Oxford and Ireland

Today I got the phone number of my cousin here in Ireland! I went to the post office here in Dublin and asked if they had phone books. No luck, but they pointed me to the library down the street, where a super sweet lady not only helped me find the right phone book, but she helped me look up bus schedules to their town. She went way beyond what I'd asked for, which is an example of classic Irish hospitality. I called my cousin, but her husband told me to call back again tonight. So I'll have to let you know later how this part of my adventure works out!

By the way, I had a GREAT time in Oxford. It's a beautiful town with lots of gothic buildings and cobblestone streets. I had some veggie soup in the Eagle and Child, where the Inklings used to hang out, and I strolled down Addison's walk, where CS Lewis used to walk and talk with his colleagues. I also went punting, which is where you stand up in a long low boat and push yourself along with a pole. With the sun getting low in the sky and shining through the leaves, and ducks falling asleep and roosting on the shore, it felt like a moment from the Wind in the Willows (incidentally the author of that book, Kenneth Grahame, is buried in Oxford)

This poem is posted on Addison's walk. I already knew & loved it, so it was awesome to see it on a plaque:

What the Bird Said Early in the Year
by CS Lewis
I heard in Addison's Walk a bird sing clear:
This year the summer will come true. This year. This year.
Winds will not strip the blossom from the apple trees
This year, nor want of rain destroy the peas.
This year time's nature will no more defeat you,
Nor all the promised moments in their passing cheat you.
This time they will not lead you round and back
To autumn, one year older, by the well-worn track.
This year, this year, as all these flowers foretell,
We shall escape the circle and undo the spell.
Often deceived, yet open once again your heart,
Quick, quick, quick, quick! -- the gates are drawn apart.

Addison's Walk