Oxford
I flew out of Detroit on Thursday night, arriving in London Friday morning (3:30 a.m. Detroit time). The bus to Oxford took about 1:20, and then I met Eli 20.8.After five minutes, it felt like it always does. I hope it will always be like that.
I'd been awake for almost 28 hours at that point. I'd be awake another 12 before I finally went to bed.
We walked everywhere. There are only three kinds of vehicles in Oxford, seemingly: buses (all very nice and clean), bicycles (a staggering number), and the motorcycles of Deliveroo drivers (food delivery). The buses, in particular, were incredibly impressive--tons of them, and you could conveniently go anywhere.
We walked all over the Oxford campus, and here are a few pictures. First, a dining hall:
Some magnificent stained glass (almost black and white):
This is a spectacular lawn inside a college (Oxford has about 40, and I've forgotten which one this is):
I was beyond running on fumes, after about three hours of additional walking, but we wound up eating dinner at a neighborhood Japanese restaurant that was both cheap and had the best Japanese food I've ever eaten. The entire trip was curated by Eli, which made it so pleasant and so easy. All I had to do was keep up.
He also told me about All Souls College, which is the most unusual college at Oxford. All the students are at the graduate/postgraduate level, and there are only eight. To get in, one has to succeed on what's called "the hardest exam in the world." Students don't have to live on campus, but there's a weekly dinner on Sunday they must attend.
Oh, and the library is in black and white.
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