|
  | |  |
Let's Get Smart
Entry 6 of 18 | show all | print this entry |
Now for the scholarly leg of my journey, I head up to Oxford. One of he most fabulous things about London is how easy and cheap it is to get anywhere through the UK by coach and that I can say I am a student and no one asks for ID so I never pay full price. The other fantastic thing is double decker bus. The great combination of these things is the Oxford tube. For 6 pounds, I got to sit in the front seat of the top deck to get to Oxford, which dropped me within two minutes walking distance of the Oxford Backpackers Hostel. First off all this the most fantastic hostel, great showers, very clean and the noise level was low. Best of all I got a bottom bunk, worst of all I was in a room of 18 about 11 of those was boys, so the night noises are abundant. Oxford is a fantastic little touring place because everything is very centrally located and very easy to walk to. So I headed to the tourist information booth to buy a walking tour book, and set off to explore the various campuses. Who would of thought that today would be my lucky day? As I head off to Christ Church, I take my time wandering through the lovely court yards and gaze at the amazing stair case that was used in the filming of Harry Potter. As I enter the cathedral, I see the choir boys lining up and what luck, I am there in time to hear them sing. Now during this I notice in the corner a bit of bustling around in a large group so I head down to investigate. As I view the scene, I see two women, two men and about a dozen men dressed in black suits all with those ear piece things on, and they are all looking at the stained glass work. They then walk past me, the two women look over and smile at me and then carry on. This crazy little (very gay) man comes over to me, who obviously works there, and says to me to me, "do you know who that is?" and of course I reply no. He gets all fussy and says, "that, is the Duchess of Glouster, the Queens cousin" So there you go, I toured Christ Church cathedral with the Duchess of Glouster, which means you lot are all 2 degrees from her and 3 degrees from the Queen. Now the other famous thing about Oxford in the dreaming spires, the great tall peaks of cathedrals allowing magnificent views over the city, courtyards and campuses. The one I ventured up was Carfax tower, and the views were as great as the brochure says they will be, including all the scaffolding and construction to the west (oh well I guess it all can't be pristine and perfect). Anyhow, I as continue of my walking tour, I stop at the Oxford Story which is a theme ride... yes you read correctly a theme ride that tells the story of how Oxford came to be, all while sitting behind a desk complete with headphones to hear the tale. It was actually very interesting and I have to admit a little fun. So that completed that day. The next day I had a little sleep in and when I got going, I found it was a beautifully warm and sunny day, t-shirt weather, so I grabbed my book and walked to the botanical gardens, and read all day in the sun, even managed to get a bit of a tan..fancy that in England of all place. The third and final day in Oxford I took a bus out to Blenheim Palace, the birth place of Winston Churchill, who by the way used to paint greeting cards for Hallmark, I had no idea, see you really do learn something new everyday. I took a guided tour there and wandered about the gardens taking in the place of engagement between Winston Churchill and Clementine, the rose gardens, the secret waterfall and the pleasure gardens. Off to bed early tonight as I am heading north to Leeds tomorrow for Thai Reunion part 2!
|
|
If you like this entry, search for other entries from United Kingdom or try a new search. |
| |
Back to Entry - Back to Home
|
7 votes 
This is a top pick!
