Olympics Adventure: The Oxford
I can't come to England and not pop into my favorite little city, Oxford. I headed out after judo on Thursday and grabbed the familiar Oxford Tube bus from Marble Arch. It was nice taking in the beautiful serenity of the green English countryside for an hour or so, and then arriving back into town felt like just returning home. Everything was so fmailiar and comforting. On the not-so-awesome side, it started POURING rain as soon as I got to town, so my friend came and picked me up.
It was a very chill visit, which was fine with me! On Thursday we just chatted for a couple hours until bedtime, then I slept for a very long time, then headed down to a children's center with my friend's kids. Turns out they were full, which worked out anyway because the other friends we were meeting were waiting for us back at the house anyway. So spent the afternoon catching up with a couple friends from Holland before they headed out and playing with their kids. I had a glorious time playing around in their neighborhood playground, and managed to make my friend's daughter cry 3 times when I repeatedly saved her from walking out in front of swing sets, etc. In the evening we headed to the pub! Hooray! We consumed tons of Pimms and lemonade, an old English favorite, and stumbled home (er, stumbled toa cab) somewhere after midnight.
The next day was equally chill, which was fine my be! I took a few hours in the morning and early afternoon to just go for a good long wander through Oxford. Oddly enough, in all my time there I never visited the famous Christ Church Meadow on the south side of town, so I strutted through thee and took 8 million scenic photos. The peaceful environment was really useful because of some bad news I received the previous evening (will get to that later). My walk took me further up towards Christ Church, a long lunch and milkshake stop at the famous George & Danaver's (Oxford's own, and best ice cream in the UK), through the covered market, past the Radcliffe Camera, up Queen's Lane, past Turf Tavern, through the science area and University Parks, and popping quickly into my old college, Lady Margaret Hall. I headed back out to a friend's housejust as my back started aching and as gray clouds started to form, and just after my arrival it began raining in spurts for a couple hours. Eventually it cleared enough for us to have a nice peaceful barbeque, followed by a 3 movie long Jane Austen marathon. Best marathon ever! We crashed somewhere in the middle of Persuasion.
The next day was supposed to be full of fun in the sun playing grass volleyball in the park overlooking the city's spires, but we had proper English weather, which means disgusting rain pouring down all day. It seemed to have stopped by the time we headed out for our backup plan, a simple late lunch in a local cafe, but as soon as we halfway there the heavens opened up and DRENCHED us to the core. Even with umbrellas, the only dry spot on me was my head. We then sat through a couple hours of pleasant chit chat in cold wet clothing, followed by a quick cup of espresso at another friend's house, and by the time I got on the bus headed back for Oxford (after finally changing into dry attire) I was seriously worried for my health. But everything turned out alright, and I arrived in another friend's flat in Victoria happy and healthy and ready to begin week 2 of Olympic merriment.
It was a very chill visit, which was fine with me! On Thursday we just chatted for a couple hours until bedtime, then I slept for a very long time, then headed down to a children's center with my friend's kids. Turns out they were full, which worked out anyway because the other friends we were meeting were waiting for us back at the house anyway. So spent the afternoon catching up with a couple friends from Holland before they headed out and playing with their kids. I had a glorious time playing around in their neighborhood playground, and managed to make my friend's daughter cry 3 times when I repeatedly saved her from walking out in front of swing sets, etc. In the evening we headed to the pub! Hooray! We consumed tons of Pimms and lemonade, an old English favorite, and stumbled home (er, stumbled toa cab) somewhere after midnight.
The next day was equally chill, which was fine my be! I took a few hours in the morning and early afternoon to just go for a good long wander through Oxford. Oddly enough, in all my time there I never visited the famous Christ Church Meadow on the south side of town, so I strutted through thee and took 8 million scenic photos. The peaceful environment was really useful because of some bad news I received the previous evening (will get to that later). My walk took me further up towards Christ Church, a long lunch and milkshake stop at the famous George & Danaver's (Oxford's own, and best ice cream in the UK), through the covered market, past the Radcliffe Camera, up Queen's Lane, past Turf Tavern, through the science area and University Parks, and popping quickly into my old college, Lady Margaret Hall. I headed back out to a friend's housejust as my back started aching and as gray clouds started to form, and just after my arrival it began raining in spurts for a couple hours. Eventually it cleared enough for us to have a nice peaceful barbeque, followed by a 3 movie long Jane Austen marathon. Best marathon ever! We crashed somewhere in the middle of Persuasion.
The next day was supposed to be full of fun in the sun playing grass volleyball in the park overlooking the city's spires, but we had proper English weather, which means disgusting rain pouring down all day. It seemed to have stopped by the time we headed out for our backup plan, a simple late lunch in a local cafe, but as soon as we halfway there the heavens opened up and DRENCHED us to the core. Even with umbrellas, the only dry spot on me was my head. We then sat through a couple hours of pleasant chit chat in cold wet clothing, followed by a quick cup of espresso at another friend's house, and by the time I got on the bus headed back for Oxford (after finally changing into dry attire) I was seriously worried for my health. But everything turned out alright, and I arrived in another friend's flat in Victoria happy and healthy and ready to begin week 2 of Olympic merriment.