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Sunday 17 April 2022

Oxford!

My water sport talents lie in other areas than punting, I suspect

Masterpiece Mystery has really done me a disservice regarding my tourist expectations in Oxford. Did Inspector Morse once solve a crime involving tourists? Did any of Agatha Christie’s characters ever force their way on to a train, holding to their son lest he be dragged into the gap?

Masterpiece Mystery tourist representation: 0

Actual tourist representation on a sunny holiday Saturday: All the tourists

But aside from having to beat our way down the sidewalks, it was a lot of fun. Just standing in such an historical place is a bit chill-inducing.

We left the flat just after 7 AM to walk over and catch the 7:45 train, and we had a bit of a do getting home, having to take three different trains and arriving at the station around 11:15. We made it back to the flat around 11:40 PM. So a bit of an endurance event in itself, especially as I was planning to just hop on the evening train and fall asleep (in lieu of sitting in the cold in Blokefordhamshire for 45 minutes in the middle of the journey).

English trains are not yet my friend. (Although the fact that they exist certainly puts them far in the lead of American trains. Speak not to me of Amtrak.) Our troubles getting home were for a very sad reason – a fatality on the tracks. Puts our own transportation troubles in perspective, no?

But now, on to Oxford! (At this point, if you have no interest in old buildings, plants, and/or ducks, do feel free to leave. Laura Goodwin, making it possible to leave your relative’s vacation slide show since 2022.) There will be, as far as I know, no swimming-related items in this post (so a spoiler, I guess, that none of us feel into the drink while punting).

Arriving in Oxford. It was nice of them to label it.

Who Shot it Best?

It’s time to play our game – did E or I get the best photo? Up first for your consideration…

