I have neglected writing for a few days so I have some catching up to do. I believe I left off on a train leaving Bath. My next destination was the city of Oxford.
I was exposed to a taste of the academia that has made Oxford so famous before I even arrived in town. I was on a platform waiting for my train to Oxford when three girls next to me began a conversation, all Oxford students. The topic was the Brexit vote and, because the train was delayed, it carried on for around twenty minutes. I couldn't help but marvel at the basis of many of the arguments and the way they carried on the discussion, mind you I know very little of the actual details of Britain's decision to leave the European Union. This was not some half drunken debate between people at a bar about how Trump will "make America great again" or Hillary and something regarding emails where the facts they have were found by quickly scrolling through a twitter feed. This was an actual, in depth, no bs, intellectual conversation.
Oxford was living up to my expectations.
I arrived at my hostel around 1 pm but since I couldn't check in for another two hours I had some time to kill. I decided to try out the British version of Mexican food. All you need to know is that California's is much better.
Apparently I timed my visit during Oxford's graduation so nearly every room, including my hostel, was booked solid. Typically you get a younger, 20-30 something group at hostels. Because of graduation we had families and grandparents and the like in ours so it wasn't the atmosphere I had hoped.
I started my sight-seeing by actually walking 3 miles north of town to a cemetery (grim start, I know). The University of Oxford, as old and prestigious as it is, has a few very well known alumni. My objective was to track down the headstone of JRR Tolken, which thanks to signposts in the cemetery, only took a few minutes. While most of the headstones had flowers from loved ones, this one was full of notes from adoring fans.
On my way back to town I had to make a stop at the university. It is made up of several colleges, each with their own court yard, rather than some vast open campus. The entire university has been around for centuries so the architecture is quite remarkable. To the north is the university park, which includes a golf course, and some jogging trails. Seeing as Britain is in some sort of heat wave, the park was well attended.
I went in the Museum of Natural History for a bit, and a couple older buildings such as Oxford Castle, but found the rest of the town to be just shops and restaurants.
I made the error of booking three nights in Oxford and had ran out of things to see in one. Seeing as I was considerably the youngest person at the hostel and had two more days to fill, I did what I do best. Ate from various cafes, drank from various pubs, and wandered.
I found that some of my initial awe at the intellects of Oxford was wearing off. Most seemed arrogant and from very comfortable upbringings, yet stubborn that their view of a topic was correct. There is also a slightly different accent in this part of the country. Of course I would call it formal but the domestic term used is "posh" or "the Queen's English". This might have contributed to tinge of annoyance with a few of the locals.
Finally, on my last night, two girls around 21 from Canada showed up and were placed in my room. At last I had a crew near my own age to hit a few pubs with. A good ending to Oxford.
I have a friend that lives in Nottingham so instead of going straight to Manchester I stopped there for a night. Nottingham is a nice quiet town, probably because it was summer and most of the students were gone. My friend Alex took me to a huge park and place they called "Batman's Castle" and we had lunch. Little did I know that this "castle" was the actual building they used as Wayne Manor in the most recent Batman! I will include a picture at the bottom.
The next day it was back to the train station and off to Manchester, where I am currently. I leave here Sunday for Edinburgh and then back to Loomis.
Oxford University
Duh-nuh-nuh-nuh-nuh-nuh-nuh-nuh BATMAN!
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