Easter break: A Tolkien day in Oxford

Halloooooo!

First of all: I hope that everybody had a lovely Easter! Whether you eat chocolat or not ;)

Then, as I've mentioned in last weeks blog post, I went to Oxford for the day on Saturday :) Sunday and Monday were spent pretty much the same as the weekend before.

In the footsteps of John Ronald Reuel Tolkien. Sort of.

My second day of the 4 day weekend started a bit in a doze. I wake up very groggy and I couldn't find the energy to actually get out of bed so I just laid in. By 9.15am however I made up my mind that I had to get out of bed and go to Oxford, because I kept putting off that trip.

So, without any haste, I made it out the door and had a very smooth journey into the city. I hadn't had to wait long for a train to Oxford, so by 1pm I stood in the University city :)

The main reason why I wanted to go back was because I really wanted to see the Eagle and Child and the Lamb and Flag. 2 pubs where Tolkien, Lewis and some of their mates (aka the Inklings) would gather and talk about their work and exchange ideas. In one of these two pubs the first chapters of the Lord of the Rings were read out loud. In one of these two pubs Middle Earth was introduced.

I thought about getting lunch in the Eagle and Child, but there literally was a line. I'm not sure where to exactly, but I had no intention to find out, to be honest. Anyway, I saw the 'Rabbit room'. The room where the Inklings would gather, but I think it's not the original setting. And of course, one of the famous 'quotes' of Merry and Pippin x)

Anyway, I had lunch in the Giraffe (de li cious burgers!!!!!) and I did a bit of research of what else I could do. Last time I was in Oxford with my aunt, uncle and cousin, we did the guided tour in Oxford, we visited Balliol college, Sheldonian theatre, Divinity school, etc (here's the link to that blog post :)) So had already seen the most convenient places in Oxford and it being a bank holiday + Easter break for other countries in Europe it is safe to say it was busy oO

So, after a little bit of research on my phone, I decided to make it a proper Tolkien day. We passed Merton college last time I was in Oxford (the college where Tolkien taught after the war and where he most likely created Middle Earth), so I wanted to go a bit further out of city centre.

Tolkien and his wife are buried in Oxford. And when Edith passed away, Tolkien had the name Luthien engraved on the tombstone. When Tolkien passed away himself less than 2 years later, he was buried in the same grave and beneath Edith's name, his name was engraved with the name 'Beren'. If you are familiar with Tolkien's work, you'll know that Tolkien had also written the entire history of Middle Earth and not only the Lord of the Rings and the Hobbit.

'Of Luthien and Beren' is the story about an immortal woman, Luthien, and a mortal warrior, Beren. When Beren gets captured by the enemy, Luthien rescues him, but ultimately Beren dies in battle. Luthien, the powerful women that she is, persuades 'God' to restore her beloved back to life. That is the story told in a very easy way. But I think it is so touching that Tolkien sees Edith as his Luthien and when he dies, he is her Beren and they are reunited once more.

The Wolvercote cemetery is about an hour walk outside of Oxford town so I had basically an afternoon of walking. On the way to Wolvercote cemetery I passed the house Tolkien lived in from 1930-1947 when he taught at Merton College.

My plan was to catch the 5pm train back to London Paddington, but I missed the train literally by one minute. My inner Usain Bolt came out whilst I was sprinting toward the station, but to no avail.

Downton Abbey marathon part 2 and 3 and Home
Sunday, EASTER! I thought about going to the movies, but then I decided that it there was no point in leaving my room on Easter. So I stayed in all day and watched Dowton Abbey.

Violet Grantham, played by Dame Maggie Smith, is in one word genius!!! She by far my favorite character on the show.

Monday morning I went to see the movie Home. It's by the same creators of How to train your dragon 1 and 2 so I expected great things. Now, it wasn't exactly what I expected. First of all I had to ask my colleague who'd seen the movie what the movie was about because the trailer does not explain it properly. Then, I didn't think the story line was that powerful. Well, you have the classic values: family is important, don't judge someone too quickly, etc. And the animation is stunning, the colours, the soundtrack, Oh and Pig. The latter two are just beyond adorable x)

Monday afternoon consisted mostly of watching more Downton Abbey and some room tidying. Around 8pm I agreed to meet up with Camilla and some of her friends. It was a lovely evening.

So that's it for this weeks blog post :)

Thanks for reading!
xo - Sara

New words: abhorrent= repulsive; rugged= rough