Harpenden Neighborhoods

Every now and then, during the seminar, I would get outside and get some fresh air, enjoying the neighborhoods around the base. Most days I would walk into town and explore or down the street to the closest grocery store. On these walks, I enjoyed the beauty of the houses around Harpenden. From the colored doors to the vines growing and catching the sun peering through the clouds, it’s all beautiful.

Since there were several routes to and from the base, I made an effort to travel along as many of the local streets as I could.

This last image is one of my favorites from the neighborhood strolls. If you look closely, you will find some action figures up in the windows. I love how the sun shines on part of the house, showing off the contrast of light and shadows.

Downtown Oxford part 1

When I found out we were going to have an outing and spend the day in Oxford, I was so excited!! After we explored where C.S. Lewis lived, we headed to downtown Oxford. Of course, by that time we were hungry and headed to a couple of pubs to enjoy some food. I went with a few of my friends to the pub in the photo above, King’s Arms, and had the best bangers and mash I have ever had.

After lunch, I grabbed my camera and went on a photo walk, exploring as much of the city as possible. Leaving the pub, I looked to my right and saw this cool street lined with pastel-colored buildings and cool doors; of course, I headed that way first.

I walked wherever my feet took me, seeing as much of the Oxford beauty that I could see. Thankfully the rain had pretty much stopped that afternoon; it was just a bit cold.

There were so many brightly colored businesses, cobblestone alleys, and much more. It would have been cool to have seen more, but with the short time, I felt that I saw quite a bit.

The meet-up point for my fellow seminar friends was at the famous local bookstore, Blackwell’s. When I first passed by it while on my photo walk, I was going to take a photo, but there was such a large crowd of people in front that I waited to photograph it. But of course I forgot later on. It was seriously the biggest and coolest bookstore I’ve ever been to in my life. There were so many levels, stairs, and books everywhere. You would probably need a few days to look through the entire shop.

Until next time, Oxford.

Oxford CS Lewis

“You can make anything by writing.” C.S. Lewis

The church C.S. Lewis attended in Oxford, along with the cemetery where he was buried.

During my time in Harpenden, we had the opportunity to travel to Oxford for the day. Our first stop was where C.S. Lewis lived, attended church and was buried. This was a wonderful experience. I sat on his pew, walked in his footsteps, and toasted his grave. Some of the students brought something to drink (nonalcoholic 😜) so we could toast to Lewis (and to Tolkien later on in the day). Some of us read excerpts of his writings and how he has inspired us.

Inside of Lewis’ church

In front of the pew where Lewis’ worshiped.

Lewis’ home in Oxford.

Being in front of The Kiln’s, C.S. Lewis’ home where he wrote all of the Narnia books and other classics, was really awesome. It was amazing to have been that close. He also has a nature reserve close to his house (photo below). I would have enjoyed simply sitting there, and taking in the scenery whiling reading his books.

C.S. Lewis Nature Reserve near his home.

It really was a wonderful experience, despite the fact that the majority of the morning we spent wandering was chilly and wet. The rain stopped as soon as we got to Oxford, allowing us to see the city without getting too soaked.

JRR Tolkien’s grave

Once at Tolkien’s grave we toasted to him as well, including some reading from his work. If you notice in the photo above, at his grave, people have left 3 rings. 😍

Oxford University

After learning more about C.S. Lewis, we walked around Oxford University and the city (more in future blogs), exploring the beauty all around.

The lamp that was supposedly inspired by Narnia!

“There are far, far better things ahead than any we leave behind.” CS Lewis

YWAM Harpenden

Back in February I had the opportunity to travel to YWAM Harpenden to attend a writer’s seminar/retreat for two weeks. I found out about this seminar from my friend Charis, who led the time when she posted it last year. After I received more information about it, I knew this would be just what I needed: a time to be around other creatives in an inspiring environment to work on my writing.

This was actually my second time at this base, even though I don’t remember much about my first time. It was back in the early 2000s when I was traveling to the US from Madagascar. I had an overnight layover in London, and with some connections, they put me up there at the base.

The Harpenden base is gorgeous. All of the buildings (most of them) make up an oval, with a large grassy area in the middle. There are many buildings that house staff, students, volunteers, etc. There is the large dining hall, a pottery studio, an amazing coffee shop (The Oval Cafe), a chapel (photo above), and more.

Every morning we all met together, with classes about poetry, book publishing, telling a story, parts of a story, and a lot more. Some mornings we had worship together with the base, devotions with just our group, or intercession. And the afternoons were filled with time to work on our books/writing, doing pottery together, and talking walks.

This was one of the things I created during pottery class. The first one was a bowl, and this is a replica of a house in Sebiu, Romania. We had two classes for pottery, but I wasn’t able to make the second one, as I was getting over a bad cold. We could create something freehand or use the pottery wheel. I ended up just using my hands to create those two things. Working with clay is very relaxing and fun. You can make whatever you want.

I miss going to the Oval Cafe to grab a coffee or chai and work on my writing. And there were days I grabbed a delicious pastry as well. It made me think of the cafe I worked at with YWAM Budapest. This cafe is also a ministry, opened up to the public.

The cafe as well hosted our reading evening, where we all took turns reading snippets of our book, something new we wrote, or a poem. I was extremely nervous, but I was so proud of myself for getting up there and sharing from my heart. Everyone did an amazing job that evening!

I miss all these faces!! They are an amazing group of creatives. It was such a blessing to be around them all for those two weeks. It went by way too fast!! But I am thankful that we still keep in touch from time to time, learning from each other.