My Day-Trip from London to Oxford
Photo by Courtney McGrady
“Uhh, your ticket’s not working.” The man at the counter observed as the anticipated green light flashed red again. “Hmm, let me see that…
Oh, it’s for tomorrow.”
“What?”
It was still too early in the morning for my brain to process the words. “What’s wrong?”
“Your ticket — it’s for tomorrow, not today. See the date? 20th of May. Today’s the 19th.”
“OHHHH…
WOW…
How’d I mess that up?!”
*It was a mistake I had made when putting together our travel itinerary. In planning, I kept flip-flopping on which day we’d do what and had apparently changed the plan one too many times — forgetting to update our “master plan” in the end (the itinerary we were following in real-time). YIKES! A near-disaster, which taught me to always double & triple check dates and times…THEN have a second set of eyes do the same!
The 5 of us had gotten up at what, 6 a.m.? Rushed across London — with no food in our bellies or coffee in our systems — only to be turned away at the train station with the WRONG TICKETS! Thankfully, our pre-purchased Eurostar tickets to Brussels (for which we paid $108/person) were for the NEXT day, not the PREVIOUS one, so really no harm done besides a little time (and sleep) lost.
And the family took it pretty well considering how I’d been rushing them — cracking the whip to get them to walk faster — all morning! Not to mention that we’d get to do the whole stressful routine again the next day (yay)!
“Soo…what now?”
Well, I figured we’d just have to follow “tomorrow’s plan” today and visa versa — starting with catching the tube from King’s Cross station (where we found ourselves) to Paddington for some breakfast.
King’s Cross
My promise of breakfast went over like a peace offering. But, getting there proved challenging. I planned to take us to a healthy (very Instagramable) Australian cafe called FARM GIRL, near Paddington station. But, turns out, it was not within walking distance (note: London is MASSIVE). We’d have to catch a bus to get there. And, in order to catch a bus, we’d have to figure out which bus and locate the corresponding bus station. This meant meandering around the outside of the (very large) station for a bit…while some of us were already OVER the walking activity and no longer able to conceal their displeasure LOL
Needless to say, we eventually found the right bus, got off at the correct stop, walked a bit further, got seated for some proper breakfast and coffee, and spirits lifted.
It was a full house, so we ended up sharing a table with a couple of other ladies. Gabe and I split an avocado toast and some pancakes, and I tried their picturesque rose latte (made with rose water). All in all, everything was served beautifully, but nothing “wow’d” us. The meal/experience wasn’t worth the effort it took to get there…and it felt a bit overpriced. It seemed like the type of place where the aesthetics took center stage, while the flavors + value fell a little flat (IMO). We were also a tad grumpy by the time we got there, sooo….
:: shrugs ::
Notting Hill
Anyway! While we were in the neighborhood, we had to do some exploring! Back on the bus with renewed energy, we were delighted to watch the row houses go by from our top deck, front row seats (from this perspective, it looks like you are inches away from flattening all the bicyclists).
We got off at the Portobello Road Market and strolled along the street art, took in the aromas of the street food (prepping for lunch service, including piles and piles of french fries and the largest paellas I’ve ever seen), got to marvel at the interesting assortment of vendors (one selling WWII soldier’s helmets?), and listen to Dad recount how — while he was taking a rest on a curb — he saw and heard people snapping pictures with the blue door of “Notting Hill” the movie (from 1999, starring Julia Roberts & Hugh Grant). Though, he was quite sure that in the movie, there were stairs in front of the door!? (Dad is a big chick flick connoisseur).
Once we had sufficiently taken in the sights, sounds, and smells of the neighborhood, we made our way back to Paddington station (made famous by Paddington bear, whose movies are TOP NOTCH, btw. AND Hugh Grant plays the villain in the sequel!).
It was from Paddington station that we would take a train (about an hour-long ride) to spend the rest of the day in OXFORD. We literally bought tickets on the spot for the next train out. A super easy and low-cost day trip!
Oxford (the town + university)
It’s so delightful to be unexpectedly swept off your feet by a place, surprised by how utterly dreamy it is. Oxford was that for us, as soon as we stepped off the train!
Wow. The town itself is straight out of a movie set.
Its quaint, fairytale-like architecture, with its quiet bicycling and bustling, gives a whole new meaning to the words “college town”! We were smitten.
Our first stop was the Eagle and Child (also known as “Bird & Baby”) pub, famous for housing the “Inklings” writers club (where its members C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien, among others, met to discuss literature). This made for an epic lunch spot!
History is written all over the narrow walls, with quotes from The Chronicles of Narnia, Lord of the Rings, and art from the Hobbit hanging throughout. The original Rabbit Room (a private room where the Inklings met in the back of the pub) was preserved, but the pub was also extended and modernized over the years.
Even still, every table was occupied when we walked in.
And you seat yourself, so we had to station ourselves in different rooms to keep watch and be able to swoop in when a table opened up. Once we claimed one (in the middle of everything), we happily ordered our meat pies and fish & chips at the little window at the pub counter: food that they then bring out to your table. I don’t remember much about the food itself, but the atmosphere was pretty magical.