Photo Credit Eric – I’m taking points off for the modernistic building to the right harshing my vibe.
NOW, I feel like a hobbit
I shall defend Gondor from Sauron with my dying breath! (BTW, all Tolkien references shall be to the books, not the movies. All due respect to Peter Jackson, but #notmyLOR
The preceding photos are from the Oxford Castle and Prison – E’s choice, and I had my doubts, but it ended up being one of my favorite things that we did.
And here’s why – the views from the top of the tower were amazing. It would have been worth admission (and the climb) just for that, but we also learned a lot of fun Oxford history – The castle was built starting in 1071 (for William the Conquerer), and was a functioning jail until 1996, so you really span the gamut in this tour. It was a perfect place to start, especially since it was on the way from the train station to the city center.
Photo Credit Eric – It’s funny to me that we got almost identical pictures here, accounting for the fact that his eyeballs sit a bit higher off the ground
And here we go – around the tower!
wheee!!!
OK, fine, E shot this one better. Y’all, you have no idea how many of my pictures had my fingers in them yesterday.
Photo Credit Eric – I concede
And around we go!
Do you like Oxford?
I will make you like Oxford
OK, no more tower pictures
I forgot! On the way to Oxford Castle, we got our first view of the Thames in Oxford… complete with shopping cart.
OK, that’s a bit more scenic. My understanding is that this is the Thames, but it is called the Isis in Oxford. Correct me if I’m wrong.
What sensible ducks do on Saturday mornings
Here is the first building that seemed quaint to me
On our way over to brunch at George Street Social after the Castle (very yummy!). How cool is this tree?!?
I mean, seriously, how cool?
After brunch, we had a bit of time to spend before our Oxford walking tour (due to the fact that I’ll never make it as a travel agent), so we headed toward the Botanical Gardens. On the way, we came through the famous Covered Market. Most notable? Moo Moo’s Oxford, with every milkshake flavor known to man. Like, seriously. We made note, for a time when the kids had not just eaten big plates of pancakes and syrup. (They were all for going back-to-back.) Photo Credit Eric
Cool buildings on the way to the Botanical Gardens. Oxford is pretty chock-full of the them, and it was a 15-minute walk, so brace yourselves.
There were quite a few more than the ones I’ve selected – I’m just restraining myself more than I did with the castle tower. Photo Credit Eric
Eric really captured the Botanical Gardens with this one – it was a lovely place to be on a sunny Saturday afternoon, not too expensive, and nice to get away from the crowds a bit. And have a bit of a break in the shade before we headed back for our walking tour. Photo Credit Eric
Punting on the Thames. Just like Dick Van Dyke. I thought I’d get a picture of others doing it, in case we forgot to take ones of ourselves.
I found my favorite tree! Turns out, they are Magnolias. I’m too lazy to go find the picture from my other blog post right now, but these trees are emblematic of the first time I walked down a street in Bournemouth just enjoying the simple things.
OK, fine, since you kept asking – here it is
Another beautiful and popular English tree
In all its glory
I think this was my favorite plant. Ridiculously huge things are just so pleasing to the human psyche. I liked the papyrus too – I’d never seen papyrus. They had a really interesting greenhouse exhibit with all sorts of cash crops – bananas, cacao, cotton, etc. (We learned lots of interesting things all day long, I’m just trying not to bore you.)
We then walked the 15 minutes back to the city center to start our… walking… tour. Thankfully, E was still up for taking pictures, because after a 30-minute lecture to start the 2-hour tour, with us standing facing right into the 2:00 sun, I was kind of wiped out. The tour didn’t really live up to my expectations. This was partly my own fault, as it came in the middle of a really long day of walking that could have been better organized (by me). But the tour itself had a poorly organized start, the aforementioned 30-minute dehydration lecture, and didn’t go into as many places as I had hoped. I’m still glad we did it, as hearing from an actual Oxford student about the University and student life was very interesting. I just thought they could have cut some of the talking from the tour and improved it. On the other hand, I’m sure the kids were soaking up every historical fact 🙂 Actually, the historical facts were mostly interesting. It was the apocryphal stories I could have done without. Oh, almost forgot – this is where they filmed some of Harry Potter. We were supposed to go in, but it was closed for an event that day. Photo Credit Eric
“Inside” Bodleian Library. How is this “inside?” Photo Credit Eric
We did get to go inside Exeter College at the end, and it was very cool. This is their chapel, and it is stunning. The golden tile mosaics behind the alter were particularly impressive. Photo Credit Eric
Christopher Wren’s architecture – also very cool, as well as the history of him coming to Oxford after the London fire. Photo Credit Eric
Why are all you people here?!? Plus a bridge that I was supposed to be excited about. Photo Credit Eric
Everyone in the tour was busy taking instagram photos of themselves in the typical tourist places. I far prefer recording the things that made me feel as if I were in “The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.” (I had to look it up – it’s a giggle that there is no Oxford comma in the title.)
So very Tolkienesque. I’m ready to enter the Mines of Moria. (Actually Exeter College’s back quad – how could you not write fantasy with this as your landscape?)

The Rest of the Day

After the tour, it was another 15-minute walk back if we wanted to do the aforeseen punting, and we did. It was quite tiring, but quite the experience, and I’m glad we didn’t miss it.

I had the perfect plan to catch the candlelit evensong at Magdalen College, right next to the punting, but they had cancelled it for that evening, and we got done with punting too late to see the one at Christ Church. Which I’m sure would have been amazing (and makes me think of Bartlett talking about it on The West Wing), but I was also starving, so not so bummed just to go find dinner.

We ate at The Turf Tavern pub back near where we started the tour. I was glad to get in, both because it meant no delay in finding food for which I was by then desperate, but also that I got to have a drink where Oscar Wilde and so many others have tilted back a pint. Alas, we arrived as they were experiencing a problem with their nitrogen, so instead of a pint of Oxford beer, I paid 5 pound 30 for a sad bottle of Peroni (and another, when it looked like our train home could be a problem 🙂 ). But still, Oscar Wilde! Thomas Hardy! Emma Watson! And my gammon and eggs was very good and very filling, so it all turned out all right. (Hell, they had a bathroom – at that point, that was all I needed to achieve peace and happiness.)

After that, we made our way back to the train station and, eventually, home.