Hot in the City

We breakfasted late on Thursday, at an Indian restaurant. Bottomless chai and a range of tasty breakfast items with an Indian slant - I had a cooked-to-order naan wrapped around a sausage with cream cheese and chilli jam. Spicy, messy and delicious. 

Fortified by breakfast, we wandered towards the  Weston Library for a bird exhibit and then the Natural History Museum. Our progress was slowed by a detour through the Bodleian Library gift shop. I am incapable of passing a bookshop or museum gift shop without at least having a look, and the Bodleian gift shop is particularly dangerous. My suitcase is getting heavier! The Natural history museum is home to the only surviving Dodo- it’s only the head part and completely desiccated, and not on display, but they make quite a big deal about it. Possibly to increase sales of Dodo gift shop items, of which there are many. 

It reached 33 degrees in the afternoon . The pavement and walls in the largely treeless city centre radiate every last degree of heat back at you. Self-preservation trumped exploration so we stopped sightseeing altogether and retreated to the rooftop bar for a cold drink and a rousing game of cards. This was followed by snacks and drinks on my terrace as the evening slowly cooled. There are certainly more productive ways to spend a day in Oxford, but at this temperature they are difficult to imagine. I am hoping this is the peak of the heatwave. When shopping for snacks we found some “interesting” food and drink items. KFC serves baked beans with one of their meals, and Pepsi has a wide range of flavour options- banana chocolate anone?  

Friday was largely the same, with a trip to the Asmolean Museum around the corner from our hotel. I have a bit of museum fatigue, but there are fantastic Egyptian, Greek and Roman  exhibits here. One of my favourites was a statue painted with historically accurate colours. It looks garish and weird as we are so used to seeing white marble statues. I forgot to take a photo! King Charles is in town today for the opening of something or other and we had to wait to cross the road while his limo went by. 

We had been walking past a Sicilian sourdough pizza restaurant all week, and opening day was today, so we dropped in for lunch. The focaccia sandwiches were delicious but the shop has some kinks to iron out with service - the English staff couldn’t figure out the Italian names on the digital till, and my white wine was served at room temperature. Very full after lunch, we repeated the terrace snacks and drinks plan for dinner, this time with a new card game. It’s a relaxing way to spend the evening. The terrace is on the top floor, and sounds drift up from Oxford - pealing church bells after a wedding at Magdalen chapel, chatter and laughter from schoolchildren on an excursion, and the cool tunes from a trumpet player, busking in the street. I’ve included photos of my mother and I waving to each other between my terrace and the St Michael’s tower down the road . It’s the oldest structure in Oxford. 

I know big graduation ceremony is tomorrow, but I’m over the heat and actually looking forward to going home more. No doubt once I’m home, I’ll be complaining about the cold…..