Getting out of the city for the day, Oxford

We had planned on taking one day trip outside London during our visit and after careful research decided on Oxford, a beautiful city known of course for it's fine universities but also teaming with history, museums and good eats.

After about an hour train trip to Oxford which lies about sixty miles outside London we exited the train and headed up high street towards Oxford's old town.

It was a beautiful spring day and the town was bustling as it is obviously much visited by both tourists and English alike. About a quarter mile up a slight incline we came out on a crowded beautiful city center with fantastic architecture.

We needed a cup of coffee so we stopped in a coffee shop and purchased a couple of Americana's and headed back out and made our way down towards the University of Oxford.

Now most people have heard of Oxford, and associate the name as the pinnacle of education, but what most people including the two of us didn't understand was that Oxford University is actually made up of 38 different colleges, from Trinity College to St. Hugh's College.

A typical college in Oxford consists of a hall for dining, a chapel, a library, a college bar,  rooms for 200–400 undergraduates as well as lodgings for the head of the college and the dons.

The College buildings throughout Oxford range from the medieval to modern, and most are made up of independent interlinked quadrangles (courtyards), with a lodge controlling entry from the outside.

This is what helps to make Oxford a joy to wander through, with beautiful building after beautiful building all competing for your attention. We strolled down the main street and entered into the courtyard of one of Oxford's many colleges (and to be honest we didn't have any idea which college), and had a nice walk, enjoying our coffee and making our way along the eastern edge of the city.

The day was sunny and warm for early March. With the daffodils and crocuses flowering and the trees and shrubs just starting to bud out we couldn't believe our luck to be able to visit such a beautiful city on such a magnificent day!

Ah Oxford, it's for lovers! (Caption to this Hallmark Card)

We made our way past numerous colleges and peeked in through medieval iron fences at the fresh faced university students as they made their way to class. These young adults are truly the smartest of the smartest. We had overheard a conversation earlier in the day on the train here, where a visiting professor was talking to a couple from London and explaining that the students at Oxford are the top one percent, and no amount of family leverage or financial means can open the door if a student does not live up to the Universities rigid educational standards. On top of that, even a student who is highly successful educationally can still be weeded out during the three to four grueling interviews a prospective student must go through when applying to one of the many colleges.

Looking at these young people through the bars of a fence they looked like any other college students, chatting and checking their i-Phones and quite honestly they all looked so young, like kid's really. it's hard to imagine that they will be running Hedge Funds and breaking down the DNA sequence in four or five years time.

We finally wound our way through a half dozen colleges and came out onto a busy little road with a fantastic church just across the street from us. We sat down on a stone bench just before a gracefully arching bridge and took it in.

We took several pictures of the fantastical gargoyle figurines that adorned the church from top to bottom.

One thing that occurred to us when we viewed the numerous stone carvings was the satire and sense of humor shown by the artisans some six hundred years in the past. That and the fact that many of these amazing carvings all but hidden from the public eye.

We hadn't even realized when we took a picture of the top of the church tower with the telephoto lens that there were great gargoyles carved on the highest spires. Even the Church of England, not usually known for their ribald humor, must of had a little bit of a laugh if they agreed to sign off on these renderings.

After resting our feet for a spell we left our stone bench and made our way through sleepy back streets towards the University of Oxford's Museum of Natural History.

Founded in 1868, this museum houses internationally significant collections of geological and zoological specimens along with amazing artifacts brought back from numerous expeditions abroad. 

Of course just like everything else in Oxford the museum is housed in a magnificent building. 

When you get your first look at the inside of the museum you are instantly blown away by the fantastic detail and genius of the architect. Just Sublime.

We wandered through the numerous exhibits that were all quite informative and well done as one might expect from a museum in Oxford. 

After touring the main floor where most of the geological and animal specimens are displayed we walked down into a large part of the museum devoted to the amazing array of items collected on expeditions throughout the world.

It was in this section of the museum, hidden in-between collections of earthen cookware and fire building implements that I (David) ran across my favorite exhibit in the museum, the Head Hunter and tribal witchcraft section...I know, I know, but it really was cool in a sort of gruesome macabre sort of way. 

Mainly the thought of the early English National Geographic explorers who popped into a tiny village in Brazil or in the hidden hills of Papua New Guinea and somehow extricated these fearsome trophies from their owners and what that must have felt like in 1890. Ballsy.

After a thorough exam of all the museum had to offer we headed towards an Italian Restaurant that Jerani found online and that received very good reviews.

"Carluccio's" was super busy and had a really nice ambiance and a very professional attentive staff. We ordered crispy calamari and chicken pate with small toasts, and for our main courses Jerani ordered the Chicken Milanese and I ordered the Spaghetti Carbonara. The food was outstanding! Everything was REALLY fresh and made with care and prepared "just right"; from the al dente noodles and amazingly flavorful pancetta in the Carbonara to the perfectly done pounded chicken breast and the light yet crispy herbed breading in the Milanese. 

But the star of the show as far as I was concerned was the calamari. Never have we had calamari that were this tender and perfectly cooked, with super crispy but light breading and a delicious lemon mayo. Simplicity at it's finest. There are no pictures of this dish because before I got the camera out I had made the mistake of tasting one and in another minute or two they were all gone. Just freaking DELICIOUS! I know from now on I'm going to be like a heroin junkie, constantly chasing that first high. I will try as I might to find a restaurant serving crispy calamari to match the ones we ate at Carluccio's in Oxford, England and I just know I'm in for years and years of disappointment. 

 We had an hour and a half before the last museum closed so we hurried over there to try and get it all in. We were impressed by the quality of their collections and enjoyed the paintings and the bronzes. The Ashmolean Museum is definitely worth a visit.

John William Inchbold 1830-1888

 This painting catches your eye because it is so detailed and lifelike. The skill it takes!!

                           Guess who? This is really large and was incredible up close.Titled Satan/Mephistopheles, the bronze artwork was by Jean-Jacques Feuchère who was born in Paris in 1807. It was one of his most famous works and was reproduced many times in a smaller scale.

Francis Montague Holl 1845-1888 "Faces in the Fire"

 She's indifferent to her kitty and his broken milk saucer. The birdcage (hanging above the cat) is a common attribute of servitude and indicates she is a servant or hard worked daughter of the house.

Unicorns do use their horns for battle. I thought they just pranced around in meadows and carried princesses. Actually a horse with a horn would be kind of dangerous. Horses swing their heads around a lot. You could lose an eye...

                                  Red Riding Hood George Frederic Watts (1817 - 1904

              They actually had some Martin Brothers Pottery! So expensive! You have no idea

This looks suspiciously like one of those dinosaur birds in the Natural History Museum...
After the last museum of the day we headed back to a very crowded train station and fought our way to some seats for the return journey. Another day done and 8 miles to boot. Our feet and legs were singing!