Oxbridge

Friday, September 21

Today was my "eventful" trip to Oxford. Tim and I got up early and headed to grab some breakfast in the cafeteria before our day trip, which turned out to be a mistake. When we got to the Underground station to head to Paddington, we got on the Tube only to find out that the train in front of us was disabled on the tracks. Mind you, this was rush hour, so it was no surprise that chaos ensued. Everybody ran towards the street, hailing every cab and filling up every bus, Paddington station was three miles away and our train was leaving in twenty-five minutes. We walked/jogged the whole way in about thirty minutes, so we were late and exhausted. The tickets I'd purchased were now useless so we had to shell out another 17 quid to get to Oxford. Let's just say it wasn't a good start to the day. The train ride was about an hour and a half, and we finally arrived in Oxford at noon (an hour later than we were supposed to).

Our first stop was Carfax Tower. Essentially, you pay two quid to climb up 99 steps of the most claustrophobic spiral staircase you've ever seen. I'm pretty sure it was built for people that were five feet tall and five stone, but the view from the top made it all worth it. The tower is one of the tallest buildings in Oxford and afforded us a wonderful view of the city. After Carfax Tower we headed to Christ Church and Magdalen colleges to see their quadrangles and cathedrals. The campuses were beautiful, I was trying to think of a more descriptive adjective, but that will have to do. We then headed to the Bodleian Library (the oldest library in the world) and the Radcliffe Camera, whose architecture was picture-worthy in the least and majestic at best. But soon we realized that we had really seen all that Oxford had to offer. Then we headed to the bus station and took the hour-long bus ride to Woodstock. After getting off the bus, we set our sights on Blenheim Palace.

As you've probably heard, I'm quite the fan of Winston Churchill. So before I came out here I compiled a list of Churchill-related places to visit: his estate in Kent, the World War Two war rooms, etc. I had placed Blenheim Palace on the list, partly because I had heard that it was impressive but mainly because it was the place that Churchill was born (his mother went into labor at a party she was a attending there). I thought the 13 quid admission was a bit steep, and then I walked through the gate. I am sure that the view of the palace and its grounds will be one of the most beautiful and amazing things I will ever see, it will probably even beat out seeing my first born child. The Grand Bridge, the countless hectares of rolling green hills, the Column of Victory, The Great Court, and the palace itself - it was an experience not easily transcribed. There were two excellent exhibitions on the Duke of Marlborough and his direct descendant, Winston Churchill. It was very informative, and seeing everything from the military uniform of Churchill to the side bedroom where he was born was akin to a religious experience.

After walking five miles on the grounds we finally had to leave and head back to Oxford. Again, we were quite exhausted. Our train left at midnight, so we had to burn about 6 hours in a relatively boring town. So we hid out in a quiet pub, well, it was quiet for about 3 hours. But Oxford is a college town, and it was Friday night, soon that quiet pub was converted into a rowdy pub, which was a shame. So we were forced to wander the streets for the next two hours in order to find a semblance of quietude because we were utterly exhausted. We both fell asleep the minute we sat down on the train and woke up in London. We arrived at 1am, so the Tube was closed, and after waiting for the bus for half an hour, we decided to walk home. We made it about three blocks and hailed a cab, we barely made it up the stairs to our room and I passed out at about 2am.

Saturday, September 24th

After four hours of sleep, we headed for the Victoria bus station. I slept on the bus the whole way to Cambridge, we got in at about 10:30. Okay, I know I've now only been to three cities outside London, but by far, Cambridge was my runaway favourite. We started our day at Trinity College, with a gorgeous quad and chapel. It turns out it is the wealthiest college in the world, with alumni such as Isaac Newton, Francis Bacon, Lord Tennyson and Prince Charles. We continued our two-day college tour by going to yet another Magdalen College (as with everything else, it was more enjoyable than its Oxford counterpart), and then onto King's College, which had the best quad and cathedral I've seen (better than Westminster Abbey). It was truly a treat. We then headed to the River Cam to see if we could catch a punting tour. You can rent your own punt (boats that are built on the same idea as gondolas), but we figured that would just be humiliating, so we managed to get a punting tour guide. The ride was relaxing (when we weren't colliding with those uncoordinated tourists who rented their own) and very enjoyable. After the ride, we sneaked onto the grounds of Trinity College in order to sit by the river and watch those same tourists push their boats around in circles. We did this until sundown and then headed off for the bus station on the other side of town. Arrived back into London (exhausted mind you) around 11, went to bed at midnight and slept until noon Sunday (I earned it).

Sunday, September 23rd

As I said before, I slept until noon. The power has been out in my room since Friday, so I've basically spent the whole day in the Common Room downstairs with my laptop plugged into the wall. Very uneventful day, only ventured out for lunch, dinner, and coffee. Will probably turn in early on account of still being relatively worn out from walking about 25 miles over the past two days (I've got the blisters on my feet to prove it). The next event in my schedule is Ireland in a week and half, it will be my first time out of England, and I am really looking forward to it. Cheers!