Oxford, some riding and back to Brussels

And here I'm back in Brussels.
Four days off, three days of motorbike of whom two under heavy rain.

Saturday was a day off (from the motorcycle)
Ela took us through a smaal tour of Oxford. There is so much to see, so much to visit that you quickly know you'll have to come back.
We went from Risinghurst to Oxford by feet, passing through some nice towns and old areas of Oxford.
One of them was Headington where we briefly stopped at the Holy Trinity Church. There lies C.S. Lewis, writer of many books and also more known for his Narnia Chronicles. There's the "Narnia Window" in the church and his grave somewhere in the yard.
(more info: http://www.sacred-destinations.com/england/oxford-c-s-lewis.htm)

After some more walking, passing through some very nice gardens and inner ways by the water, we arrived in Oxford.
As I said, way too much to visit, one day, even one week might not be enough.
Being a total tourist and a Harry Potter reader, I asked to visit Christ Church. So I could take a picture of what is probably the most photographed staircase in the world:

That leads to what is now the most well known Dinner Hall in the world :) :) :)

Some more tourist views were taken from the Tower of The University Church of Sint Mary the Virgin:

(on this picture: one of the Colleges, near the Radcliffe Camera)

On Sunday we went back for a ride. At first we were lucky with the weather but unfortunately that didn't last the whole day.

We headed to Marlborough, grabbed a coffee and continued on to see some stones in Avebury.

(more info: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avebury)

Ze stones:

And some nice trees (with tree-huggers):

Our planning after Avebury was to go and see some "White Horses", these big prehistoric hill figures, but a heavy (HEAVY) rain decided otherwise. To give you an idea of the "White Horses" concept, the one of Uffington might be the best known: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uffington_White_Horse


Today we headed up to Brussels. With a little coffee stop in London's famous Ace Cafe :)
A real biker place that's worth a visit if you're in the area.
(more info: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ace_Cafe_London & http://www.ace-cafe-london.com)

Got the four o'clock train in Folkestone. And I got to see a White Horse after all :D
Not a real prehistoric one, but still one from another century ;)

(more info: http://www.hows.org.uk/personal/hillfigs/folk/folk.htm)

Four days off.

Too much rain, not enough sightseeing because of it and anyhow, way too much to see for four days.

Oxford, Kent, Wales, ... gazillions of places to visit and even more reasons to come back!

Brussels - Risinghurst (Oxford)

At 6h30 this morning, the sky above Brussels was nice, not too many clouds, dry, almost warm actually.
But as Bert and I didn't want to get surprised by the rain on our way to the Euro Tunnel in Calais, we decided to take a quick look on a weather website (http://www.buienradar.be) and it was a very good idea to do so! A huge bad-ass rain cloud was waiting for us along the way.

On the E40 direction Ostend, a bit passed Aalst, the skies turned that weird color they can have before a storm, that kind of undecided color between orange and yellow or something. A bit later as we approached Ghent it started, heavy rain poured out of the skies, dark, too dark clouds above us, low visibility and too much traffic.
I've been a few times under the rain with my motorbike these past 15 years, but today was one to remember.

Right on time around 9 o'clock we arrived at the "Chunnel" we could drive in directly and the train left a few minutes after we were in. Right.on.time :)
The crossing is about 30 minutes but it feels way faster.
Once on the other side it looked fine ... for a couple of miles it was though.
Our initial planning was to go to Risinghurst only through nice secondary roads. We were supposed to go from Folkstone to Tenterden, then Battle and Petersfield. Then up to Oxford.
It was raining so heavily that we gave up in Battle.
We took the M25 to London and then M40 to Oxford.
Rain, more rain, traffic jams on all the highways and even more rain :( ad some wind, more rain and some wind from the side and you get yourself 200km of cold and wet clothing.

We arrived in Risinghurst around 17h00 (UK time), got our rain gear off, congratulated ourselves we made it one piece ... and then ... off course, that Murphy b*st*rd came along. And with a huge grin he brought us: The Sun! Yes mam'
We were here since ten minutes. Then it stopped raining and the sun showed up.
Ehr!

Planning for tomorrow: Visiting Oxford :)

sci-fi summer

Glad there are some really nice tv-shows to watch this Summer to help us wait until September :)


With season 2 of Haven and season 4 of True Blood going on this summer, HBO helps me to make the time go a bit faster until the return of House, TBBT, Fringe, Game of Thrones, the Killing and Misfits :D

I like the 2nd season of Haven so far, they stay in line with the first one and it seems like they never stopped in between.
True Blood of course as hit yet another level of weirdness by introducing yet another bunch of creatures :)

This is something I really like about this show btw. The 1st season was introducing us with the Vampire world, in the second they brought up some more creatures, the third one got even more weird and now they're just pushing everything. With TB it's simple, you like it or you don't. You know it after the first episode -who is right to the point imo- blood, sex, more blood and dark.
I've started the books from Charlaine Harris (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Southern_Vampire_Mysteries) and it's really nice to read too :)



And then, this September (the 23rd to be exact) FRINGE :) :) :)
I must say I have some doubts about how they're gonna go on with the show. The last episode of season 3 was clear, it all ends there, and it was leaving us with enough open doors to choose our own way of imagining things.


Pretty much like House M.D. actually. I'm also having huge doubts about the why and the real need of a season 8 (yes Sir, season eight indeed). The only answer I have on that is : $$$


Curious on what season 5 of TBBT will come up with. Season 4 was a bit weak in my opinion. I guess season five will continue the relationship issues everyone has.


November will bring us season 3 of Misfits, that real good British sci-fi show.
I discovered it some weeks ago now. My cousin kept posting comments on it on Get Glue and it poked my curiosity :) Next episode: 11 November 2011.


Unfortunately it's waiting until APRIL 2012 for the next Game of Thrones, the meanest badassery tv-show ever! Darn it's gonna be a whole lot of waiting until then :/


Another tv-show that has no air date yet but that is planned: The Killing (crime investigation). There's only one season atm but a second one is planned. Interesting thing about this show is that all thirteen episodes are about the murder of one Rosie Larsen, who killed her and why.
Nicely done, good suspense, dark, to the point and pretty realistic. I liked it.


Still no news from Outcasts and Camelot.
Which is not a drama as the shows where OK but not as brilliant as some others.


Still a pity there wont be another season of Lie to Me.
If you're a Tim Roth fan I strongly recommend this show.


Next on my to see list: Parks and Recreation (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1266020/)
"The absurd antics of an Indiana town's public officials as they pursue sundry projects to make their city a better place."
And according to some of my Get Glue friends, a must see ^_^

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