Ding dong

Well, today we've done LOTS of interesting things! There's definite advantages to having friends in a college in Oxford. We started out with a gentle wander to find a post office, then found a tower to climb - St Michael's at the North Gate. We stayed at the top for a while, admiring the views and enjoying the sunshine, before heading off to meet up with Ed and Imo, via a few shops and alleyways. We went into Duke Humfrey's Library, and admired the beautiful books, shelves and building, and peered past the security guard into more of Harry Potter's restricted library. We couldn't go into the divinity reading rooms (?), but will when they're open to the public again on Sunday (I think that's the rooms...). I loved the architecture, and to peer out the windows and see how the library fits into the surrounding area. Some day I will have a beautiful library in my house.

After lunch we went punting on the river, and it felt like a very proper thing to be doing. We puttered along, watching the ducks and geese and other punters, and only occasionally running into things. It was very soothing and peaceful, but I am not nearly steady enough on my water legs to have a go at actually doing any of the work.

We spent the evening at informal dinner at Magdelen College, before going on a tour around the place. Ed got the key to the tower and we climbed the 140 steps up to the very top. I love towers, and I tend to gravitate towards them. Erica's going to get sick of climbing things by the end of our two weeks... But this was a pretty spectacular tower to climb, with views up the city streets and out to the Oxfordshire hills. It was a bit windy, but it was also coming up to sunset, so the light was very pretty indeed. On our tour we went into the Old Kitchen Bar, my favouritist of all the buildings we went through (excluding the tower, because that's not really comparable). Old cruck-based buildings have a hold on me, with their rough edges all combining into a beautiful elegance.

After a little more wandering, through the library and a few other areas we ended up having hot chocolate and then headed back to the hostel. Now it's getting on for bedtime, tomorrow we have a tough day full of croquet and checking out a couple of other colleges.

So far, so good. :)

Here are the bells in St Michael's, for today's theme of loud!