Henley-on-Thames

Part of the Academic Philosophy at Newbold (and I suspect other Colleges/Universities in the UK) involves leaving large amounts of free time for the student that is to be used primarily for studying and reading. This means that two days of the week I have only one class and on Fridays, no class.

This was my first Friday to take advantage of this luxury so I gladly used the opportunity. Mark, the fellow that took us all around London my first time in, asked if I wanted to go for some coffee and I was glad to do so. The plan was to go into Bracknell, the nearest city to Binfield, but upon arrival he announced that we were going up to Henley.

The town of Henley-on-Thames is about a 20 minute drive NNW of Binfield (we had a great time navigating with his GPS). Henley is a world-renown center for rowing. Each summer the Henley Royal Regatta is held on the Thames River (pronounced tehmz) which is the same river that passes through Central London. The race attracts English middle and upper class.

When we got there it was a beautiful day. The sun was shining; it was nearly 75 degrees outside. We spent most of the afternoon walking around the town, meandering in and out of shops. One shop that we went in was completely filled with all sorts of things: doorknobs, stools, tins, dishes, eating utensils - all quite old. The ceiling was barely six feet tall and there was just room enough to pass through the different aisles without knocking over one of the trinkets.

The view from each side of the bridge as you enter Henley

Who knew their mail-drops were bright red too? I thought it was a fire hydrant!

(Tomorrow, or possibly the next day I will have a post up about our trip into Windsor this Sabbath. Also, we are headed back in tomorrow to London for another festival so the picture tour of the campus might have to wait 'till next weekend)