GinG:CCinC: Travelling without moving

I suppose it's to time cast a nostalgic glance to England now that I'm back in the terrorism-crazed capital of Germany where it's been raining almost non-stop since I arrived. Reichstag is closed to tourists due to a terrorism threat. Berliners don't seem to be too bothered about all this. Logically thinking, there isn't all that much that citizens can do except accept what's coming to them. So, in that vein, let's forget the whole unpleasantness for a moment and have a little photographic tour round selected English towns and cities.

The last couple of weeks in England included plenty of travelling to places old and new. After the Festival, my first stop was Oxford, conveniently located an hour and £10 return ticket away from Cheltenham. The day was sunny and warm, the town surreal. Think about it: people basically come to Oxford because the town has a university. The colleges are beautiful, the architecture is breathtaking, but still. Walking around Oxford is like visiting a university-themed Disneyland. On the Saturday I went there they even had a midday parade with strangely-clad proctors, students in subfusc and MA students in hoods parading down the cobblestone alleys. Looking at the queue outside Christchurch you would've thought the people were waiting to get on an amusement park ride, not into an old building. This is not to say I was in any way disappointed in the town, quite the contrary. Visiting Oxford was just a very unique experience.

Rad Cam, or Radcliffe Camera, is often mentioned as one of the most beautiful libraries in the world.

Following the Cherwell river will eventually bring you to the Thames, which also flows through Oxford. A lot of students in Oxford-themed clothes were having their daily exercise on the banks of the river.

The Museum of Natural History is an interesting place to visit. With a collection that is extensive yet not overwhelming, it's a fascinating attraction close to Broad Street.

A week after my Oxford visit I headed to Liverpool to meet a classmate from Berlin. First, I met up with Tobias in Birmingham and then continued to the Pool to see Emilis. The trip from Bham to Liverpool wasn't without its difficulties, and we ended up spending over an hour in a not-too-exiting town called Crewe where we unexpectedly had to change trains. Eventually we did manage to get to Liverpool - in first class, no less.

The Pool was very cool, it had the same rugged charm as Berlin. Lots of interesting architecture, too, which made me think of the New York of my imagination rather than any place in England. The Docks are well worth visiting, and the Scouse accent makes you smile. The night life has a lot to offer as well, if you're into that sort of thing.

Different aesthetics in perfect harmony at the Docs.

Stay up late, have a few lagers, ciders and ales and you're bound to feel a bit tired the next day.

The beginning of November brought the parents to England. After a day in Cheltenham, the Friday trip took me back to Oxford.
We found the oldest pub in Oxford, offering "an education in intoxication", but due to the popularity of that class, we had to find another place to enjoy lunch in.

This time Christchruch didn't have a mile-long queue, so we actually got in.

The journey back took almost an hour longer than scheduled. The weather was rainy and depressing, and no fireworks were to be seen due to low hanging clouds. However, we did witness some 5 November bonfires along the way.


The next day took us to Bath, an hour and two train trips away from Cheltenham. The weather had mostly cleared up, it was a crisp autumn day. The town was perty, it had lots of Regency architecture, enough of a modern flare to keep it interesting to contemporary tastes as well and an international atmosphere (well, we did visit a French bistro for some pinot noir, that is sort of international, not to mention Wagamama which is definitely international Asian cross kitchen, so there. Thanks to -A for having created such a hype about the restaurant. We tried it and deemed it worthy).
Bath had stolen the idea of Yann Arthus-Bertrand's Earth from Above exhibition - they even had a map of Britain that you could walk on! - that visited Helsinki a few years ago and set up an outdoors photogallery. As unoriginal as the exhibition may have been, it was fascinating seeing so many different sides to Britain.

On Sunday, I escorted my parents to Heathrow (plus helped carry my 20 kilos of books they had agreed to take to Finland for me) and then stayed in London for one night. The Piccadilly line was naturally closed due to some maintenance work, so it took me a while to get to the city centre and to my hotel near the British Museum. The hotel was nice (well as nice as you can probably get for 39 quid a night), included breakfast and close to practically everything, so I ended up having a wonderful stay, even though the room I had made me feel like I was sleeping in a corridor.
After having spent three months in Cheltenham, London felt very much alive. After checking in to my room I went exploring. Saw Harrods (rummaged the Christmas Wonderland for Christmas card holders with not much luck), walked through Hyde Park, went to Buckingham Palace, took a picture of Queen Victoria's statue, sashayed down to Soho, felt very metropolitan, then took pictures of the Trafalgar Square lions in the middle of the night. After that I realised London had made me sleepy.
Next morning, after a satisfying breakfast, I checked out and headed to the British Museum. I saw a mummified horsie, a part of a temple, a statue holding the whole museum up, an impressive skylight, Buddha statues, and a lot of bits and bobs in glass vitrines. From the British Museum I went to Covent Garden (for change I saw a performance of Eine kleine Nachtmusik that was actually interesting. It was something in this vein, but the performers weren't the same), from there to the Houses of Parliament (and of course the battery in my camera ran out just as I was trying to take a picture of the London Eye), Victoria station (bough a yaki soba from Wasabi, but wasn't as good as at Wagamama's), went to Harrods again, then to the Museum of Natural History (which was brilliant). Then had time for nothing more and had to return to Cheltenham.
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Edit. *slump* Writing a travel blog is horrid