In the city of dreaming spires
Forgive the cliché in the title, but yes, we’re here in Oxford, settling in nicely to life in the United Kingdom. Ori and I are currently residing in temporary quarters in North Oxford, considered to be one of the ritzier areas of town, 
although we’ll be searching for longer-term housing in the near future. Needless to say, we expect they’ll be a bit more utilitarian, but we’re enjoying the neighborhood here while we can!
Oxford is beautiful, and a lot like home – as Ori remarked today, “I keep forgetting we’re in England.” Disregarding the downtown populated with fantastic and ancient buildings, the likes of which we’ve never seen before except in movies (more on that later), Oxford is mostly residential, student-oriented, full of trees, and quiet. In short, it has a lot in common with Halifax. The biggest difference, of course, is that the cars drive on the “wrong” side of the roads, and I wonder how many months will pass before I actually look in the right direction for traffic before crossing the streets..?
Ori and I had the good fortune of arriving in town just before an event called Oxford Open Doors,
which granted us access to a number of buildings, colleges, etc. normally closed to the public (or accessible only after paying an admission fee). We saw the city’s town hall, a number of Oxford University colleges (Exeter, St John’s, and Christ Church), and lots of other sights. The beautifully manicured lawns of the University are quite a sight to behold, especially with the backdrop of golden stone buildings and blue skies. At Christ Church, Oxford’s largest college, we even had a chance to see some of the filming locations for Harry Potter and The Golden Compass. Neat stuff!
As with Venice, we’ve been devoting some time and effort to learning about Oxford and its history. Like Venice, Oxford, for what is geographically a small town, has a lot of things to see and do, as we’re discovering.
Soon, I’d like to visit South Park, where the most famous views of the aforementioned spires can be had. Nearby is the grave of C.S. Lewis, and the Headington Shark. Speaking of C.S. Lewis, one can’t forget the Eagle and Child pub, where he met with J.R.R. Tolkien while they were both at Oxford. I could go on, tying one famous Oxford person to another, but you get the idea – Oxford has seen so many famous residents, scholars, scientists, composers, actors, politicians and others, that it would be pointless to continue.
It’s certainly sobering, to be living in such a distinguished place. I think it’s a bit of shame to be living here with no formal affiliation with the University, although Ori is considering applying for some jobs in the Bodleian Library. No matter – life in the UK is very much to our likings, and we’re very excited to see more of Oxford in the coming months and years. It’s a bit strange to think that, with our visas, we could have picked any city, town or village in the UK in which to settle, but so far, we’re both very, very happy with our choice.
P.S. Check out our photos from Oxford, which are contained in their own gallery here.
Oxford is beautiful, and a lot like home – as Ori remarked today, “I keep forgetting we’re in England.” Disregarding the downtown populated with fantastic and ancient buildings, the likes of which we’ve never seen before except in movies (more on that later), Oxford is mostly residential, student-oriented, full of trees, and quiet. In short, it has a lot in common with Halifax. The biggest difference, of course, is that the cars drive on the “wrong” side of the roads, and I wonder how many months will pass before I actually look in the right direction for traffic before crossing the streets..?
Ori and I had the good fortune of arriving in town just before an event called Oxford Open Doors,
As with Venice, we’ve been devoting some time and effort to learning about Oxford and its history. Like Venice, Oxford, for what is geographically a small town, has a lot of things to see and do, as we’re discovering.
It’s certainly sobering, to be living in such a distinguished place. I think it’s a bit of shame to be living here with no formal affiliation with the University, although Ori is considering applying for some jobs in the Bodleian Library. No matter – life in the UK is very much to our likings, and we’re very excited to see more of Oxford in the coming months and years. It’s a bit strange to think that, with our visas, we could have picked any city, town or village in the UK in which to settle, but so far, we’re both very, very happy with our choice.
P.S. Check out our photos from Oxford, which are contained in their own gallery here.
