Oxford. Was. Amazing. I went to visit Steven at Oxford for 12-quid (quid = 1 pound, like our use of "bucks" to mean dollars) round trip. Made it there around dinner time and met up with some of his friends. Hours later and after jolly impersonations, accents, jokes at my expense, and shattering paradigms of American life, we walked back to Steven's flat. On Saturday we went punting, which involves pushing a shallow boat along with a pole you push against the river bottom. It was tranquil, but my inexperience as a punter showed. We had a perfect picnic along the shore of the river - champagne, strawberries, a baguette and cheese and proscuitto. Like degenerates, we drank from the bottle. We also watched the carnage unfold
as a guy fell into the water while punting. Quite funny. Enjoyed my first visit to a pub! Steven snuck us into Christ Church as they were turning away envious tourists - he'll be studying for his masters there and the guards were eager to welcome a new student to the flock. We saw the Harry Potter dining hall, the immaculate grassy quad, a pleasant fountain with blooming water lilies, and explored the residential section. It is an impressive edifice! I love that a 12th century church and graveyard nonchalantly peaks up amidst new apartment complexes. I love the unassuming juxtaposition of really old/historic and new/mundane.
On Sunday, we explored the town more, visited Blackwell's, an immense bookstore which boasts to be the favorite of Bill Clinton. We wandered the Botanical Gardens with the replica of a 17th century garden. I learned tequila comes from a cactus-like plant (the agave). Lastly, and the highlight of the trip was my first proper tea at the Rose Café on High Street in Oxford. Everything was perfect; I tried Oolong tea (a hybrid of green and black) and Steven had a tea called Lapsang Su-something. It tasted and smelled like campfire smoke. No kidding. The scones with clotted cream and fresh jam were outta-this-world. After lots of chatting, I hopped on the bus back to London in time to catch a local Indian buffet in my neighbourhood.
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