On the fervent recommendations of friends, English and American, I managed to squeeze a brief trip to Oxford into my Summer of 2011.
My impressions, more photos, and a meal:
Follow up:
I was only in Oxford for an afternoon, but some qualities of this little city were immediately obvious:
1) It was as pretty as everyone had claimed, and this is mostly due to the University.
2) It seems like a wonderful, if slightly cloistered and small, place to live and to study.
3) The extensive history of Oxford may be as impressive as the city is beautiful, particularly upon someone from a 'young' country.
4) There are a lot of international tourists, perhaps especially in the Summer, and a lot of buses despite the city being very small. It took me double the time to take photographs here, compared to anywhere else really, because there were constantly double decker buses and doddering sight-seers in the way of most shots.
There is, of course, much more to do and see in Oxford than what is pictured here, but I'm grateful to have had a couple of hours to fit in this much.
Oxford University:
Old, famous pubs, including the Eagle and Child, once a haunt for both Tolkien and Lewis:
Storied paths and buildings (and who can say no to a castle?):
One of the best fish and chips meals I've had, with a Guinness, at the ancient pub, 'The Bear':
As a city, Oxford occupies a unique position in the historical, academic, and maybe even social spheres. In ways, this may create some amount of insulation from the rest of the world. Given how enchanting it is, however, I'm not sure I would mind that.
-Jesse