After traipsing through the English countryside for the better part of two weeks, it was finally time for hubby and me to head into London.  Our typical practice on European vacations is to rent a car for the first part of the trip and then return it in a town with easy access to our final big-city destination.  This time, that plan had us returning our rental in Oxford and taking the train from there to London.  But before we get to London, we had a day to explore Oxford and – while I know we didn’t scratch the surface of what the town could have offered us – we made a start.  My only regret upon seeing Oxford was that I never made it here when my little sis (sorority, not biology, as we used to say) was getting her Ph.D. here.  I can only imagine what fun it would have been to experience Oxford through the eyes of a student.

We didn’t actually go into any of the Oxford colleges, although I wanted to.  (This pic of All Souls was snapped through the gate.)  The colleges I really wanted to see were Balliol (for Lord Peter Wimsey!) and All Souls (because I’d just read A Discovery of Witches).  We didn’t make it to Balliol, but I did get to see All Souls and… WOW, is all I can say.  What a stately, imposing, breath-taking place.  (Don’t worry Cornell, you’re still tops in my heart.)

We meandered down the busy streets of Oxford, sneaking peeks into the colleges and the tea shops, imagining what it must be like to actually study here.  (I’m a nerd, but I own it.)

The Radcliffe Camera was one of the most beautiful, coolest buildings in the entire city, in my opinion.  Now part of the Bodleian Library, its sun-drenched stone walls contain who-knows-how-much knowledge inside.  And outside…

BIKES.  BIKES EVERYWHERE.  If the spires and the bookshops and the harried-looking college kids hurrying to and fro with bulging backpacks wouldn’t have tipped you off, you’d still know you were in a university town from all the bikes.  You couldn’t walk ten feet before you’d bump into one.  I love bikes, so I was in heaven, snapping pictures to the point that hubby told me to stop taking pictures of bikes already.  But there’s just something about a stone wall, a lamppost, and a bike with a basket.  Gets my heart racing.  Hey, we all have our things.

I saved the most important parts for last.  This ^ is the Bodleian Library.  Talk about getting my heart racing.  Ask hubby – for days all I could talk about was seeing one of the most famous libraries in the world.  And when we got here, it was just awe-inspiring.  The mysterious inner courtyard, the golden stone, the high windows… I nearly died of happiness.

This is my “EEEEEE-SO-EXCITED-TO-BE-HERE” face.

Inside we checked out a “Treasures of the Bodleian” exhibit, which contained such marvels as Shakespeare’s First Folio.  (This was taken no-flash – pretty great, huh?  And it was a dark room.  We loved on our camera the entire train ride to London.)

And finally, one more important stop – Blackwell’s!  I make a point of visiting the big-deal bookshops when I’m traveling and Blackwell’s was a must-see.  And a must-buy-a-book.  Yes, even though I normally don’t have the space to squeeze books into my backpack when I travel, I made an exception because I simply had to get something from Blackwell’s.  Hubby patiently let me browse and I ended up with two: a Jeeves book by P.G. Wodehouse (I have most of them, but Blackwell’s had a couple that I don’t already have), and South Riding, by Winifred Holtby, which I’d never seen before but which looked good.  I’ve not cracked the spine yet, but I’ll be sure to tell you about it when I do.

Well, kids, we’re off to London!  Check back next Friday for the first post detailing our London adventures.