Oxford
On Saturday morning I met up with the bf at Paddington Station to catch a train to Oxford, where we were spending the weekend with friends. I was amused to find the Paddington Bear Stall there at the very station where the fictional bear was found in the first book. If I hadn’t been in such a rush, or if I had looked a little closer, I would probably also have noticed the life size bronze statue of Paddington near the elevators. Ho hum.
Anyway, to get from London your 2 options are bus or train. The bus journey takes around 2 hours and costs £6-8. Alternatively you can purchase an Anytime train ticket (British Rail recently revamped their ticket system) for approximately £17 and jump on any train to your destination on the day of your choice. The journey takes an hour if you’re on a direct train, or 90 minutes if your train is making stops along the route.
Inside Christ Church College
The third option, which I used, is to purchase an Advance ticket, where you book a seat on a specific train (e.g. the 9:20 to Oxford). If you make this booking before 6pm the evening before departure you can get your ticket for just £7, which is a huge saving.
The only problem was that my South African credit card wasn’t accepted when I tried to book online – I eventually had to use my cousin’s UK bank card. I can’t explain why this was the case because I had no problems booking for Spamalot on the Net. I can only theorise the problem stemmed from the fact that most SA credit cards aren’t yet using chip technology (seemingly becoming the standard in Europe), or that you actually have to be a UK resident to have the privilege of booking train tickets online. Whatever it was, while ABSA authorised the transaction back home, on the UK side they just wouldn’t/couldn’t put it through.
Anyway, forgetting all this, we had a fantastic sunny weekend in Oxford. Paul was obviously most excited about spending time with one of his oldest friends. For me, the thrill of coming to Oxford stemmed largely from the city’s importance to fantasy literature.
Boys will be boys!
It was at Oxford that Maths professor Charles Dodgson wrote Alice in Wonderland under the pen name of Lewis Carroll (we made sure to stick our heads into the official Alice in Wonderland Shop where the real Alice, Alice Liddell bought her sweets over a hundred years ago.). It was also at Oxford where C.S. Lewis devised The Narnia Chronicles and would meet up with fellow English professor and Lord of the Rings author J.R.R. Tolkien at their favourite pub – The Eagle and Child. Going to the pub early on a Monday morning when it was deserted we actually got to have our drinks in the corner where the Inklings regularly sat. Geek bliss!
If this wasn’t enough, Oxford and its colleges play a central role in Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials trilogy, and the first film adaptation The Golden Compass was shot on location in the city. Oh, and let’s not forget that Harry Potter’s Great Hall is modelled on the dining room in Christ Church College and that some filming from the first 2 films took place in Christ Church as well. I actually stood on the same steps as Professor McGonagall/Maggie Smith when Harry meets her for the first time in Philosopher’s Stone.
Of course Oxford is a functioning university so visitors have to hope that the college they want to enter is actually open to non-students on the day they are there. Christ Church is an obvious favourite with tourists though and we got in there easily on a Monday morning, having paid our £5 entrance fee.
Other things we did while in Oxford included going for a relaxing boat cruise along the Thames, past all the rowers, punters and wealthy barge dwellers. The chilled vibe and scenery reminded me a lot of the Natal Midlands actually. Anyway, we were lucky. The Saturday we went on the trip was the last before the service closed for the Autumn and Winter months.
We also day tripped out to Warwick Castle and Stratford-upon-Avon.
Warwick Castle is to my knowledge the biggest castle in England. It is advertised as the ultimate Medieval Experience, and as such there are falconry displays and a demonstration of the largest functional trebuchet in the world.
Again you could really pass a whole day at this attraction. We spent a lot of time walking around the beautiful gardens – complete with wandering peacocks – and then looked around inside the main portion of the castle, which consists of a Great Hall full of armour and weaponry, and several ornate State Rooms. Warwick Castle is owned by the same company behind the London Dungeon and Madame Tussauds, so there were also several famous wax figures to pose with.
Look who I found… Helen Mirren! Oh, wait...
Stratford-upon-Avon proved to be basically a three-street-town and a total tourist trap, charging ridiculous prices for food and drink. At least it was late afternoon by the time we arrived, and the crowds were dying off. I actually didn’t bother going into Shakespeare’s house – posing outside was good enough, particularly when there was a traditional English cream tea waiting for me across the road. I couldn’t resist The Nutcracker though, a specialist store that is open all year round and is entirely dedicated to Christmas decorations.
That was pretty much the 2 and a half days spent in Oxford – probably the most relaxing portion of the entire trip. I'd honestly move there in a heartbeat... although I have no idea what you do for employment in the English countryside.
As a sidenote, I like to think of myself as something of culinary tourist, always willing to sample the traditional food and drink of the place I’m visiting (I actually think if I was in Korea I’d try dog, but sshhh, don’t let the animal lovers know). In Oxford that meant my first proper English cider with a big pub lunch, an excellent fish and chips meal, and a mega Cornish Pasty bought from the butcher in the local undercover market (who also makes boerewors, BTW). Anyway, it took me over 36 hours to eat the whole pasty, and even now you have only to mention pies and it triggers automatic nausea on my part. I’ll be staying away from meat and pastry combos for quite a while still, I think.
