Woke at some time before 8 to the sound of children eating breakfast. A.K.A. children hurling their breakfast around the room at each other.
I got dressed and waited for the bathroom. I went downstairs, meeting both Eliza and Angus (in a placid mood) on the way. I made a very much needed cup of coffee and straightened out some of the kitchen disaster area. The kids disappeared on their regular Saturday morning walk-in-th-park-treat-at-the-lolly-shop session with Ben and Granny Pat (his mother), so I asked Sarah's advice before leaving.
I had to get the underground to Paddington, which was slightly inconvenient - I had to get the Victoria line from Finsbury Park to Oxford Circus, then the Bakerloo line to Paddington. Wonder of wonders - there was a train to Oxford about 10 mins after I got there. I bought my ticket and got a seat easily. The trip took about an hour (?) and got more and more pastoral.
I called Dad from Oxford station and bought an open-topped tour bus ticket, and got a bacon roll (yum). The guide and commentary were very good indeed, and the ride itself was lovely, as it was quite a hot day!! I learnt a fair bit about the University, and the history, particularly the layers of hisotry in this case, was particularly interesting. I stayed on one whole circuit with the audio tour, and taking photos, and then went around a bit further to get off near the things I wanted to see.
The instrument exhibit at the Faculty of Music was unfortunately closed :-( but next door I saw the Thames Valley Police Station, of Inspector Morse fame.
I went past Alice's shop, of Lewis Carroll fame, and then turned into High Street, buying a postcard for the GSB. I went past the Colleges, wanting to go in, but they were all closed to visitors. I would love ot have gone to Oxford to do my degree, it would have been so much fun to live in a University town, and the degree would be terribly highly regarded.
I went through the Botanical Gardens (nice) and back to the post office (yes, open Saturdays) to post the card.
While I remember, the guide pointed out a pub that C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien used to get together to drink at. That's cool, seeing they both taught at Oxford.
I walked back up to the high street, bought a thank you card for Sarah, looked at some shops and headed for the Sheldonian Theatre, which is where the graduation ceremonies are held (they used to have them in a cathedral/church only there was a bit too much excitement for a sacred place). I couldn't go inside unfortunately.
I found Blackwells Music Shop (I think the one Marie told me about?) and looked through that quickly.
I went in search of an ice cream, as it was hot, found one, and headed back to the station, via a place with a big music banner that I was hoping was the instrument display in a different place (but wasn't - it was a dodgy guitar shop) and also the local Domino's - I took a picture for Josh.
I got a train back to Paddington pretty much straight away, although it was a slow train stopping just about everywhere. I tried to call Jacqui again (no luck) and so stopped at a Covent Garden M&S to buy Sarah a bottle of wine. I got a nice looking Hunter Valley verdelho for £4.99.
Because the trains between Highbury and Islington and Alli Palli were few and far between on the weekend, I got the underground to Bounds Green and got a bus to Alexandra Park Rd. I had to wait for a while for the bus, and I was a bit worried about the neighbourhood to start with, but it turned out OK, and I got back at around 8.30.
I had dinner - Sarah had cooked spaghetti, so I put tomato pasta sauce and ham with it. I went online for over an hour, then wrote/read. I called Jacqui to arrange to meet @ 5pm the next day. The light went off at midnight because I was so tired in the end.
I got dressed and waited for the bathroom. I went downstairs, meeting both Eliza and Angus (in a placid mood) on the way. I made a very much needed cup of coffee and straightened out some of the kitchen disaster area. The kids disappeared on their regular Saturday morning walk-in-th-park-treat-at-the-lolly-shop session with Ben and Granny Pat (his mother), so I asked Sarah's advice before leaving.
I had to get the underground to Paddington, which was slightly inconvenient - I had to get the Victoria line from Finsbury Park to Oxford Circus, then the Bakerloo line to Paddington. Wonder of wonders - there was a train to Oxford about 10 mins after I got there. I bought my ticket and got a seat easily. The trip took about an hour (?) and got more and more pastoral.
I called Dad from Oxford station and bought an open-topped tour bus ticket, and got a bacon roll (yum). The guide and commentary were very good indeed, and the ride itself was lovely, as it was quite a hot day!! I learnt a fair bit about the University, and the history, particularly the layers of hisotry in this case, was particularly interesting. I stayed on one whole circuit with the audio tour, and taking photos, and then went around a bit further to get off near the things I wanted to see.
I went past Alice's shop, of Lewis Carroll fame, and then turned into High Street, buying a postcard for the GSB. I went past the Colleges, wanting to go in, but they were all closed to visitors. I would love ot have gone to Oxford to do my degree, it would have been so much fun to live in a University town, and the degree would be terribly highly regarded.
I went through the Botanical Gardens (nice) and back to the post office (yes, open Saturdays) to post the card.
While I remember, the guide pointed out a pub that C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien used to get together to drink at. That's cool, seeing they both taught at Oxford.
I walked back up to the high street, bought a thank you card for Sarah, looked at some shops and headed for the Sheldonian Theatre, which is where the graduation ceremonies are held (they used to have them in a cathedral/church only there was a bit too much excitement for a sacred place). I couldn't go inside unfortunately.
I found Blackwells Music Shop (I think the one Marie told me about?) and looked through that quickly.
I went in search of an ice cream, as it was hot, found one, and headed back to the station, via a place with a big music banner that I was hoping was the instrument display in a different place (but wasn't - it was a dodgy guitar shop) and also the local Domino's - I took a picture for Josh.
I got a train back to Paddington pretty much straight away, although it was a slow train stopping just about everywhere. I tried to call Jacqui again (no luck) and so stopped at a Covent Garden M&S to buy Sarah a bottle of wine. I got a nice looking Hunter Valley verdelho for £4.99.
Because the trains between Highbury and Islington and Alli Palli were few and far between on the weekend, I got the underground to Bounds Green and got a bus to Alexandra Park Rd. I had to wait for a while for the bus, and I was a bit worried about the neighbourhood to start with, but it turned out OK, and I got back at around 8.30.
I had dinner - Sarah had cooked spaghetti, so I put tomato pasta sauce and ham with it. I went online for over an hour, then wrote/read. I called Jacqui to arrange to meet @ 5pm the next day. The light went off at midnight because I was so tired in the end.
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