Oxford Blokes

Yesterday, we departed from our beloved channel in favor of London. we met up with john's friend, murray from oxford and had a great afternoon (though dealing with bouts of torrential rain). we had one small objective--as we were to attend a birthday party for another oxford friend (that we rather unexpectedly found out was a black tie affair) we needed a suit and a black bow tie. this is no small task in possibly the most expensive city in the world. with a stroke of luck we were both able to nab somewhat respectable suits for £1.50 apiece with a tie for £9. that's right! (though shoes eluded us so i had to wear my vans sneakers and john his chaco sandals). we left london for the country side and arrived only so see an english chateau nestled in acres of gardens with some of the most elaborate food i have ever seen. john and i were true english aristocracy for one short night!
This morning, we left for the countryside for Oxford in which we arranged to meet an Oxford Ph.D who had swam the channel in 2005. we had some tea and discussed logistical swiming issues and strategies (i.e. working out feeding patterns, mental exercises, and words of advice for the support team on the boat--like throwing up off the otherside of the boat than john). it was incredibly helpful--we want to take all the advice we can get.
(side for k&a: after the meeting, john and i investigated the radcliff camera geocache and found it was still there)
off to have some dinner in college... cheers!

p.s. i don't have my camera cord here in oxford but as soon as we return to dover tomorrow i'll post some more pictures.