Ever since I was a child have always wanted to go to Oxford. At some point I also dreamt about studying there, but since my academic career never turned out to be a very long one it never happened.
So finally last Saturday I decided to jump on the train and go to Oxford. I immediately feel in love with all the old colleges, cobblestone streets and the charm of a small city which have grown around their colleges. The term had just started so everywhere I went there was students wearing caps and gowns since there was some starting ceremony at Sheldonian Theatre. I couldn't believe how young there were, and then I realised that it's probably me getting old...
I was also able to visit Exeter College and Christ Church College, which were two very different colleges. Exeter small and right in the middle of everything and then Christ Church, the largest college of them all. Famous for its dining hall and church that actually is considered a cathedral. The porter at Christ Church made my day with saying that I looked like a student and charged me as one, i.e. nothing. Of course I also had to visit Blackwell's bookshop and stop by at one of Inspector Morse's favouite pubs next door.
Just being in Oxford for one day was almost too short so I'm very sure I'll go back again. There are plenty of other things to do and see and as usual the Anglophile in me wants to see it all.
1 comment:
Funny, I always said, at least until I was 20 or so, that I'd go to Cambridge - though it was never really in my budget and chance would have it that I never applied.
Still, Cambridge was the first place I got to know in the UK - we arrived Harwich late in the night, drove to Cambridge by bus and stayed for a week - and it was love at first sight (I was 17). I never much took to Oxford, but I've never really seen the university buildings properly, just passing thru the place on other business. I was cat sitting in Oxford once though, a bit outside of the city centre, that was a lovely experience - more because of the surroundings and good friends than the cats, but still.... I think I left a piece of my heart in Cambridge, but, like you, it ended up being just a dream for me, and it's a very distant dream today but still lovely...
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