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Oxford

I spent a fabulous couple of days up in Oxford with Nat's Dad. Only thing is, it was sometime in January and I haven't had time to update my site since, so I've forgotten what everything is called! I've even forgotten which Nobel prize winners live on the same street as Nat's Dad and what they won for.

We did all the touristy things - ever patient Nat did them all again for the millionth time - including 'The Oxford Story' which was a ride of sorts. Basically you sit in an old school desk and ride through the history of Oxford. It probably would have been quicker, and cheaper, to walk, but that's just not how its done.

Walking in Oxford was somewhat of a dangerous past-time. After the x-th time of nearly being run over by a cyclist, I started having decidedly therapeutic visions of which might be the most pain inducing orifice I could insert a bell into. At least with a car or bus, the noise of the engine gives you some warning of its approach. With a bicycle, the approach tends to be near silent, so the sound of a bell ringing inside your left ear is particularly startling. What makes it worse, the cyclist really is nearly on top of you by the time he decides to use the bell for its designed purpose, so when you swing around to establish his whereabouts, invariably, you turn straight into the path of the oncoming bicycle. Give me Central London any day.

One thing I can say, supposed intellectual superiority to the rest of the world does not appear to dampen anyone's desire to shop. The high street was heaving!

 

Radcliffe Camera
Radcliffe Camera (just an old-fashioned word for room) is the centre piece of Radcliffe Square, which is the heart of the old University. The camera was originally built to house the University's medical and science library. This picture was taken from the Church of St Mary the Virgin, which lets tourists pay to climb hundreds of stairs up a narrow, winding staircase which eventually leads out to a viewing area at the top of the church tower. From there, you have 360˚ views of the city, and very wobbly legs.
Radcliffe Camera and a little bit of Radcliffe Square. I think the buildings to the left of the camera in this picture form part of Brasenose College, which was founded in 1509. Could be wrong though ...

We walked through the square several times whilst we were in Oxford, because its not a very big city and we kinda had to to get from A to B. One of the times, there was a couple having their wedding photos taken. Not really my idea of a romantic setting, especially since there are canals and woodlands on the outskirts of the city, but hey, each to their own, right?
Bodelian Library.

 

Ventetian Bridge

 

This is the inside of the Natural History Museum. This is the Laura Ashley building. "Why on earth do you have a picture of a lingerie store?" I hear you cry? Well, if you look closely at the roof, and compare it to the roof of the building next to it, you might notice that they don't line up at all. Now, its not uncommon for buildings in England to lean a little, I've narrowly missed being brained by filing cabinet draws on several occasions in the offices I've been working in, however, this little house gives Pisa a run for its money. Since, by design, the building is also top heavy, I count it as an absolute wonder that the whole top floor hasn't slid off yet. The wood doesn't look to solid either - though I'm assuming most of what you can see is decorative and they've actually reinforced anything structural. That didn't stop me from giving it a wide berth though.