If you have not guessed from the wonderful picture of Big Ben I took that I was able to afford my wonderful trip to the great and vast lands of the United Kingdom, then something is incredibly wrong with you.
But yes, I returned on the 15th after nine glorious days at Oxford University to visit a very dear friend of mine (who is a student, which I am most proud :] ) who was most gracious to house me in her dorm - as well as conceal me from the Porter's "watchful" eyes, I was actually not meant to be there, hehehe. It was a very relaxing trip, I think I definitely needed a holiday away from California, so I am glad we were able to make it happen.
And now for your featured presentation:
Tuesday 6th, Day One:
Needless to say I woke up on Tuesday in a very good mood. My flight wasn't until 3.05 in the afternoon that day, so I did last minute packing and took a well-deserved nap after getting my room situated. Three hours in advance, my mother - with my youngest brother - came and picked us up, took me to the bank to get out some money, THEN dropped me off at the airport after a few goodbyes.
I then took my first flight to LA where I had to wait a good 3 hours until my NEXT flight to London. It wasn't until half an hour before boarding did one of the staff members call me over and tell me she goofed with my Economy seating (which always sucks) and since it was full she bumped me to First Class. I was not going to complain.
I slept like a baby the entire 19 HOURS it would take to get to the United Kingdom.
Wednesday 7th, Day Two:
After a long and tiring flight, I finally landed at Heathrow Airport.
Customs was horrible - especially since I was in line for about 45 minutes to an hour behind several dozen other passengers - and the airport was a little stuffy, but needless to say I was extremely excited to be in a British Airport because, well... who wouldn't be? I spent half the time fooling around in the toilet before finally running to my Coach and beginning my short journey to the lively streets of Oxford, Oxfordshire. I waited for my friend Samantha to arrive ( in cold as BALLS weather) until I was greeted by my tall British friend - after struggling to see her through my piss-poor vision.
Sneaking me through the back gate, we finally made it up to her dorm and allowed myself to get situated. Prior to dinner, my body decided to give me a MASSIVE nosebleed which left her bathroom looking like a Wes Craven set; this lasted for several minutes. After cleaning up and freshening ourselves up, we went for dinner where she introduced me to her friends and took a trip to the pub. Since I cannot drink legally in the US for another year, it was quite glorious.
After we put on our pjs before falling asleep.
Thursday 8th, Day Three:
Woke up to a beautifully sunny morning.
Sami made us some coffee before taking me with her to a lecture where we were joined by her friend Rian. We had a nice coffee conversation before heading to her class; admittedly I spent most of my time drawing, but the teacher was quite amusing and very enthusiastic with the subjects taught. I thought he was quite engaging, even though I didn't understand HALF the words he was saying...
Afterwards, Sami and I got lunch at St Anne's Coffee Shop, where I met another one of her friends in passing; seeing an actually Oxford student conversation is very exciting, they speak of their subjects like a fat man speaks of ho-ho's, there's so much passion in their voices.
We went shopping with Rian - found a cute tank top - then proceeded to get ready for the term's last Formal dinner where I met more of her friends. I found it very amusing that most of them commented mostly on the height of my pumps and if I had any difficultly walking in them. The dinner was quite fancy so I enjoyed myself as well as talking with her friends, but the dessert was much too creamy and not enough pastry. I gave it a two and a half out of four stars for that dessert.
We made ANOTHER trip to a bar called Duke of Cambridge which had the most AMAZING Crème brûlée martini, so I had two and a cranberry vodka. However, I suddenly got emotional and quiet - due to the dinner wine I had - and found myself completely heartbroken by the fact that the bar had glass frame displays of butterflies.
Pathetic to be distraught over, but I digress. Never have wine again, it only makes me upset...
Not a wonderful way to end the evening, sad over BUGS, but I slept it off after a BRIEF movie.
Friday 9th, Day Four:
Woke for MORE coffee and set off to the wonderful world of Tesco. Love that place, everything is just CHEAP.
Bought some things to make Sami and myself some dinner, though when I tried to take pictures a staff member told me it was not allowed due to something. What she told me kind of went through one ear and out the other. We made our purchases before heading back to the room and chatting over MORE coffee and junk food I brought for her from America.
We then grabbed lunch at the hall - had a lovely lamb dish - and relaxed for a while before getting ready for a "End of the Term" dinner at her friend's dorm. Her friend's Jenny, Ruth and Rian made a lovely salmon dish with veggies which I very much enjoyed ♥ Once again made conversations with her friends before we all headed to The Royal Oak for some drinks. Tried strawberry beer for the first time and absolutely loved it. We stayed outside until we moved into the pub because we were getting frozen. I enjoyed how friendly and open her friends were to me, and glad to see they didn't find me weird or making an ass of myself from all the liquor!
Ended the night with Zoolander.
Saturday 10th, Day Five:
Coffee and crumpets to start our day - because you can never have too much coffee or crumpets.
