by: Boris

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(Raine in front of Prince Albert’s Memorial in Hyde Park.)

Zdravstvujtye!

We have made our way from London to Kent to Bedfordshire to Oxford and back to America! I am saddened and relieved. The second half of the trip made it very difficult to find internet access and I was afraid Raine would froth at the mouth with that much time away from K-drama, but she actually did quite well. You should applaud her…when she wakes up. She’s vacationing from her vacation.

(The gardens of Buckingham Palace.)

Unfortunately, she was unable to meet with her K-drama chingus whilst there because of her lack of internet access. But she did have an enjoyable time.

(Old church and graveyard in Ridgmont, Bedfordshire.)

In Bedfordshire, she walked the beautiful paths and fields owned by a Duke and met a mini-shetland pony nicknamed “Joke Horse” and a one-eyed cat named Aslan. The parents of the groom were excellent hosts. Unfortunately for me, the country doesn’t have very many electronic gadgets for me to admire. (The one-eyed cat was quite amusing, though.)

(Tower Bridge from the Millenium Bridge dropping the five rings of the Olympics.)

Then it was back to London for two more days of exploring. One incredibly interesting thing was an exhibition that explored the orchestra and explained it to the layman. Raine spent several hours there. There were partitions that showed the different sections of the orchestra and allowed one to hear the music from the performer’s point of view. They also had a musician from the orchestra playing along. The museum goer could play percussion or conduct along with the conductor with screens before them that had specific conducting directions. The screen were pretty attractive. Luckily for me, Raine spent a bit of time practicing her rusty conducting.

(County cricket match. See the shard in the background?)

Midway through the second week, she went to stay with the sister of the bride and two American friends. They traipsed through London, observed a cricket game (which is confusingly much like baseball), watched the light show from the Shard during the Fourth of July and then ate at an American style diner the next day. I hear it was quite tasty for human food.

(Raine walking along the Thames in Oxford.)

Finally, they headed to Oxford where they stayed in a home a block away from the Thames. Raine took a bus to Witney to rent a cello because she arranged Panis Angelicus for violin, cello and voice for her friend’s wedding and needed a cello to play on! A few kind people on the bus directed her to the violin shop and the kind violin maker drove her back home!

During this time, Raine was rather boring. She read two books of the Hunger Games trilogy and Northern Lights over the next few days and meandered around Oxford with her friends.

The night before the wedding, she attended a dinner and met friends and family of the bride and groom. These old halls at Oxford have absolutely no gorgeous women. All the antiquated appliances and trappings were completely not-to-taste.

(Chapel of Worcester College)

Afterwards, she went to rehearse with the violinist and the singer and was in heaven playing cello in the chapel of Worcester college with talented musicians. Even I have to admit it was rather glorious.

(Konbae!)

And then the wedding. What a beautiful affair. The groom was so happy, he could barely remain still. The bride was so serene that she was a vision. Raine’s arrangement went off without a hitch and then it was time to party. She was quite the flirt, the dancer, the drinker and the after wedding partier.

The rest of her time was spent exploring the food and museums and sights of Oxford. By the end we were both excited and reluctant to leave. I missed my favorite girl, Raine’s American phone! So sexy.

And now we’re home and sadly neglecting the blog. She has to move in two weeks, August 3rd, and the house has been absolute madness!

Thank you for sticking with us and our exploration of England!

Cheers!