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Lisa deposited the kids and me in Oxford for the day from our base in the Cotswolds on her way further south to sample some of southern England’s bubbles at Black Chalk. I’d always wanted to visit Oxford – with its stunning Gothic architecture and historic university – and there was plenty to keep the kids occupied, so none of us were complaining. It was another cold one – a maximum temperature of 9°C/48°F – so we were able to put to work the previously unused down jackets and wool socks we’d been lugging around since July. The University of Oxford colleges intermingled with the center of the city made for such a vibrant college town feel, even in the cold weather, with young students on the go everywhere we looked and academics cycling around the streets all over the place. The limestone Gothic architecture of the university buildings and colleges was quite spectacular, much of it with foundations laid more than 700 years ago and some – like the magnificent Christ Church – dating back to the twelfth century. We all enjoyed killing some time in the landmark Blackwell’s Bookshop across the street from the University’s Bodleian Library, it was a behemoth of a bookstore rivaled only – in my personal experience – by the juggernaut of bookstores, Powell’s Books in Portland. The size of Blackwell’s was masked by its quaint Broad Street facade: it was actually three levels, with a basement floor that was probably bigger than most conventional libraries. The kids were enthralled by all the children’s books on offer – Lilia bought herself a new book – and I walked away with a new addition to the Valtenbergs library – This is Going to Hurt – which I started to read while the kids were ice skating this afternoon and cannot put down.
We killed a couple of hours – and could have killed more – at the exceptionally well presented Oxford University Museum of Natural History. The kids were completely engrossed with all the dinosaur exhibits, so many fossils in one place, and being able to stand amongst the life-sized skeletons gave us all a feeling of the ancient creatures’ immensity. Lilia’s hands down favorite was the huge skeletons of the aquatic plesiosaurs, while Max was full of questions after seeing the pangolin and quizzing me on how diseases manage to jump between animals and humans. My personal favorite, however, was the Pitt Rivers Museum adjoining the main hall of the Museum of Natural History. Pitt Rivers’ anthropology-focused exhibits comprised more than half a million objects from all periods and geographies of human history, everything from modern European weaponry to ancient Asian tribal headdresses. We all experienced a little sensory overload as we slowly made our way through the three floors of Pitt Rivers exhibits, the artefacts jammed into the museum could have easily filled a structure three times the size of the building in which they were housed. Also quite cool to see the Oxford Dodo up close: it’s the only remaining soft tissue specimen of a dodo left anywhere in the world. If we weren’t all jonesing for lunch I think we could have probably spent another hour or two in the museums, definitely worth a visit and – like the Deschutes Museum in Munich – worth a solid amount of the classroom time the kids have been missing.
Oxford’s Covered Market in the center of town was a great spot to grab a bite after our time at the museum, everything from butchers with freshly killed pheasants (feathers and all!) to exceptionally tasty Thai food was on offer. We all felt the pull of a hot pie from Pieminister after strolling about Oxford in the cold, not quite on par with some of Australia’s best pie bakeries but decidedly delicious all the same.
Off to a good start in Oxford!