A thoroughly English day

Jet lag caught up with me today. I woke up feeling tired and a bit queasy. Went over to the Worcester College dining hall ready to tuck in to a full English breakfast (bacon, eggs, beans, etc.) and only managed to eat a bowl of Rice Krispies. It takes a day or so for my body to adjust to eating at what it considers odd hours.

Last night, Karen and Colin took me on a tour of the Worcester College campus (pictured above). It is absolutely stunning. The meticulously cut quad, the flowers in bloom around the ancient buildings, the pond with its gentle waterfall and ducks and geese who have no interest in you unless you have breadcrumbs – all picture postcard perfect.

After dinner in the dining hall, we walked around the city center. We strolled down Cornmarket Street, lined with shops, Starbucks and assorted fast food restaurants, and then down to Radcliffe Square where the beautiful University Church of St. Mary’s (pictured below), the famous Radcliffe Camera building and the Bridge of Sighs is located. We also walked by Rhodes Hall (where the scholars are), by Christ Church, the Bridge of Sighs and wound up at The Turf, a pub tucked away down a narrow alley where Bill Clinton infamously did not inhale. It was a lovely night to sit out on the patio and have a pint.

Today, after resting a bit, I wandered back over to Cornmarket Street to the HMV and bought Kylie Minogue’s new album Aphrodite (it really is brilliant) and the third series of Ashes to Ashes on DVD. Those will probably be my only purchases this trip since I’m on a tight budget. Still, I can’t go home empty-handed from a trip to the UK. It would just feel wrong. I also picked up a Time Out London and was dismayed at all the things going on that I want to see and do. Joanna Lumley is in the West End in a play called La Bete, a big Sally Mann photography exhibit is at The Photographer's Gallery and Claire Denis' new movie, White Material, starring the fabulous Isabelle Huppert has opened to rapturous reviews. I need another week!

I also managed to knock out half a chapter in the Conquering Venus sequel this afternoon while listening to Kylie and the birds twitter away in the garden.

Tonight, we went over to the Worcester College pub to watch a nail-biter World Cup match between Holland and Uruguay, with Holland finally winning 3-2. Then we stayed for pub quiz night and played against groups of students from Georgia Tech. Of course, we cleaned their clocks and brought home a fine bottle of Worcester's own claret. It was a boisterous, thoroughly English evening.