“My happiest hours are spent with three or four old friends in old clothes, tramping together and putting up in small pubs.”
— C.S. Lewis
After this delightful meal, we continued our wandering toward the university, admiring the beautiful buildings with all the intricate details as we went.
We sampled some free fudge in one cute spot, my sister shopped Alice in Wonderland souvenirs (Lewis Caroll went to Oxford University) for her boyfriend in another, and I bought a university T-shirt (which later shrank to be too small in the wash). We stopped to take pictures approximately every 10 seconds.
I could not wrap my mind around this being a real, functioning town where real students attend real college. It felt like being at Hogwarts!
Speaking of Hogwarts, our final destination was Christ Church College: home of the Great Hall & staircase! But, unfortunately, we arrived too late to tour the college — nooooooo!
I forget why they closed early for the day, but it ushered in some intense family moments of disappointment and devastation!
Our only hope to see something inside those walls was to wait and attend an evensong service in Christ Church Cathedral (which we were planning to do anyway).
In the meantime, my (photographer) sister fell in love with a vine-covered building, which prompted a photoshoot. And Gabe and I took a walk across the wide lawn toward a peaceful canal to watch the rowers.
I had read that there are little rowboats you can rent along this canal, which would have been a LOVELY activity if we had had more time!
*From my notes: Magdalen bridge boathouse for rowboat hire: $22 for a 5 person boat.
We made sure to reconvene before the doors were set to open, to optimize our time inside the college — not knowing what to expect. We were pleased to discover, upon entering, that it was perfectly empty. A couple dozen other (presumably) tourists were there for the service, but that was it. So, of course, we took the opportunity to get some pics of the gorgeous square.
The cathedral itself is breathtaking — with light streaming in through the colorful stained glass, a geometric pattern on the floor, rising columns, the ceiling’s canopy, and candles lit all around.
Never having been to an Evensong service before, we took seats in a creaky pew with anticipation. The pews were set up facing each other, parallel to where the singers would stand, which contributed to the cozy, intimate atmosphere. Books of Common Praise and Anthems were laid out before us, sharing space with the bulletin we’d been handed on the way in, which contained an outline of the service and lyrics for the musical selection. Once all the guests had been seated, the university singers, dressed in robes, proceeded up the aisle and took their places.
Confession: the warm atmosphere (both in comfort and temperature) mixed with the angelic voices rising to the heavens nearly lulled me to sleep. I managed to fight it, keeping my head held high, for the sake of the university singers — lest they think I was bored by their incredible harmonizing. But, phew, after all our day’s activities, it took everything in me to keep my eyes open.
After the service was adjourned, we took the opportunity to poke around the buildings adjacent to the cathedral — just in case we were near any Harry Potter filming locations (I know, I know: typical “bold” American tourists). But, there really was no one around to be disturbed by our snooping…
AAAND, we hit the motherload.
“Is that a staircase?
I think that might be the staircase…
You guys, I FOUND THE STAIRCASE!!!!!!”
Cue the childlike wonder and awe. We were beside ourselves with glee! And just up the staircase, like in movies, was the Great Hall, with candles lit for a forthcoming dinner (read: sorting ceremony).
“Welcome to Hogwarts” said Professor McGonagall.
We were only going to peek in the Great Hall doors for a second (to say we’d seen it). But, my dad managed to strike up a conversation with the banquet manager (classic Dad), who was kind enough to talk us through how the space is used day in and day out and let us take all the pictures we wanted.
*Real students eat real meals here if you can believe it.
Wild!
Floating on cloud 9 back toward the train station, we realized we were very hungry. So, before departing for London, we decided to grab a bite to eat. I had a list of possible spots.
*From my notes: Jamie’s Italian, Handle Bar Café, Café Coco, The Fishes, Kazbar, Café Tarifa.
Everywhere we tried had a long wait time, but we settled on waiting at Kazbar (Spanish/Moroccan tapas) for the fun atmosphere. After 20 or 30 minutes’ wait (we did not mind the sitting after being on our feet all day), we relocated from their front bar area to a mozaic table with lots of pillows and North African lanterns hanging all around. We ordered a selection of dishes to share (all delicious) and cleaned every plate. Then finished the meal with some baklava and churros with chocolate dipping sauce. Yum! A perfect ending to the day!
All in all, Oxford knocked our socks off! We did not have enough time in this truly enchanting town! I hope to make my way back one day <3
Other things we would have liked to do (from my notes): tour the Bodleian library ($6), tour Christ Church College ($8) and see more of the greater university, rowboat hire, bike rental, Browns afternoon tea ($13.5/p) or Quod “light tea” ($7.95/p), visit a coffee shop: Colombia roasters, The Missing Bean, UE Roasters, Quarter Horse Roasters.
If you’ve been to Oxford, what did you enjoy? What would you add to my list?
