"The Innocents Abroad"



They are odd.

 What do you do when Gannon takes you to "The Last Bookshop" where everything is £2? And this bookstore happens to be in Oxford? Buy a book, of course! This Mark Twain title just happened to catch my eye, and I just couldn't resist. I got to spend a great day with two fellow Hillsdalians (that looks weird but ok..)- Gannon and Ernst- showing me around the place. If I get any of this wrong or confused, let me know! My memory has never been very good. Stop number one: Bodleian, aka the Library. Pass required and motion sensors on some of the shelves. =O  That's why it's a capital L. We passed by the Radcliffe Camera, a circular building with a great study atmosphere. At least, that's what I'm told. The tower of St. Mary's had a nice view of the surrounding area. Oxford is a lot more expansive than I expected. The small streets are a bit similar to Torun, until you hit the colleges. New College was technically closed to visitors, but I guess it all depends on your definition of visitor. ;) The chapel here was very pretty. I'm always amazed by the stone carvings. Got a peak at the dining hall as well. The colleges have fancy quads with perfectly manicured lawns, which are off limits to just about everyone. Except the dog that happened to avoid detection. Not fair. There was a garden with another "no public access" lawn with a very tempting bench right in the middle of it. It also had the stairs to nowhere, completely off limits to everyone. I must say, Oxford has some very odd traditions. Christ Church Meadows are a beautiful piece of English countryside. There were even cows across the fence; a lot of resident ducks too. Punting along the river looked like a lot of fun. I will have to come back to try it.



Christ Church meadows, by the entrance.

 

Back in town, we stopped at "The Eagle and the Child" for lunch. Established in 1650, it hosted meetings of "The Inklings," who included Lewis and Tolkien. I could to be in England without trying fish and chips. Or without having afternoon tea! And so we went over to "The Rose" for tea and scones. I understand the colonists had some issues with tea, but that's in the past. Forgive, forget, and bring tea time back State-side?

We stepped into St. Aloysius' (the Oxford Oratory) and the Ashmolean Museum. Scriptum. A stationary shop with quills, wax seals, fancy cards, leather bound journals, dark-wood library worthy editions of classics. If only I had a mere £40 to spend on Hans Christian Andersen's Fairy Tales.... *sigh*

Final stop: Turf Tavern (est. 1799) for dinner. Finding the place could be a bit difficult because it's down a narrow alley. Ernst was too tall for the door and had to duck inside. People must have been tiny back then, but it adds to the character of the place. This whole day was so surreal. Gannon and I had talked about meeting up this summer, but it was hard to believe it was actually happening. The three of us, in Europe, together.