Thursday, June 16, 2005

Flashback Part 3: Oxford

It's a rainy day and although no one could possibly be as interested as I am, I'm posting my third and final flashback. I spent a few days with Liz at Oxford in the middle of June last year, and she got me into all the pretty colleges that you don't get to see unless you're a student. Such as Merton College:



Very nice, Oxford, very nice. We were there to see an outdoor student production of Macbeth which was memorable not only because it was extremely good, but because Macbeth somehow managed to be very sarcastic and I enjoyed it immensely.

Outside Merton, there had apparently been a bit of a party. The city of Oxford always makes a fuss about confetti and silly string and spraying champagne at the end of the year, but I did not see anyone paying any attention to the rules. I was there the weekend that the third-years were taking their huge final exams, for which they are required to wear academic dress. (Yes, it was just like Hogwarts.) Also, in that group of people standing by the car, there is a rather handsome young man in full Scottish dress. Maybe having a knife in your sock makes sitting an exam less stressful.



I hope Liz does not mind that I've posted a picture of her toes on the internet.

At some point that weekend we decided to go punting. Then, having watched a few people try it, we decided to rent a rowboat instead because at least one of us knew how to row, whereas neither of us had ever punted. Plus I felt I couldn't get into character without a punting hat. Anyway, it was really pretty and would have been quite relaxing had there not been so many other people who had no idea how to steer. This goes for ducks as well.



So that's Oxford. It was a very surreally lovely place.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

your pictures are beautiful. and i have no idea what punting is. sounds athletic. better to avoid things like that.

L'Écureuil said...

punting is easier than it looks -- and much more bareable if no one else in your party knows how to do it either.
everything i knew about punting i learned from Gaudy Night. this knowledge basically amounts to "punting is dreadfully romantic, even (especially) if you fall asleep during."

Anonymous said...

ooo DUCKS! one version of water fowl I can try to slowly torture with apprehension as I follow closly behind.