Photo Shoot

It was time to stop studying and have some fun.

This resulted in a photo shoot around Christ Church College and New College.

Christ Church College corridor.



Visiting Christ Church College today made me very glad I'm in New.

There are SO many tourists there because of the Harry Potter films. It got a little annoying but it was cool being able to go into the halls and corridors that said "Private" because we are students and not visitors.

New College hallway.

Yay! Fall at New College!

New College field/garden.

Shame you can't see it with all the flowers in the summer.

New College Cloisters.

Chilling under a tree...not at all posed.

Yay...fun.

Having fun on the massive stairs in the New College garden/mound.

Seriously...this shot took a lot of effort to get right.

Walking down Cornmarket Street in center city.

The Harry Potter Tour

Here's your 5 pence (not cents) Harry Potter tour!

The stairs from the very first movie which the incoming Hogwarts students waited on before entering the Great Hall to be sorted into halls by the sorting hat. "Gryffindor!"

The Great Hall, aka, Christ Church College dining hall.

The cloisters at New College from Goblet of Fire
where Malfoy is changed into a ferret.

The tree Malfoy jumps down from in that scene...it's a high jump!

So the only black guy in Harry Potter, the one who commentates the quidittch games is a student at Queens College where my friend works...yea, she's met him.

And although this has nothing to do with Harry Potter,

the older sister in the recent Narnia movies is a student at Oxford too!

The Tim Tam Slam

Pure ecstasy. That is what you experience with the Tim Tam Slam.

It’s the legal marijuana. It’s better than beer pong.
It’s more addictive than sex and you won’t get pregnant.

What is it? Tim Tam’s.

Tim Tams are two chocolate wafers, separated by chocolate cream filling,

and coated in a thin outer layer of chocolate.

The Tim Tam Slam can only be done in groups.

It’s the perfect way to relax after a long day in the library.

Tam Tam Slam requires a hot liquid such as hot chocolate

or Bailey's Irish Cream.

Bite the tips off of opposite corners.

Suck the hot liquid through the cookie, melting the inside chocolate but keeping the outer chocolate coating firm.

And take a bite. The Tim Tam Slam originated in Australia but has become immensely popular in the UK. And yes, I will be bringing LOTS of Tim Tam cookies back to the states with me.

Simple Pleasures

Whenever my friends or family ask me, what do I miss the most from America, I tell them – I crave some good Macaroni & Cheese. The mac & cheese here tastes terrible and if I had known you can’t get blue box here, I would have stuffed some cheese packets into my luggage.

So this morning, 8am and I'm contemplating getting out of bed. In my head, it went something like this:
“Maybe if you try opening your eyes, you’ll wake up. Okay, maybe just one eye. Nope. Oh well…”
And all of a sudden I hear someone knock at our door.
“Who the HECK is knocking on our door at 8 am?!? I hear girls getting ready in the bathrooms. Maybe one of them will get it. I don’t hear anyone heading for the door. Oh bother…”

So I drag myself out of bed, go to the door, and it turns out to be a package for me from my wonderful father. What do I find?

I’m so spoiled.

HEY LAURA....DO YOU SEE WHAT DAD GOT ME?!? I'll have to make sure and load the DISHWASHER with all our dirty dishes so they are clean for me to cook my BLUE BOX MAC & CHEESE in! : - )

Chatsworth House Part 2

"I don't think I've ever seen a place so happily situated."

There is so much to say about Chatsworth that it

just couldn’t all be contained in one post!

One of its many claims to fame is that this is where
Mary Queen of Scots was held “prisoner.” Nice digs for a prison.

How would you like this bedroom view?

Random fact: The house has only three original Rembrandts.

I just think this baby carriage is sweet. The leather circular strap pulls down in front of the carriage and goes around the neck of a sheep that pulls the carriage.

Who needs to push their baby carriage when you have money? Just have a sheep do it for you.

I posted this gigantic geo for all my fellow Leadership Journey-iers. I think it's about time to bump up the size of the geo's they give away during Grand Canyon day.

Wondering just how filthy rich the Duke of Devonshire is? There was a small village just down from the house and I was told that one day when the Duke was driving home he decided that he didn’t like seeing this village so close to his house. So what did he do? He had it moved. The entire village demolished and moved farther down the road. Yeah…that’s filthy rich.

Something very unique about the house is the random collection of old and new. The current owners are big fans of modern art and they have placed their collection of modern art throughout the historical house. You’ll see life size authentic Egyptian statues next to painting of a horses butt.

Smacked right down inside my picturesque Pemberley is this giant baby whose massive weight is supported by just the hand. Sure, it’s a cool statue – but here?!?

Another little antidote regarding the wealth of the family...This could just be rumor, but I was told that the kids of this family have no rules regarding what they can play with in this house/museum. Last year the kids were playing around while workers were trying to decorate trees for Christmas and somehow a string of lights was wrapped around a statue and the lights got pulled and toppling down went the statue. What did the Duke say? “Good thing it wasn’t new.”
The Chatsworth House sits on a 100 acre garden that is not

included in the 1000 acre park that is part of the Chatsworth property.

Yeah, it's just that magical.

Chatsworth House

Today I went to visit Chatsworth House of Derbyshire which is where bits of Pemberley is filmed in the most recent Pride & Prejudice. (The recently released film The Duchess was also filmed here).

Chatsworth House has always been a family home; the Duke and Duchess of Devonshire still live in Chatsworth House. It’s so beautiful! This is the entry way to welcome guests…pretty fancy.

The house has 6 libraries – aren’t the books so beautiful!
The dining hall.

The house is magnificant but the grounds are magical.

It’s so beautiful.

The house is much longer than it looks from the front.

There’s even a labyrinth to get lost in!

So, I found Mr. Darcy at Pemberley of Derbyshire.

He's so dreamy!

Recognize that balcony??
It's where the final scene in P&P is shot. You can't tell in the picture, but the bench Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth Bennet are sitting on is there!
"Mrs. Darcy...Mrs. Darcy...Mrs. Darcy...Mrs. Darcy."