Coffee and Beer in Madison

Earlier this year I went to Madison, Wisconsin for work. I've been to Madison before, once for a friend's wedding and another time for work. It's a great college town, with a bit of a "big city" feel in the center since it's also the state capital. Madison has an enviable location, on an isthmus between two lakes. Since I was working, I didn't have time to do anything touristy, but I did have free early mornings and evenings - perfect for tasting the city's coffee and beer! This post is a short tour of the city, the iced coffee, and the beer.

The City

Downtown Madison

You can tell it's a college town. Lots of houses converted to apartments.

The Capitol building.

View of the lake from the conference center, which was designed by Frank Lloyd Wright.

Downtown Madison.

The Capitol from the conference center.

View of the lake.

Inside the Capitol.

It's a really ornate capitol building.

Looking through an arch on the second floor.

It wouldn't be Wisconsin without squeaky cheese curds!

A view toward downtown from across the lake.

The Coffee

First day - iced coffee at Cafe Social!

Barriques was a neat combo cafe, restaurant, and wine shop. Great breakfast. My top choice!

Colectivo is a local chain, with good coffee and a great downtown location.

Lakeside Coffee House was a bit off the beaten path, just outside downtown. Nice place with a water view.

The Beer

Delta Beer Lab, a new spot in an industrial area Southwest of downtown, was my favorite. It's a chemistry themed gay brewery! Great beer, friendly staff, and a simple but fun atmosphere.

Working Draft was lively (even on a weeknight) and had a good selection of brews.

Surprisingly good tacos at Working Draft.

The beer list at Lucille. Great pizza here too.

My trip to Madison was quick, but as you can see, it was full of great drinks. :)

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? :)