Sunday 6 November 2016

Oxford // Day Two


Day Two began early enough, some time past 9am, as we had to head to the dining hall to eat our breakfast. The staff there were very nice, and there were all kinds of different options you could choose from, presented in a buffet style. There was a decent variety of alternatives too, as in gluten-free bread with its own coeliac-friendly toaster and almond and soy milks. I had some fruit, a pastry and some cereal, as well as plenty of juice. It was decent, the best part being the fresh pineapple.
Our plan for the day was to see a few more colleges and visit the Ashmolean museum, the photos of which you can see above. We spent a good two hours there, following the "10 Suggested Things to See" that were written on the map, taking in other things we found interesting along the way. It was a very good museum, and had an enormous variety of items from many different time periods. This included paintings.


The outside of the Randolf Hotel and the Bridge of Sighs.


A lot of colleges were not open to visitors at various points over the weekend, but one that was open, that we very candidly decided to visit, was New College. It's one of the older colleges within Oxford University, and I must say, I liked it an awful lot. They filmed some parts of Harry Potter there, which adds to the allure, but it was just so beautiful, and again had that wonderful calmness about it that many of those we visited did, despite the fact that it was alive with tourists like ourselves. We visited Magdalen College too. It was absolutely huge, seeming to encompass a large part of the city. I found it pleasant, but was surprised in that I didn't like it as much as I expected to. We stayed there for lunch, which was nice. I shared a pot of tea with my mum, and had a toasted sandwich. We sat outside and got a good luck at those punting along the river.

After that, we were quite tired, so we decided to think about doing a small bit of shopping. I really wanted to get a hoodie or jumper that said "Oxford University" on it, and so got a really nice one at their most official location. I've worn it at least once a week since! We shopped around a little bit more, each of our party of four getting a souvenir or two. Then it was back to our accommodation to take a big long rest, and get ready for the evening.


The day was punctuated with our experience at Brown's. It's a huge restaurant, and all of us were delighted with the food we received. It was all delectable, and myself and Lucia were stuffed until about 2am, when we began to feel human again! Unfortunately, it was understaffed, and we could plainly see that our server was under a great deal of pressure. I got a beetroot and goat's cheese tatin followed by salted caramel profiteroles. Delectable!

Our second day was a success. Each of us had an absolutely perfect, wonderful day!

Anna x

Food photos taken with iPhone 5s
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