We didn’t have to eat breakfast until 8:30 this morning so I got to sleep in a little compared to usual and get up with enough time to get ready at my own pace. That room was so relaxing that I thoroughly enjoyed getting ready in it and staying in there as long as possible. By far my favorite hotel ever. The breakfast was also super fancy. There were 3 circle tables that were set to perfection. Every dish and utensil imaginable were on the table. They had multiple juice options, fruits, cereals, meats and cheeses, fried eggs, bacon, sausage, and coffee. It was delicious. I love breakfast. I love The White Swan hotel. I will come back one day. It is a great place to stay for anyone who might ever travel there. I have no idea how much it costs but it is totally worth it. We left there at about 9:30 and walked to the train station to take three different 30 minutes train rides to Oxford. There was a lot of switching and waiting involved. After the last train ride, we gathered outside the station and we started to count off. There are 24 of us and we each have a number to make sure no one gets left behind. I am number 7 but after me, there was silence. Number 8 was missing. Number 8 is Claire. Claire was missing. We all started searching for her and trying to contact her because she had somehow missed getting of the train since she was not near anyone from our group due to the very crowded train. After multiple failed attempts to contact her, we could only hope she would get off at the next station and come back. Hannah (group leader) waited for her as the rest of us glumly walked to our hotel. It was like there was a gray rain cloud above us because we were all worried about Claire getting back to us. We arrived at the location we are staying at called Keble College. We couldn’t check into our rooms yet so we had to take our bags to this other room while we traveled out for lunch. Half of the group went to a restaurant that C.S. Lewis spent a lot of time at while the other half went out on our own for lunch. My half gets to eat at that restaurant tomorrow for lunch. I went with 4 others to Bella Italia for lunch. On our way to lunch we saw Claire and Hannah walking the other direction and we were so relieved to see her! We knew we would have to hear her story later. For lunch, I got meatballs in sauce with bread. It wasn’t much but it was tasty. Then we walked back to the place we are staying to wait for a coach to take us to C.S. Lewis’s house. The other half of the group met back up with us. On the bus ride, Claire filled us in on her adventure. She said she didn’t see the rest of us get off at the station so she wasn’t aware that it was our stop until after they had left the station. She asked the lady next to her if the train passed Oxford and when she found out they had, she panicked briefly but then knew to get off at the next station and ask for help. She handled it like a champ and we are all very proud of her:) We missed her while she was absent. C.S. Lewis’s house was experiencing a public open house for visitors to walk through and see it which was great timing for our group because we were able to just waltz in for free and on our own time. It was neat to see his house and they created a little room with a door to Narnia which was cute. There are actually students working on furthering their higher education who live in the house year round so there were a couple of people there working on their studies which was a bit odd. I felt a ‘wee’ intrusive. The group gathered in his garden and enjoyed the blue sky for awhile until a big rain cloud started moving in and we decided to walk to the cemetery he is buried in. We found his gravestone. It is a rectangle stone that is as big as a coffin and lays flat on the ground with his name, Clive Staples Lewis. We all wandered around the cemetery for a bit because it was really pretty and peaceful after the rain briefly stopped. We then walked back to our coach and went back to the lodge we are staying at to check in. We got our keys and dispersed to our rooms. They are kind of like dorm rooms and we each have our own room. They are pretty depressing and basic. Nothing fancy here for sure. They kind of feel like a prison but I mean obviously better. Just a bit depressing. We all kind of relaxed until dinner so I took a short nap. We met up for dinner and walked around for awhile trying to find a place to eat for cheap since our stipend money for food is on its last leg. We found a fancier fast food restaurant called Leon. I got a chicken burger and waffle fries. It was good and cheap so I was happy with it. We walked around town a little more and went into random shops and then finally made our way back to this small kiosk where they sell a lot of different food options, but most importantly, milkshakes. The 5 of us got milkshakes and then made our way back to the lodge (I am not really sure how to refer to our accommodations tonight). We planned more free travel in some goofy moods and then tried to settle down to sleep. Tomorrow we have worship and a tour.

Fun Facts: The fire alarm went off during our lunch but it was for the building next door so the owner just struggled turning it off for like 15 minutes which didn’t really bother us because their fire alarms are a whole lot calmer than the ones in America, especially Freed’s dorms fire alarms. Yikes. Waiters in Europe take their sweet time getting you the bill, which wouldn’t be a problem if we ate for casual enjoyment but we almost always have somewhere to be so it is always a struggle getting out of any restaurant in a timely fashion. You cannot use Spotify (without premium), Google Music, Pandora, or Amazon Prime Video out of the country you live in…. unfortunately. I have seen the most homeless people in Oxford than anywhere else.
SHOUTOUT: Claire Livingston for being a brave soul today when she was a lost sheep from our flock!