i can't believe
Grace went to Hogwarts
--Susan; Oct 11, 2004
10 hours on a plane, one and a half hours on
two buses, and a 10 minute walk brought us to our friends Nasir
and Jen’s house. Now, I know it’s true that I speak
English and the Brits speak English but it didn’t seem like
it when we were trying to figure out which bus to take. Their
English is quite fast and they only seem to pronounce the beginning
of each word.
On the bus ride over I noticed that everything
in Oxford is smaller – the houses, the streets, the cars,
the pubs – and charming. I also couldn’t help but
notice that Oxford is bloody cold. We didn’t have much room
in our packs (or much cause) to pack cold-weather clothes so we
were thankful to borrow jackets, scarves, hats, mittens, hot-water
bottles, fleeces and any other cold weather necessities from Nas
and Jen in an attempt to stay warm. Thanks guys!
Balliol College
front courtyard
It has been over a decade since Grace attended
graduate school here and we had tons of fun visiting some of Grace’s
friends, alma matter and hang-out spots. The Oxford Colleges are
all very beautiful old stone and brick buildings (check out the
oxford: buildings gallery).
They are well maintained, sporting manicured lawns that look like
no one ever steps foot on them. There is one college in particular
that is strange, however: the college that Grace attended, Balliol
(pictured here), which I’m sure is just the cover name for
us non-magic types. It’s clearly Hogwart’s School
of Witchcraft and Wizardry from the Harry Potter books. Here’s
a picture if you don’t believe me. I just wonder if Grace
has been using his magic for good or for evil… [Note
from Grace: The Harry Potter films were actually filmed at Christ
Church College, but that was just to throw the muggles off the
scent of the REAL Hogwarts. And “evil” would be the
correct guess on that last question.]
Our five days in Oxford were a great opportunity
for us to visit friends, relax and transition into our big
trip. Honestly, after getting ready for the trip for so long,
we were a bit lazy in Oxford, buy hey, we needed the rest.
Some highlights:
- The
on Broad Street (an old hangout of Grace’s group of
Oxford cronies called “The Four Horseman”) This
pub is also a favorite hangout of Bill Clinton’s or
so the menu says
- Enjoying a
– yum!
- Fabulous dinners and muffins by
(okay, just Jen really)
- Greasy
from the local “chippy”
- Visiting with some of Grace's old Oxford friends,
- Watching the whole first season of Alias
- Accidentally vacuuming Grace’s bottom lip into a
turbo-powered hose while cleaning up after a pre-safari head
shave (the look of shock and alarm on his face was absolutely
priceless)
