Saturday, May 24, 2014
Longest day! However, Oxford was definitely a nice break from London. Today from start to finish seemed like I was running a never ending race (and the hangover from the wine last night did NOT help. There are so many things I saw, did, and learned, I honestly don’t even know where to begin… I’ll start at the beginning.
The train ride there was nice to be able to see the English countryside, besides parks and gardens open space doesn’t exist in the city. There was a sense of openness that I hadn’t seen in a while. Before I could get comfortable enough to take a nap we arrived at Oxford.
Oxford (explained by Tim) wants to be unlike any place on earth. It craves to be different so much they even have their own time, which is five minutes later than anywhere else in the same time zone. It really is unlike any place I have ever been, and hard to explain why.
The main differences I noticed within just a few hours are: People kind of rule the roadways, the city is full of younger people, everyone kind of has this “I’m busy, but not too busy” look about them, and after about 4:00-5:00pm the streets are completely packed compared to the rest of the day.
We went several places within our day’s tour. Starting with the Sheldonian Theatre, Blackwell (the amazing bookstore), the science museum (I saw Einstein’s writing on his blackboard), the indoor market (where I ate at Pieminster, with desert at the original Ben’s Cookies), Christ Church Cathedral, and finished at The Eagle and Child (the pub where the Inklings met and read works out loud).
It was nice to walk (most of the day run) around such a place full of people doing different things and not just rushing to rush as people often do in London. It was a nice day for the most part (although it was hot and cold depending on the rain) and I looked forward to the quite train ride home (where I got a nap). The rest of the day was spent recouping and getting ready for the next day’s adventure.
The train ride there was nice to be able to see the English countryside, besides parks and gardens open space doesn’t exist in the city. There was a sense of openness that I hadn’t seen in a while. Before I could get comfortable enough to take a nap we arrived at Oxford.
Oxford (explained by Tim) wants to be unlike any place on earth. It craves to be different so much they even have their own time, which is five minutes later than anywhere else in the same time zone. It really is unlike any place I have ever been, and hard to explain why.
The main differences I noticed within just a few hours are: People kind of rule the roadways, the city is full of younger people, everyone kind of has this “I’m busy, but not too busy” look about them, and after about 4:00-5:00pm the streets are completely packed compared to the rest of the day.
We went several places within our day’s tour. Starting with the Sheldonian Theatre, Blackwell (the amazing bookstore), the science museum (I saw Einstein’s writing on his blackboard), the indoor market (where I ate at Pieminster, with desert at the original Ben’s Cookies), Christ Church Cathedral, and finished at The Eagle and Child (the pub where the Inklings met and read works out loud).
It was nice to walk (most of the day run) around such a place full of people doing different things and not just rushing to rush as people often do in London. It was a nice day for the most part (although it was hot and cold depending on the rain) and I looked forward to the quite train ride home (where I got a nap). The rest of the day was spent recouping and getting ready for the next day’s adventure.