Oxfordian Meadows

After a fun introduction to Oxford, I spent the last two days of my short trip exploring more of the museums and neighborhoods of the city.

On Friday, Peter had to work (in London), so Janice and I set off for some breakfast and museum hopping. We went to a proper hipster cafe, Handlebar, for some avocado toast. Next we walked to one of the main attractions of Oxford, the Ashmolean museum. It's an impressive museum, with objects stolen gathered from all over the world. There were particularly great exhibits of Egyptian and Roman artifacts. Great place to spend a few hours learning about all of the places the British empire once controlled.

A neat building along the river. Janice and Peter actually looked at an apartment in here.

Tons of impressive architecture all around town.

Handlebar, the bike-themed cafe.

Yum!

Yes, they have a whole temple.

Mummy with all of the coffins.

Some replica statues showing how they originally would have looked.

A Faiyum portrait! I love these.

The cascading stairways of the modern interior of the Ashmolean.

They even had a small exhibit about Cairo.

We made our way to our next two stops - the Natural History Museum and the adjacent Pitt Rivers Museum. Along the way we passed through the cute lamb and flag passage and by a few more impressive University buildings. Both of the museums were equally as impressive as the Ashmolean. Together, it's a trifecta of world-class exhibits. The Natural History Museum has stunning architecture and a combination of old traditional exhibits with updated modern exhibits. The Pitt Rivers is a fascinating collection of objects organized by function. If you have just a day in Oxford, these should be your three stops.

Now that's a nice logo.

Lamb and flag passage.

The outside of the Natural History Museum is great...

...but the inside is even more impressive.

A modern photography exhibit hanging over the Pitt Rivers museum.

Rows of objects in the Pitt Rivers.

After a few hours in both museums, we took a walk around Oxford University park and made our way to a place called Gee's for lunch. It was a lovely restaurant in an old greenhouse, with a nice set menu. We enjoyed some wine as well. :)

Great buildings left and right...

A bit cloudy, but the park was nice.

Some trees were flowering, making it a lovely early spring day.

Janice at Gee's.

Lunch was delicious.

Our next stop was Christchurch, one of the most famous parts of Oxford University. Like the other colleges, you have to pay to enter and can only visit certain areas. Christchurch was particularly popular, with many more tourists than the other parts of the University we visited. It does have impressive architecture and is worth the visit. We then walked through Christchurch Meadow, down Merton street, and popped in for a quick pint at the Bear Pub.

Carfax tower.

Christchurch.

Really cool tree/vine growing up the building.

Impressive ceiling details.

Yet another Harry Potter-esque dining room.

Postcard Christchurch view.

Inside the church.

A plaque in the meadow.

Quiet streets and pleasant walks.

Unicorn!

Nice place for a cheeky pint.

As evening approached, we walked around a bit more, passing by Oxford castle before walking along the Oxford canal to a neighborhood called Jericho. It's a scenic walk - I recommend it, and the Jericho neighborhood is worth a visit to escape the touristy center. Janice and I had another pint and a snack at a restaurant called the Rickety Press. It's a great place to hang out, and was one of my favorite pubs of the trip. Peter joined us for dinner at the Old Bookbinder, where we had messy hamburgers and enjoyed some wine. Finally we walked home via Bulwarks lane and one more pint at the Royal Blenheim pub.

The hill that was the site of the original castle.

Oxford Castle.

A nice restaurant along the canal.

Evening canal walk.

Great place to grab a beer in Jericho.

Dinner time!

Walking home through an atmospheric alley (Bulwarks lane).

The Royal Blenheim, Janice and Peter's favorite pub in Oxford.

Since Friday was a Janice day, my final full day in Oxford was a Peter day! Janice had a pre-booked full day wine tasting, so Peter and I went off on a walking tour of some of the more southern neighborhoods of the city. We walked through an area called Isis, passing the Iffley lock and through an upscale residential neighborhood, ending up at the Jolly Postboys for lunch. I loved this place - it's a bit out of the way from the main part of Oxford, but we had an awesome lunch and by far the best beer I had in Oxford (a New England style IPA).

Found them!

The Isis restaurant.

A bridge over the canal.

We saw a boat go through the locks. There was a nice biking/walking trail, popular on a Saturday.

We walked through a fancy neighborhood.

Yay, good beer!

Gotta have fish and chips.

After lunch, we went through Florence park, a very popular local park with busy playgrounds and tennis courts. We made a quick stop at Brewdog, before going back to the Royal Blenheim pub ("a proper old man's pub") to meet Janice and her friends, and heading back to Janice and Peter's for the night.

A big row of trees in Florence Park.

Octopig mural?

Lots of beer options at Brewdog.

