Dæmon wrote:How did it feel to see in real life what you have read about so many times?
It was interesting to say the least. Since walking through Oxford is so much like walking through the last 800 years of history, your mind & imagination are already quite engaged.
I don't think I really had any real preconceived idea of what I thought it would look like. I have been in a lot of gardens & to England before for horticulture events... The only reason we thought there might really be a "real" bench in the Gardens was because of the photo in "Lyra's Oxford."
We really enjoyed walking into the Botanic Garden and seeing the items that Pullman described that lead us to the bench. It was a lovely morning. The Botanic Garden are quite beautiful.
I was a little taken back by the post above that seems to imply that "Lyra" is scratched on the bench there. I would hope that people traveling to see this location will realize the sacredness of the setting, irregardless of the HDM literature.
We did take a picture of ourselves with our daemons...
![Image](http://www.planbproductions.com/photos/His_Dark_Materials/OXFORD-BG-12-small.jpg)