Birthdays come in all kinds of ways...even at Oxford.

:] In lieu of my 22nd birthday, THIS was my surprise as I awoke...

...this adorable little cake is from "The Cake Shop" in town...and the sheep is simply the cutest.

It it was a lovely day, overall. 

It is most necessary to include that the day of my birthday just happened to be our last trip--this time to Bath, a few hours away from Oxford--and also, notably, known for Jane Austen having been a resident there with some of her family. Ironically, Austen herself hated Bath, mostly due to the pressures of the "elite" society's particular way of life--and also of course because she felt it much too showy. Actually, we happened to bump into some costumed Austen characters getting photos taken for a celebration the next day...umbrellas and petticoats galore.

We visited the beautiful Bath Abbey, the Roman Baths (still with warm water steaming in the center), did a kind of "walking tour" for the specific architectural 

strides that make the city so unique--and even managed to drop into "Sally Lunn's Buns"...the name says it all. The abbey was probably my favorite experience of the day, getting to walk through with a sort of guide to remember the faithfulness of the Lord in our lives. 

(In fact, one spot even had us recall our baptism and how that was used in our walk to strengthen our commitment, it was a much needed exercise for my soul!). The baths themselves--still used for certain arthritic medical purposes, are very impressive...it was slightly disturbing that they had tried to replicate the bathing of locals so closely that they cast overhead images of naked men with towels standing by the sides of the inside caves.

It was actually quite a surprise how many gawking eyes stayed in that room to try and make out exactly what the images were! :] I concluded the visit by tossing a penny (Lord knows our currency is worth nothing here anyway) into the respective area in a birthday-wishing fashion! It should be noted that I had an excellent shot, and ripples ensued.

Sally Lunn's Buns is a tiny hole-in-the-wall tearoom 

that claims famous admirers like Dickens and Austen very openly, with references to their favorite rooms or specific quotations on the stairs leading up the main dining area, but I must admit that there is nothing very appealing to me about an extra large hamburger roll type-bun on a plate--even if it is covered in some sort of cream or jam. And I do mean extra large. (It never ceases to amaze me what the English will call food!). Anyway, a group of us had the famous buns and tea/coffee and laughed probably too loudly for most tearooms unaccustomed to American gregarious twenty-somethings, and it felt very birthday-appropriate.

We also observed John Wood's masterpieces of architecture: the King's Circus and the Royal Crescent, both half-moon style buildings now divided into separate

vertically-aligned apartments. The interesting thing to note regarding the Crescent, and much of the cities architecture, is that separate contractors were hired to complete the segments--so that while the front of the facades appear to be symmetrical and orderly, the back of the buildings are absolutely ambiguous.  

When we got back, we gathered momentum and went into town to enjoy whatever an Oxford-style Italian restaurant could offer us...and frankly, the food was amazing and not at all fried! Such a great birthday excursion.