Daytrip to Oxford

At sort of the last moment on Friday, Liz and I had a change of heart and decided that instead of traveling to Avebury for the day, we'd fancy a daytrip to Oxford instead.

On Saturday we were feeling extra adventurous and instead of perhaps taking a bus from Stoke Bishop (where we live) to the train station, for kicks and giggles we chose to make the hour treck by foot. At the crack of dawn we left and although getting slightly lost, we managed to find our way to the station, purchase our rail cards and tickets, and board a bit later train than what we were hoping for. I was very excited to take my first train ride in England, but then again I think I would have been excited for any form of transportation that didn't require me to walk.

We had to switch trains half way through, but less than 2 hours later, we were in Oxford! We had no itinerary, no real game plan so to speak - just an adventurous spirit and strong legs. By the time we arrived we were both starved so we walked into a populated area of town and found a cozy coffee shop where we got a hot drink (Cafe Mocha w/ whip cream for me) and ate our pre packed lunch. Feeling very much refreshed we decided to walk and maybe find the Oxford Castle or the Oxford Covered Market.

As we walked through the relatively populated streets, I couldn't help but think that this was not quite what I had invisioned. Perhaps it was naive of me to assume that this city would only have cobblestone streets peppered with honey-colored buildings draped over with ivy. Or that fierce academic debates would be audible from every corner of the town, or that gowned cyclists would blaze past me on the street. Certainly there was cobblestone and lots of cyclists (none though in gowns) and beautiful old buildings and bookstore upon bookstore upon bookstore. I think it was that I invisioned this place to be more 'old school'. And at least in the majority of where we walked, it was very much commercialized and trendy. Not that this was a bad thing, it just challenged my initial perceptions.

I think it was on our way to the coffee shop, that I saw the most AWESOME car I've ever seen. It was a mini car of some sort. And from a distance it caught my eye because it was colorful (how very odd, I thought). But as it came zipping by me on the street, that's when I realized it. This car was completely covered in a colorful periodic table! Is that not the most awesome thing in the whole wide world? When I finally registered what I was seeing, I scrambled to take my camera out but it buzzed past me leaving me with only a memory of its awesomeness. I contemplated perhaps chasing after the car but I didn't think I could keep up and I am sure that Liz would have just thought I'd gone crazy. So, if anyone ever makes their way into Oxford and lays eyes on this beautiful, decked out chemistry car, do take a picture and forward it to me. It'll make my day :)

The rest of the afternoon was spent strolling at a leisurely pace. We stopped in shops that caught our eye. And we spent some time in the largest bookstore I think I've ever seen before. As we walked along a main shopping area, music from street musicians filled the air. It was really a lovely, albeit gloomy, day.

We found the Oxford Covered Market which we spent a great deal of time browsing in. Some of the pictures posted near the end were taken here. There was a bakery inside this market that made exquisite cakes. The tiers of wedding cupcakes was taken for my friends at the Registrar's Office and the box o' fish was taken for my Fishies! One of the stores that we went into, way in the back, had a shelf of "American" food. It made me chuckle, because of course the American diet consists only of Lucky Charms, Aunt Jemima syrup and marshmellow Fluff ;)

After thoroughly exploring the city we attempted to find a place to eat dinner. This was easier said than done seeing as there was a popular rugby game going on. It was televised and nearly every eatery was at full capacity and the patrons weren't exactly going to be leaving anytime soon. We must have walked over a mile trying to find somewhere to eat. (Sadly my suggestion of a Mexican restaurant that I had seen tucked into the back of an alley was vetoed. I've never met anyone who doesn't like Mexican food.) We settled on a sandwich shop, got our food to go and made it back to the train station to try to figure out how the heck we were going to get back to Bristol.

Train timetables are confusing. And what's even more annoying is that they are listed in military time so it takes me longer to try to translate 18 or 21 o'clock into the more friendly 6 or 9 o'clock. We were certain that we could the 7:37 train, switch over, and then pick up another one that would take us to Bristol Temple Meads. We nibbled away at our sandwiches waiting for our train to come to the platform, convinced that this plan woud not fail.

Our good intentions brought us to Reading - no where near where we needed to be. Looking back we think we boarded the wrong train (well obviously!). When it pulled into Reading we decided to get off and figure out how to get to Bristol. A train leaving in a half hour was headed that a way so we found an enclosed waiting area (train stations are very cold places, especially at night) and then hoped on the train in route to Bristol.

All in all we got home safely. I'm glad that our wrong train made a stop early on it's journey to who knows where. Some trains don't stop as frequently, and if for some reason you are on but don't fancy being on it, that'd be a bad thing. Once arriving in Bristol we opted for a taxi ride home.

This was a lovely day trip on the whole, full of good company, good eats and a nice atmosphere. I'd love to go back while I'm here and tour more of the colleges and find that Chemistry car!