Oxford

For some reason, going to Oxford or Stratford always requires fudge.  I don't know why, only that it does, and I obey.  And in this case, the first decent shop that I came across that had free samples was directly across from a free (tipping) tour that was starting up as I exited with my fudge.  Talk about perfect timing.

It was nice hearing about the many schools that make up Oxford and the various rivalries and assumptions made about each school from a local.  As per usual, the guide was charismatic and eager to please, happily pointing out the various locations they filmed the Harry Potter movies for those who asked (it wasn't me this time, I swear!  There were other fans abound).

Bridge of Sighs

We saw all the usual famous sights, like the Bridge of Sighs, the Sheldonian Theatre (anyone else thing of BBT?), and the outsides of a lot of campuses, who were closed for tour groups, but which I snuck back into later for a peek because I figured I looked enough like a student to get by.  The insides are gorgeous just like the outsides, with old style courtyards and quaint gardens.  Imagine studying history where that history actually happened!

Sheldonian Theater

One funny thing that happened in the middle of the tour was when three people came up to us and asked to take a picture with our group, as it was part of a scavenger hunt to get a picture with 10 or more people!  So I'm famous somewhere.

Oxford is another one of those places that just has so much history and the trod of so many famous names across its cobblestones.  After the tour, I went over and had a look at the Eagle and Child Pub, where the Inklings, a writing group composed of such names as C. S. Lewis and J. R. R. Tolkien.  I also went down the alleyway where it was said Lewis got the inspiration for the first scene in Narnia, and in coming out of building into the new world of the street, the first thing you seen indeed is a tall lamppost.

After hitting up the Oxford Covered Market and enjoying a pasty snack and a new scarf, I headed over to the Ashmolean Museum and wandered for a bit.  It's kind of a strange collection, very ecliptic, with a bit of everything.  Old Roman and Greek statues, part of an Egyptian wall full of hieroglyphs that made me feel like I was in an episode of SG-1, ancient pots, a couple of Stradivarius and a collection of china dinnerware that could rival the Queen's.

And while looking through all that was pretty darn cool, the Museum of National History and the Pitt Rivers Museum was even better.  It had dinosaurs!  Does that make me sound like I'm five?  But really, it had an excellent collection of skeletons, from dinosaurs (though those were only plaster casts) to a bunch of species still around today.  They had examples of just about everything natural, rocks, insects, you name it.  And the Pitt Rivers Museum was just as unique, with all sorts of masks, tools, and items people have made and used from the beginning of our time.  Again, I don't know if it was just the layout or what, but the museums seemed very inviting and interesting.

When the museums kicked me out at closing time, I still had a couple hours to kill before catching my train back, so I enjoyed a quiet dinner at a place called Giraffe.  The fire alarm started going off continuously while I was there, and there was quite the to-do once they managed to get it turned off again.  But they had the best soy, chilli & mirin edamame there.  Yum!