City of Dreaming Spires

   
      I love England, I really do, but I have to admit, touring around a city or country while it is -2 degrees Celsius and windy and snowy, is annoying. The day was wonderful though. It started out a little rough, we left the house about 8 o'clock and our bus left at 9:20, but they wanted us there at nine. We are usually really good at navigating the Tube (we had to get to Victoria Coach Station....or so we thought...) but we ended up on the wrong line, which was easily corrected. Then we walked to the Coach Station and found the bus for Oxford. We asked the guy at the information desk and he said it was all fine and we needed to go to Station 10, so we went to Gate 10. But I was feeling weird, like something was wrong, so we went up to the driver at about nine and we said that we were not at the right place. When the words "I recommend you run," came out of his mouth, I panicked and the five of us went running down the street like maniacs.  But then we could not find it, so we asked someone and they said it was across the street. When we got there we talked to a bus lady and she said we were in the right place, but I was still worried. At 9:20 the bus came and we got on. It was a nice, two story, bus and we sat at the very front on the top level. It had started snowing and getting cold earlier, but I was too stressed to notice; but, on the two hour bus ride to Oxford, I noticed. It was fun, we talked, read, and relaxed(did you notice that I used the Oxford comma there?). Then, as we got closer, we did not know which stop we were supposed to get off at. We eventually figured it out, and got off. We were all extremely hungry so we found food. By that time there was probably an inch of snow on the ground. We went to this nice French cafe and then tried to find Oxford University. Taylor really wanted to go to this Alice and Wonderland museum thing, but we never found it. The campus of Oxford though, was gorgeous; we all wish we were smart enough to go there. It was so magical in the snow(freezing, but magical). Earlier we had to go to Primark and by Taylor some rain boots because her feet were so wet and cold. We walked around for a long time, we even went to this really cool cemetery at Melissa's request. I really wanted to go to Christ Church, which is where they filmed a lot of the Harry Potter movies, but it was closed. The cold was constantly making us go in search of warmth and we found the Ashmolean Museum, which had artifacts from ancient Europe, Rome, China. We even took sanctuary in a bookstore for a while at one point.  When we got hungry we made our way to the Eagle and Child Tavern, which was amazing. About a hundred years ago J.R.R Tolkien and C.S Lewis and there writing buddies called the Inklings, used to be regulars at this tavern. It was so amazing, you could almost feel its importance, and it was not busy or expensive. After some nice, warm cider, we decided to go to the coach station. We were about an hour early though, so we went in search of another pub, but they were all crowded, so we ended up just sitting outside but the coach station, waiting for our bus. We found it though and we realized that we could be dropped off at a stop two minutes from our house instead or taking the Tube and stuff. We are all now in the kitchen, on our computers and drinking tea, nice and warm. 

Quote of the Day: *American lady asks us for directions. We cannot help her, though we try and she leaves. She* Angelica: Guys...despite being American, she things we are smart enough to go to Oxford. She actually thought we were locals..."

Our view from the front of the bus. This is when I started to realize that it was snowing.

Sarah, with Taylor sleeping on her shoulder.

Melissa reading about women's suffrage in Britain.

Angelica....pretending she is in a music video as she listens to her iPod

This bike was just chilling against a wall on the Oxford campus.

The Bridge of Sighs. It is based on the one in Venice.

A beautiful church.

Radcliffe Camera

We found Narina!

We found the Alice Shop. Alice Lidell actually shopped here. We bought some  souvenirs.

The Pub that C.S Lewis and Tolkien ate at. By the time we found it  they had started calling it the Homicidal Eagle. 

We sat down with our food and drink in the back of the pub and saw this....We could not get in, Melissa tried. 

They had this sign up that explains the history. They also had a quote from Lord of the Rings when the hobbits eat at the Prancing Pony and Merry and Pippin realize that they can get pints. There was also a Gollum statue and some other stuff. It was amazing. 

We have all lost our hearts to Oxford. We cannot wait to get back.