Anyway, to get from London your 2 options are bus or train. The bus journey takes around 2 hours and costs £6-8. Alternatively you can purchase an Anytime train ticket (British Rail recently revamped their ticket system) for approximately £17 and jump on any train to your destination on the day of your choice. The journey takes an hour if you’re on a direct train, or 90 minutes if your train is making stops along the route.
Inside Christ Church College
The third option, which I used, is to purchase an Advance ticket, where you book a seat on a specific train (e.g. the 9:20 to Oxford). If you make this booking before 6pm the evening before departure you can get your ticket for just £7, which is a huge saving.
The only problem was that my South African credit card wasn’t accepted when I tried to book online – I eventually had to use my cousin’s UK bank card. I can’t explain why this was the case because I had no problems booking for Spamalot on the Net. I can only theorise the problem stemmed from the fact that most SA credit cards aren’t yet using chip technology (seemingly becoming the standard in Europe), or that you actually have to be a UK resident to have the privilege of booking train tickets online. Whatever it was, while ABSA authorised the transaction back home, on the UK side they just wouldn’t/couldn’t put it through.
Anyway, forgetting all this, we had a fantastic sunny weekend in Oxford. Paul was obviously most excited about spending time with one of his oldest friends. For me, the thrill of coming to Oxford stemmed largely from the city’s importance to fantasy literature.
Boys will be boys!
It was at Oxford that Maths professor Charles Dodgson wrote Alice in Wonderland under the pen name of Lewis Carroll (we made sure to stick our heads into the official Alice in Wonderland Shop where the real Alice, Alice Liddell bought her sweets over a hundred years ago.). It was also at Oxford where C.S. Lewis devised The Narnia Chronicles and would meet up with fellow English professor and Lord of the Rings author J.R.R. Tolkien at their favourite pub – The Eagle and Child. Going to the pub early on a Monday morning when it was deserted we actually got to have our drinks in the corner where the Inklings regularly sat. Geek bliss!
If this wasn’t enough, Oxford and its colleges play a central role in Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials trilogy, and the first film adaptation The Golden Compass was shot on location in the city. Oh, and let’s not forget that Harry Potter’s Great Hall is modelled on the dining room in Christ Church College and that some filming from the first 2 films took place in Christ Church as well. I actually stood on the same steps as Professor McGonagall/Maggie Smith when Harry meets her for the first time in Philosopher’s Stone.
Of course Oxford is a functioning university so visitors have to hope that the college they want to enter is actually open to non-students on the day they are there. Christ Church is an obvious favourite with tourists though and we got in there easily on a Monday morning, having paid our £5 entrance fee.
Other things we did while in Oxford included going for a relaxing boat cruise along the Thames, past all the rowers, punters and wealthy barge dwellers. The chilled vibe and scenery reminded me a lot of the Natal Midlands actually. Anyway, we were lucky. The Saturday we went on the trip was the last before the service closed for the Autumn and Winter months.
We also day tripped out to Warwick Castle and Stratford-upon-Avon.
Warwick Castle is to my knowledge the biggest castle in England. It is advertised as the ultimate Medieval Experience, and as such there are falconry displays and a demonstration of the largest functional trebuchet in the world.
Again you could really pass a whole day at this attraction. We spent a lot of time walking around the beautiful gardens – complete with wandering peacocks – and then looked around inside the main portion of the castle, which consists of a Great Hall full of armour and weaponry, and several ornate State Rooms. Warwick Castle is owned by the same company behind the London Dungeon and Madame Tussauds, so there were also several famous wax figures to pose with.
Look who I found… Helen Mirren! Oh, wait...
Stratford-upon-Avon proved to be basically a three-street-town and a total tourist trap, charging ridiculous prices for food and drink. At least it was late afternoon by the time we arrived, and the crowds were dying off. I actually didn’t bother going into Shakespeare’s house – posing outside was good enough, particularly when there was a traditional English cream tea waiting for me across the road. I couldn’t resist The Nutcracker though, a specialist store that is open all year round and is entirely dedicated to Christmas decorations.
That was pretty much the 2 and a half days spent in Oxford – probably the most relaxing portion of the entire trip. I'd honestly move there in a heartbeat... although I have no idea what you do for employment in the English countryside.
As a sidenote, I like to think of myself as something of culinary tourist, always willing to sample the traditional food and drink of the place I’m visiting (I actually think if I was in Korea I’d try dog, but sshhh, don’t let the animal lovers know). In Oxford that meant my first proper English cider with a big pub lunch, an excellent fish and chips meal, and a mega Cornish Pasty bought from the butcher in the local undercover market (who also makes boerewors, BTW). Anyway, it took me over 36 hours to eat the whole pasty, and even now you have only to mention pies and it triggers automatic nausea on my part. I’ll be staying away from meat and pastry combos for quite a while still, I think.
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Mobin
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