Day 1: Oxford, From Chicago to UK

With my niece and nephew in Oxford.
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After a seven-year drought of traveling, I decided to rekindle my travel passion through backpacking, something new to me, instead of joining a tour group.  On the 8-hour flights to UK, with a 1-1/2-hr transit in Toronto, Canada, I came to realize the true reason behind the drought.  My previous depressing job had indeed suppressed my travel passion.

Because of the excitement, I didn't rest on the transatlantic flight.  With the advantage of the tailwind, the plane reached London sky 30 minutes earlier than the scheduled time.  But the plane was forced to circle in the sky due to the occupied gate for at least 15 minutes.  Looking out (actually down) the window, I saw innumerable rows of matchbox-like houses on one area and acres of greenery pastures on other... I did snapshot some aerial views of London with clouds passing by.

I do like England, but I definitely felt the sting of our weakening US dollar in the high cost of living of UK.

Christ Church.. before we paid to enter.
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It took me an hour to go thru the immigration and custom, quicker than I thought.

The first shock I had in UK was its charges for a local phone call.  For whatever reason, my credit card failed to work in the public phone regardless of how I inserted the card.  My bigger denomination of Sterling Pounds was useless at the moment.  While puzzled, I sought help from a lady standing beside me in hopes she might have smaller change for my bigger denomination or correct me with the way I inserted the card.  With a smile, all she did was give me a pound, "here, take it."  I was utterly shocked.  I repeatedly asked her, "Are you sure?......"  She kindly smiled, "Yes".  With that one pound, I called my nephew successfully.  This incident reminded me of my sweet encounter with a British gentleman 10 years ago who kept me company for a 3-hour train ride and then escorted me to my connecting train just to ensure I got on my flight to USA on time.  I do like England but I definitely felt the sting of our weakening US dollar in the high cost of living of UK.  :-)

Outside the Cathedral of Christ Church
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Though it states 40p per call, it actually cost 1 pound for a 30-second call.

It costs 17 pounds one way to Oxford from Heathrow if paid in cash and 20 pounds roundtrip, but one pound more if paid with credit card.

Some of the double-deck buses that commute between cities come with the WI-FI facility.  It is another sign of mankind trying to stay connected at all times, either willing or unwillingly.

As the bus approached Oxford, the spacious greenery scene changed.  Gothic architectures were in sight and roads become winding and were congested with bikes, buses, cars, and pedestrians.  At the same time, I also spotted a very amusing sight in which a female rode a mountain bike in her miniskirt and then tried to prevent her underwear from being exposed with her hand.  She must have left her logic at home, I thought.

The ceiling in Christ Church
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Arrived at Oxford's bus station at 11:20am.  As what I have always remembered England's weather is like, it was indeed a gloomy day.  Jeffrey came with Keong, the son of one of our neighbors in Malaysia.  We took the longest route to walk to his rented house, crossing Oxford's park...  Nothing was really special about the park except its quite enormous size. After an hour or so at his place, four of us, including my niece this time, walked back to Oxford city center for sightseeing.  Though tired, I pressed on.

Somewhere in Oxford.
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Lots of colleges were off to visitors since it was Friday.  All I could do was to peek through the entrances and took a picture or two from the outside.  Christ Church was the only one we paid to visit.  Unfortunately the "Dining Hall" filmed in Harry Potter's film was off limit that day as it was reserved for a private party.  I tried to persuade an old gentleman personnel to just let us take a peek at that hall.  He gently informed me his earlier attempt to do so for a teary 6 years old Iranian boy this morning was rejected by a higher ranked personnel.  Personally, Christ Church is considered one of the most stunning architectures in Oxord.

Agricultural side of of England...
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Christ Church was originally founded by Cardinal Wolsey as Cardinal's College in 1524. The college buildings took over the site of St. Frideswide's Monastery, which dated back to the earliest days of Oxford as a settlement in the 9th Century AD. St Frideswide, a noble Saxon lady, founded a nunnery for herself as head and for twelve more noble virgin ladies sometime towards the end of the seventh century.  Her story is pictured in cartoon form by Burne-Jones in one of the windows in the cathedral.

Heathrow Bus Station where I took a bus to Oxford.
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The other highlight of Oxford is the architecture of its library.

Other activities we did were to stroll around the town and to do some window shopping, a good way to gauge its cost of living.

Suprisingly that I didn't see many blacks in the city.