Tea anyone?

Today we had two lectures again. The first one was discussing the American passion regarding the war- as opposed to a reasonable center in policy making. Stephen Halpert was incredible, he was a Cambridge and Oxford Ph.D. and served under three presidents. We also had a lecture on the economics of Russia, which discussed corruption and the control of oil.

After our lecture, we went to the "orchard" for tea. The Orchard Tea Garden was a commune for some of the greatest thinkers and lecturers at the colleges, including Woolf and Keynes. We ate sandwiches, tea, scones, clotted cream and jam. We had to walk several miles to the apple orchard, but the trees and plants were in bloom.

On the way home, we walked by the river and had quite a view of the English countryside. No wonder why poets came here to study, it is truly inspiring. I also got my dog fix, and of course this little guy was all about swimming. His owners told me he had already swam 200 yards, when he came out, shook off and jumped right back in for another 200. After my scone, I think I would have sank if I jumped in after him.

Along the way, we came upon a very old chapel, it had a names list dating back to 1200 AD. Of course we all had to run in and see the beauty. It was very simple, but moving. I really felt it was an auspicious occasion, one doesn't get to stand in a building that old every day. If you double click on the picture, it comes out larger, so you can see the names. The camera I am using enables me to adjust the ISO so I can take pictures indoors. It was really dark in this church, but I got some good shots. It even had a plaque on the wall dating to the 1600's, commemorating someones death. The alter and stained glass were beautiful.

Finally, I caught a great picture of Joy in the field waiting for the crowd, so I posted it because Mike needed to see more "people" :)

Tomorrow we leave for Paris, I might not be able to post, but I will post as soon as I get pictures.