A Breather...

Saturday evening and Sunday we slowed our paced a little - whew! We've been having a great time, but our pace had been a little on the fast side. I have a little time to catch up the blog.

We left London Friday morning via a hike, Tube ride, train ride and taxi to Oxford. Oxford is a beautiful, historic college town northwest of London. Regrettably, I did not plan enough time here (we felt the same way about London - only so much time and so much money - same for us all!). Anyway, we did get to visit several of the spots we really wanted to see in Oxford. First we had lunch at a historic pub, a favorite of one of our favorite authors - C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien (Narnia and Lord of The Rings among others).

Next we visited Martyr's Memorial where the reformers Hugh Latimer, Nicholas Ridley and later Thomas Cranmer were all burned at the stake. They were all heroes of the faith who bravely spoke out about the error and corruption of the State Church in their day. They stood on the authority of the Bible and against man-made traditions.

Next we visited St. Mary the Virgin's church which was responsible for the founding of Oxford and location of the hearing for the above martyrs. The Wesley brothers worshipped here as students and John preached 44 sermons here.

Oxford and its many colleges was home to many other heroes of the faith including: John Wycliffe, John Owen, and William Tyndale. Albert Einstein was also a "fellow" here. We spent 3 hours in Oxford - enough to whet our appetites, but then we need to be off further north to our destination for the night - the Cotswolds. The Cotswolds are a quaint English country-side famous from the time of the Romans and before for its wool. We found a bed and breakfast in the middle of a small village called Stanton via Rick Steves' material. However, the big reason for the rush was that Emily and I had reservations for a "hack" - the English word for trail ride!

We had a wonderful 1 hour ride while Joanna and Jordan (allergic to horses) went for a hike.

After a ride and shower we all headed up the hill to the only pub in the village (don't think primarily a drinking establishment - more like a restaurant - that's what their pubs are like). We met a really nice local family - the O'Sullivan's (see Joanna talking with them). After a wonderful meal and a nice visit Mike O'Sullivan kindly offered to drive us the next day to our next destination - Warwick. This was a godsend as we discovered there is no good way to get from where we were in Stanton to Warwick by rail.

By the way, Stanton's village church was really cool - 12th Century or before as my memory recalls. Notice that the grave yards in these historic churches surround the church. There was some interesting history that I haven't time to get into a present, but here are some pictures of it.

Mike drove us to our B&B in Warwick and then back to the entry to Warwick Castle - what a kind man!

Warwick Castle is arguable and reputed as one of the best preserved Medieval castles in the UK and even all of Europe. There is a great deal of history there and though it is somewhat touristy - it is well done. They have actors, programs and really good displays. Some of the walls and towers date back to 914 AD and pre-date the English monarchy. This place is way cool!

After a long day we hiked back to our B&B but not before we stopped at a grocery to pick up some food and enjoy a more quite and restful evening. After breakfast morning Sunday we had a brief consideration of the first few Proverbs in chapter 15, and how "a soft answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger" -the wisdom of the Lord. Next, we took a brief taxi ride to the train station for a long day's ride up into Scotland. As I typed this we were about 15 minutes from our destination of Edinburg. We'll enjoy another more restful evening and then off for a tour of another grand and historic castle - Edinburg and some great Reformation history with John Knox.

One last thought - we have been blessed with unusually nice weather (according to locals) the whole time we've been here - thanks Lord - and thanks for your prayers.

Bye for now and Lord bless!

Brett

Ps. 111:2