended up at Byron Burgers. It. Was. Heavenly. The food was excellent, and we met one of the sweetest waitresses in existence: Zara. Such fun!

 

July 7

 

Once again, the day starts with coffee, this time from a small coffee establishment claiming to

serve the best Turkish coffee since the mid-seventeenth-century, which I personally thought was

a bit insulting to coffee actually made in Turkey! I did not get any Turkish coffee, instead opting

for a chai latte (very tasty!), but Stephen did, and he said it was quite tasty, so perhaps they’re 

right in their assertion of its eminence. Then off to the library for Stephen and to the Ashmolean

Museum Prints and Drawings Room for me to look at some Pre-Raphaelite drawings and letters.

After a brief workday, we met up for one of my favorite activities of the whole trip thus far: our

train ride to Stratford-Upon-Avon and the Royal Shakespeare Company performance of Richard

III. 

 

Stratford-Upon-Avon is a beautiful little town about an hour and a half away from Oxford (by train). Known as the birthplace of Shakespeare, it is also one of the best places (unsurprisingly) to see a live adaptation of his work. As many of you might know, Richard III is one of my favorite plays, and definitely in the running for my very favorite history play, matched only by Richard II. Added to this was the fact that we ate at the Michelin recognized restaurant Lambs, and the day had the makings of not only my favorite day in Oxford, but my favorite day in the UK so far. I don’t know how I can possibly match the euphoria of seeing Shakespeare’s Company perform Richard III or the decadence of that beautiful, glorious dinner. Afterwards, we read Midsummer Night’s Dream on the train ride home, in preparation for another night at the theatre the next day.

 

July 8

 

More work at the Ashmolean for me, and after I was done, Stephen met me so we could explore the museum proper. Such wonderful paintings! And they even have some mummies! Then off to dinner (also a success) at Côte Brasserie, and finally: the play. This was definitely the most similar to other Shakespeare productions I’ve seen in America (The Globe and RSC were quite different). An outdoor production, a bit like Shakespeare in the Park. But it was still scrumptious!

July 9

 

Saturday dawned, and we went to break our fast at the medieval dining hall in Magdalen College. The food was excellent, and the room was even cooler! Then we were out on the town again—this time in search of new shoes! Most of Saturday was spent shopping and exploring Oxford.

 

July 10

 

Early on Sunday, Stephen left. And then I was off too on a day trip to London! The church I’ve been attending in my time in the UK is based in London, and I missed my friends there. So I hopped on the train (Oxford is just an hour from London) and was in the big city before you could say one, two, three. I attended both services, watched the Wimbledon final (GOOOOOO Djokovic) and even managed to get some work done by visiting the Guildhall Museum in between my ecclesiastical and sports-fanatical activities. 

 

July 11

 

Monday was a bit slow. I got some work done and got some logistical stuff done (laundry is a thing!). But overall, I just tried to stay cool. It was really hot in Oxford, and the best thing one could do to keep from being overheated was to sit very, very still. There are no fans or a/c units in the college, so if it’s hot outside, you’re out of luck. I got a terrible headache. Not a very fun day.

 

July 12

 

Yesterday, I returned to the Ashmolean Museum to do a bit more research (useful) before the thing I was truly excited about: a visit to The Kilns.

 

The Kilns is C. S. Lewis’s old house, where he lived from 1930 to his death in 1963. It was amazing to visit Lewis’s house, his grave—I even went to the church that he attended for 30 years and saw the “Narnia Window” there. The coolest thing, though, was that I met a missionary to Papua New Guinea named Hannah Paris. I ended up taking the bus back to Oxford with her and eating dinner with her (Byron’s Burgers again!). Then home for an early night. 

 

Today, I’m just back at the Bodleian, reading, writing, and catching up on things (such as this blog). I’m so glad I’ve gotten to share about the past few days with you, and I hope that you feel all caught up. Until next time, 

 

~ Nina