Sunday, February 22, 2009

22/2/09

I got in around 6:15 but unfortunately the trains were open until 6:30 and the first train Victoria line train wasn't until 7, so I sat around for a while, killing my hopes of sleeping before I left for Oxford. I took the train to Oxford Circus and the transfer train wasn't going to be for a half hour so I walked back, showered and read about Oxford.

I had some cereal and a veggie burger and got on the bus. I sat next to Kim and we talked most the way down there, I wasn't too tired somehow. Oxford is awesome. It's literally a medieval city, with nearly every building being hundreds of years old. Interestingly, this is because Hitler wanted Oxford to be his capital of England so he didn't bomb the area.

The tour guide was an American who went to Oxford and actually met her husband there. She showed us around the area and told us about the history. The architecture was amazing. It felt like Hogwarts for real, even though it only sort of it (more later). But the campus felt like a college campus, but it had the old historic value to it all over as well as major shopping streets and old restaurants. I would love to spend a year there, so I think I'm going to be a Rhodes scholar. I already have a GPS so it can't be that hard. Maybe I can get Bill to write me a letter of rec, or maybe my photo with him can just serve as it.

Some of us went to eat at Eagle and Child where CS Lewis and JR Tolkien used to hang out with their literary club. I had roasted mushroom risotto and an Earl Grey tea. It was great, even more reason for me to go there.

After lunch we wandered for an hour before getting into Christ Church which was the inspiration for Harry Potter's dining room. Everyone, including me, seemed to think that the scenes were actually filmed in the dining hall, but they weren't, they were just based on there. Oh well. Henry VII held Parliament there and Lewis Carrol, Queen Elizabeth, Charlie Chaplin, among others ate there, so it was still cool. The buildings were 12th century, so it was impressive just being there. We went into the cathedral there too and they have an original stained glass window from the 1300s, super old for stained glass. I think it'd be really cool to go there for a year, if I like didn't have to do any work or anything and could just write and hang out.


I slept the bus ride home and went to Starbucks to write my column. It's on the Bulls and Blackhawks, I like it. Then I went down to the 24-hour Sainbury's, which apparently doesn't count for Sundays, but I went into a little store by it and bought three pizzas, a sponge and dishsoap, and laundry detergent. I think I might actually do my laundry tomorrow, they'd be exciting.

I've developed a huge blister on my heel, it's about two inches big. I'll spare you the pictures. I'm going to try to pop it tomorrow. Fun. Luke got back to me and said I can stay with his friend, so I'm going to contact her tonight and see what's up. I'm excited, that helps a lot.

Tomorrow I'm going to try to make it to a Pancake Day thing with CEA in the morning and I want to see a play at night, as well as do the laundry. I'm hoping it'll be a productive day.

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