We stopped in a Korean grocery store and they had Pokemon drinks.

The sun came out! People went in boats! Everyone rejoiced!

See, it is sunny sometimes in Oxford.

Too soon?

My time in Oxford came to a close, and the next morning I took the bus to Heathrow. Oxford is a great place to visit, with world-class museums, impressive architecture, and a compact downtown that is great for exploring on foot. Every place seems obsessed with telling us some part of Harry Potter was filmed there, but hey, I guess they know where their tourist bread is buttered. Now, when do I get to visit Peter and Janice again? :)

Welcome to Oxford!

Earlier this year Delta advertised a great Skymiles deal to London. Our good friends Peter and Janice (we've been on many many adventures with them!) recently moved from London to Oxford, so Paul decided to take advantage of the Delta deal and go for a long weekend in Oxford.

The trip was short - I took an overnight flight on a Wednesday and came back Sunday, which only gave me about 3 days total. With the flight time to Europe (8 hours there, 9 back) I wasn't sure about such a short trip (ugh, jetlag), but it worked out really well. Would do again!

I landed at Heathrow on a Thursday morning, and took a bus direct from the airport to Oxford. It was easy and comfortable, and I saw a lot of sheep and took a little nap. Janice and Peter greeted me in Oxford, and I dropped my bag off at their apartment before heading out for the day. We started at Hinksey Park right next to their apartment, and walked towards downtown via the new Westgate mall. We had lunch at the atmospheric Vaults and Garden, a cafe/restaurant in a 1320 addition to the University Church of St. Mary the Virgin.

After lunch we climbed up to the top of the church, pretty much right above the restaurant. There was a great view of all of Oxford, especially the Radcliffe camera which is one of the most photographed sites in the city. Highly recommended.

The three amigos in Oxford.

A small pond in the park next to the apartment.

Janice and Peter being casual in downtown Oxford.

There are historic buildings all over the city. But the most important thing in this picture is FUNGRY.

The Vaults and Garden restaurant.

Climbing up the spiral staircase at the church. Not a lot of room for two-way traffic.

Narrow doorways up at the top.

The postcard view of the Radcliffe Camera.

Oxford is a quaint historic town.

A bunch of University-related buildings.

Old graffiti at the top of the church.

Inside the chapel.

There are family crests like this all over Oxford.

We spent some time walking around the center of Oxford, passing the "Bridge of Sighs" (which is actually similar to the Rialto Bridge in Venice, not the namesake Bridge of Sighs), and walking down a little alley for a drink at the historic Turf Tavern before visiting Blackwell's bookshop.

The bridge.

Narrow little alley.

Having a proper pint at the Turf Tavern.

Blackwell's looks small from the outside, but is a huge multi-level bookstore. This part is the basement.

Our next stop, the Bodleian Library, is one of the most famous and impressive sights in Oxford. You have to sign up for a tour, and it's worth it. The oldest part of the building is from 1487, and thousands of priceless historic books line the shelves. We also visited the adjacent history of science museum, a free museum with a variety of scientific items on display.

The outside of the library.

The ground floor. A lot of movies are filmed in this room. No pictures are allowed in the main library room.

The outside of the history of science museum. There's a unicorn!

Some of the historic objects on display in the museum.

Neat vines on a building.

After leaving the library and museum, we walked by Balliol College and decided to take a look inside. Oxford University has a number of separate colleges, many of which can be visited with a small entry fee. They typically have an atmospheric central courtyard, a Harry Potter-esque dining hall, and a chapel. Balliol was founded in 1263, and is worth a gander if you're passing by. Next we walked through the covered market in downtown Oxford, which was closing up for the day, but there was a new microbrewery (nano-pub) called Teardrop that was still open. It's run by the folks at Church Hanbrewery, and featured some beers that were a step above the typically bland beers that are served at pubs around town.

Dining hall in Balliol College.

A scene that just screams Oxford.

There were a lot of weird little guys on the walls.

Balliol College.

A typical Oxford street scene. Lots of bikes; cute little shops.

An old cemetery right in the middle of town.

A busy pedestrian street. Janice likes the old building on the left.

Some beers in the covered market.

It was a bit too cold and cloudy for boating.

Our last stop of the day was dinner and drinks along Cowley Road, which is lined with a variety of restaurants and funky shops. It's a short walk from downtown. We had a great Turkish meal at Antep kitchen followed by a pint at the Library Pub. Pro-tip: try the "turnib" juice at Antep. ;)

So much meat!

Peter with his giant delicious dinner.

The Libary Pub.

Janice and Peter in the Library pub.

After a successful but exhausting day exploring Oxford, we took a taxi home. I still had two full days to explore Oxford - coming up in the next post!