Dominus Illuminatio Mea

The Lord is my light. The opening words of Psalm 27 and Oxford University's motto.

We have just had a beautifully lit, gracefully shining, brightly fun weekend enjoying the many delights of Oxford town. Becca, Adrian, Rosie, some mad locals and myself were all treated to 48 hours of its quaint yet sparkling charm. We encountered hospitality that seriously made the Faultys look like caring, clean and amiable folk, staying in a guesthouse run by a guy whose past includes scaling none other than Mt Everest (the photos on most walls and stale smells of Katmandu were hard to miss).
They say we leave our hearts in San Francisco, well this guy's complete lack of charisma, grunts and shifty eyes a sure sign that he certainly left much of his soul back in Nepal. But, like all things that go this way, I actually now have a bizarre fondness for Nanfords Guest House, Iffley Road (reputably the red light district of Oxford we have since found out!)
Oxford really held on to some gorgeous autumnal weather for us - strolling under huge blue skies through the earthy shades of the College walls, treading in fawn-like awe on the very same ground as C.S Lewis and J.R.R Tolkien and eating in the Eagle and Child where they and other Inklings met to discuss and argue the philosophies of this world and of their own imagined worlds; punting along the Cherwell with leaves overhead hinting they'll soon be gone and all the while enjoying the chatter and laughter only to be shared with close friends.

Yes, I now feel I am quite well acquainted with one of England's gems.