“No, I have not been to Oxford town…” -David Bowie
Part 11, in which I lead an expedition deep into the heart of Oxford and draw the ire of my group. Oops. After the situation in Stratford I was starting to get really worried about being able to take pictures for the final few days of our journey. I went back into my memory card and deleted a few photos that just weren’t perfect, but there were still only four slots left for Oxford and London (which was the final stop on our trip). But Oxford wasn’t the prime place to find a shop that would have the memory card I needed. Instead, it was a mecca for students as it boasts the famous Oxford University, which is where we spent most of our time while there.
Oxford University is a sprawling place with many different “schools” spread out over a lot of the town itself, effectively making itself its own insular community, but it was welcoming as well. Our tour guide took us on a cursory trip through several of the schools, and pointed out some of the famous buildings, which took up most of our morning. Then we were on our own for lunch, and I ended up with several of the other group leaders and a few of the students getting pizza at this really cool pizza cafe on a side street in town. Oh, and there were about a million statues there, of angels and men at war, of gods, and of famous academics. Members of our group just had to take photos with many of the statues, but I was saving my memory slots. It was one of my regrets, not capturing some of them on film.
Then, after lunch, it was our free time, although some members of the larger group had signed up for a further tour and they split off from the rest of us. We also split up, though, because some of the team was tired and wanted to relax in a park in the center of town, while others of us wanted to explore some more. We split up in front of this nice looking bank, and I led two students on a trip to find the hall where it was rumored parts of the Harry Potter movies were shot. I asked everyone else who was there if they wanted to come, and I had no responses, so the three of us went off in search of the Potter hall. After the fact, though, I found out that parts of my group weren’t pleased, that they hadn’t heard me ask if they wanted to come, and they HAD wanted to come. So, it was the silent treatment from several students as we headed off from Oxford later that afternoon.
The town itself was lovely, though, with so much open space between schools, and all of the space green, with parks and trees, and fountains that were beautiful and inspiring. If I had thought to bring my journal off the bus I would have probably been able to write some great poetry about the scene. In our trip to find the Potter hall, too, we had a great time, singing songs and actually skipping across the great square. The hall was beautiful, too, and it really did conjure up images of the films. It made me wonder if it was just a rumor or if the hall itself was really the one they used for several scenes. I like to think the latter. Of course we were almost late getting back to the main group, and to the bus, because we took a detour to see some particularly pretty gardens, too, but it was all worth it. And I figured I could win my group over again after we got to London.
One thing in particular I remember from Oxford were the students who were still there during the summer. They were all dressed like you would expect, with collared shirts and starched pants for the fellows, and pleated skirts and nice blouses for the ladies. Apparently there isn’t a dress code there (I found out by asking our tour guide) but they take style seriously. For the entire time I was there I had my jacket tied around my waist, and I kept saying I fit in. My group begged to differ, but they did take a picture of me in front of the super cool truck (of course they also reminded me that it was for Vodka, and they kept laughing when they did so). But Oxford was a fun pit-stop along the way to what would be one of the highlights on the trip.
London, baby, coming next.
Sam
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