travel log: oxford

I know, I know. In my anticipation for sharing Ireland with you, I completely forgot about the treasures we saw around London. and OH MY, gems they are. 

Oxford was everything English

and more. 

ahhhh, this place was magic. 

two of my favorite things came together here:

A) Harry Potter

B) C.S. Lewis

yes, that's right. Quite a bit of Harry Potter was filmed in Oxford, most notably the dinning hall at Hogwarts is actually the great hall at Christ Church. 

and

CS Lewis was a professor at Magdalen College

and frequented the Eagle and Child pub

I pretended to be Clive Staples Lewis himself

and I made Kev pretend to be Tolkien

evidently the two were part of an exclusive writing club called the Inklings.

we felt so legit

besides the part where I am a brilliant middle aged male professor. 

sidenote: pubs are just so cool in the UK. they are nothing like the seedy bars we have here in the US. these places are hubs for gathering and laughter and ideas, and I mean come on, if CS Lewis dreamed up Narnia in a pub, then they must be a source of inspiration, right?!? 

I digress. 

So back to Oxford. Delightful. So wonderful. words won't do it justice, so here are some images that will forever keep this regal place in my mind! 

{they have this awesome pastime called punting..basically like paddle boarding but in these classy boats!}

{my handsome navigator}

{i pretended this was the secret garden...}

{lewis and tolkien, clearly!}

in the evening, as the sun began to cool it's blaze

and the pace of life relaxed

we walked down a cobble stone street  and passed a church. 

st. aldates. 

and in the wind, I caught the beautiful sound of voices lifted in praise

singing "this is our God" by hillsong. 

 Kevin and I stopped, and we looked at each other

and we started to sing. 

and in that moment our singing smiles lifted praise, and our hearts were so full with the beautiful fact that God is glorified all around the world. 

his Love is around us. 

I hope you have a great week lovelies! 

love Katie