Cheap Couture

I LOVE OXFORD.
the end. Thats pretty much all there is to it. I mean, there is plenty more and a whirlwind of details, but life at Oxford is pretty much amazing. The past week has consisted of waking up for breakfast in the great hall, then hanging out/getting ready/reading and such, then class, then a brief lunch (there is a croissantery across the gate that is wonderful and cheap) and then doing whatever we feel like. We went on a Christ Church tour the first day and saw the secret garden where Alice played and peeked through her door, as well as the old Oxford library with Chaucer originals. Did you know Christ Church has the best and biggest private art collection, including Rafael, Michaelangelo, and Renoir?? I have yet to see it, but it is definitely on my list. It is so amazing bypassing the tourists that can only go on certain parts of the walk, and I saunter right by and walk through the quad. The second day here we had an Inklings walk tour, where we saw a bit more of Oxford and the places Tolkein and Lewis lived, got married, taught, etc... I've also been to their favorite pub, the Eagle and Child (or the Bird and the Babe, as they called it) and really really like Strongbow, an English cider that tastes a lot like champagne and beer combined (because, well, thats really all it is).

This weekend we're planning on taking a few day trips, though the possibilities are endless and it is hard to narrow down the choices! The frontrunners are Swansea in Wales, Stratford upon Avon, Bath, and back to London. Next weekend I'm terribly excited about, as we've planned a trip to Ireland and leave next Thursday night (1 week from today). I just love Oxford though. It is the best things about London condensed into a small friendly town. Christ Church is at the center of the commotion, and while there are busy pedestrian streets surrounding the college, when we're in the big Tom gate it is hard to imagine there being a real world at all outside the gate. It is really fun coming back at night after the gate has been closed- we have a little card that we swipe and it opens a little door embedded in the large gate. It is so secretive and cool. The dinners are absolutely incredible as well. Christ Church has this habit of serving me something I thought I didn't like only to discover it is in fact the best food I've ever tried. This has happened with smoked salmon, lemon merrange, which they're famous for (sp?), duck (which, this wasn't amazing but better than I thought it would be), guinea fowl, and tomato pepper soup. We also had a mango avacado salad one night that consisted of half a mango and half a avacado straight up, and it was delicious. I could definitely get used to this life.