The Oldest College

I cannot believe that this month has gone by so fast! Tomorrow is our last day of class. Thursday we leave Oxford at 7:00 am and head to London to board various planes. My family will be off to Ireland for a week, along with the Rankins. Most of the group, however, will be flying back to Dallas. I won't see any of them again until December. I've had a lot of fun these past few weeks, and I'm thankful for the friendships that have been forged. I, for one, am not ready for this to end.

I'm thinking Treebeard

On to more fun things, today my family toured the Merton library. It was fantastic! The library dates back to the 14th century. It is the oldest continuously functioning library in the UK. Dad and I decided that Yankee should make a "musty library" scented candle. The grounds are beautiful and the chapel is lovely. Perhaps of interest is the fact that Merton is J.R.R. Tokien's college (I'm sure that's why Dad chose to study there).

Merton Tower

Yesterday, we ventured into the Botanic Gardens. This is an interesting conglomeration of native and exotic plants. Interestingly, the exotic plants include cacti! I've been doing a lot of reading and writing for my classes, and now I'm looking forward to a few weeks of break. I presented my final project for the Symposium today, and I think it went nicely.

Botanic Gardens