After went to the hall for some real breakfast and were joined by her friends Rian and Richard. Richard also came with me and Sami on our busy adventure through some of the colleges; places we managed to see were:
- Keble College & Chapel
- The Bodleian Library
- Radcliffe's Camera
- Oxford University Museum of Natural History
- St Edmund Hall
- Magdalen College
- Pembroke College
- Christ Church
- Lewis Carroll's Alice's Shop
After a long day, we retired to her room before heading to a kitchen so I could make us some dinner. I made a seafood pasta; wasn't happy with it, but we were both fed.
Put on another movie before falling asleep.
Sunday 11th, Day Six:
We both woke up to more coffee and got ready, as her family were coming down to meet me - scary first time! - and take us out to lunch.
What we failed to realize was that they came a little too early so we had to haul ass to straighten up the room and make it presentable. They were very funny and enjoyable; her mother was lovely, her step-dad was funny especially with his questions of my thoughts on "American" events, and her brother Alfie was very cute. We chatted for a bit before we walked around Oxford and went to Pizza Express for lunch. Lovely chat and dessert before walking around some more.
We all went to Christ Church - where they filmed Harry Potter - and went into the Dining Hall. My impression of the college is not all that positive; some of the staff - except for one porter who was very kind - were very snobbish and told me rudely to not touch anything. Of course, the second the bitch turned away I picked up a dinner spoon, licked it, and put it back. they can enjoy my spit and suck it. We went outside and were given the same snobbish treatment and told "only the students could sit down" - which we were then promptly laughed at my nearby female students drinking CHAMPAGNE. I thought the structure and buldings were beautiful, but the staff and students were snobby and rude.
They will never see me on those college grounds again.
However, Sami did take me and Alfie to The Ashmolean Museum whilst her parents went around on their own. Loved the museum, was incredibly pretty and probably a lot better than the museums we have here in California. Walked around for a bit then went back to her dorm and said goodbye to her folks.
We rested for a bit before heading off to Port Meadow with some classic English fish & chips take-out for dinner. We ate on the bench before walking around the vast (and incredibly dark) meadow; was very relaxing, you can see the sky very clearly and get a moments peace to yourself... that is unless you're suddenly followed by a creepy man with a flashlight that follows after you. Ran upon her insistence until we got back to the street lights; best idea, seeing that you'd rather avoid problems then stay and wake up the next day in a cage in some basement.
To celebrate successfully evading creepy Meadow man, we went to The Royal Oak for some strawberry beer before going back to the dorm and retiring for the evening.
Another movie was put on, but I fell asleep a few minutes in (again).
Monday 12th, Day Seven:
Woke up quite early (with more coffee, need I elaborate more?) and got ready to catch our coach to begin yet another busy day.
This time, we were going off to the large and lively streets of London. This included a LOT of walking - as well as getting lost a few times - but the places we went to were totally worth it. Places included were:
- Buckingham Palace
- Speedy's Cafe on 187 N Gower Street (for you BBC's Sherlock fans, this is where they filmed it!)
- Trafalgar Square
- Seven Dials
- The British Museum
- Palace of Westminster
- The London Eye
- The Tower of London
- City Hall
- Tower Bridge
- The Shard
- Marble Arch
Quite a tiring day, but I had great fun. We slept through most of the coach drive, then ended our day with some dinner at YO! Sushi (chose this place upon my sushi-loving insistence) before heading back to our room and falling asleep from all the walking.
Tuesday 13th, Day Eight:
Relaxing day.
Went out for breakfast at G&D's Cafe before going back to Sami's room and moving into a colder room in another dorm building. I hoped it'd get warmer, but I was wrong. Once situated, we relaxed.
Later had dinner at a wonderful Greek place with Rian before spending the rest of the evening working on our respective recreational creative activities.
Wednesday 14th, Day Nine:
Regretfully, my last and final day in Oxford.
We went to a very lovely (and very empty) restaurant called Giraffe and had breakfast. I dunno why it was empty at that AM, the food was good, but I digress.
After we grabbed a coffee and walked back to Port Meadow - now free of the pitch-blackiness and creepy followers - and walked around then sat down by the water and talked for a while. Was very relaxing indeed ♥
We spent the rest of the day with editing and drawing and Sherlock clips on Youtube before ordering some take-out for ourselves and spending as much time as we could before my flight the next morning.
We retired, but we spent a good deal of time laughing at our own misfortune with our cold as balls room. even I was reluctant to leave the warm confines of my borrowed blanket, so I dragged it along with me when I wanted to get some water.
We fell asleep laughing.
The Last Day:
And so my stay in Oxford had come.
We got up at the crack of dawn - thanks, early flight... - and had a cup of coffee before we walked down to the Coach Centre. Admittedly, I would've liked to stay a bit longer, but what can you do?
We said our goodbyes and she waited until my coach left the lot.
Being the little bitch I am, I cried the entire way on the bus.
My flights were okay, no delays, and I made it safely back to San Jose, California.
I would like to thank Samantha once again for being a gracious host and letting me stay with her in order to take in the life of an Oxford student as well as introduce me to her lovely friends and family. It was unarguably the greatest holiday I've had in my tiny lifetime, and I hope I can see you again!
One day I hope to say hello once again to the United Kingdom... one day.
That's it for now!
Love&Rockets,
Lala
