Failure to Launch, aka Travel Series: London and Oxford

So when our story last left off, Sara and I had decided not to go to Loch Lomond and instead had been fortunate enough to find Chris who had offered his spare room to us for a few days before we picked up our travels in Glasgow where we had left off. This sacrifice was a bit pricey but I was both daunted by the idea of needing to help Sara and being completely unqualified and unable to do so and the stress that doing reasonably strenuous physical exercise that hiking in mountains requires. I was optimistic, however, that we would make the most of things and be back on track for Easter weekend. How wrong I was.

The few days that we spent with Chris were what I would consider fairly docile. Sara and I would go out into the city of Oxford and spend time reading or working on upcoming assignments, followed by a brief picnic at Christ Church meadows (which Sara had never been to in her 6 months in Oxford) and various attempts to visit the Ashmolean (which never came to fruition). Sara's medications had the tendency to make her either dizzy, nauseated or tired, and as a result, we never stayed out for more than a few hours. I was not particularly bothered by this as I took the additional time to work (which I sorely needed to do) and catch up on television and do the one thing I never seem to do on these breaks which is relax. This relaxation took some tinge of nostalgia as I found out that Steam had put up all of the Humongous Entertainment point and click adventure games of my youth such as Freddi Fish and Spy Fox.

In the evenings, when Chris was home from work, we would watch different British shows, chat and eat dinner. I really enjoyed getting to know Chris more than I already did and was grateful for the increased company. Unfortunately, on a whole I was also frustrated by the extremely sedentary lifestyle that this pattern was creating. Sara wasn't up for much more than a couple hours of walking and even when I bore more of the weighted load, I was constantly struck by the number of hours that I would spend sitting on a coach in front of my laptop. Escapism that I enjoy but not nearly for as much time as I was engaging in it.

Good Friday was a bank holiday, and Chris had the day off, and so, he offered to take us to a stone circle that was outside of Oxford (about 30 minutes) that we had spoken of a few days before. It was a wonderfully picturesque view of the country side getting to see fields of yellow flowers of rapeseed. There are fields after fields of rolling hills and because of the lack of trees, you get a spectacular view of an endless expanse of rectangular plots of crops. We also saw a number of farm animals, and as it was spring many babies as well (including cowlets as Sara referred to them in a slightly drug induced state). The stone circle was both simple and impressive. The rocks which had been placed with some intention of a burial site were 6000 years old and the lore behind them was also enjoyable. The story was of a king who marched on the land with his troops. On his journey he came upon a witch who agreed to let the king pass if he could see the town of Long Compton in 7 strides which lay just beyond the next hill. The king agreed and was nearly over the hill with his last step, when the witch made the ground under his foot rise up preventing him from completing the task. The witch then promptly turned the king into stone and the witch turned herself into a Hawthorne tree. There is more to the area and I will include the wikapedia page describing the monument (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rollright_Stones).

The whole trip was lots of fun and shortly after we went to a nearby town store/farm/restaurant for lunch. There I had the best lamb burger that I have had in England which was perfectly seasoned and reasonably priced. We also had some homemade ice cream for desert. Feeling sufficiently spoiled after the trip, we returned to Oxford for a quiet afternoon.

The next morning, Sara and I made our way to London to pick up our bus to Glasgow, to pick up the flight to Dublin. We were on time to the bus station and ready to begin travelling for the remainder of our journey. The bus ride to Glasgow wasn't the most comfortable. The bus was crowded and besides occasional dozing, I felt as though I could not get comfortable. My discomfort level would ramp up 100 fold when I discovered that the bus was running sufficiently late. In planning to catch up with our route, I had left only 2 hours between the bus arrival and the plane taking off. I realized this was close but was optimistic that if we arrived to the station within 30 minutes of the arrival time, we could still make it. The problem was that the bus was not within that window but a grand total of 1 and 1/2 hours late. Sorely frustrated at the unnecessary stops and continued delays, we rushed to the airport to hopeful grab a new flight with minimal fees. This would not be the case however. The woman at the desk informed us that there were no more flights to Dublin for the evening and that to get onto the next flight, we would need to pay an exchange fee of £68 a piece. There were no more flights to London either, except for a British Airways flight that would cost £260 for the two of us. We sat the airport frustrated and angry and tired of sitting. Given our slightly dire financial straights, we resolved to return to London, where we could crash with a friend for a few days before coming back to Oxford to begin term. The downside (besides the obvious) was another 9 hour bus ride back to London.

We made our way back to the bus station and on the way saw the tardis (which lightened our spirits). The bus ride was not as bad as it could have been. The bus was empty and this allowed everyone two seats by which to lay down and sleep. I got a decent number of hours of sleep and was quite happy to see my good friend Heather again. Another friend of ours, Ben, was also staying with her. So the four of us met up and had dinner together for Easter. We spent the next two days doing some relaxing and trying to de-stress from the events of earlier that weekend. One of the days, we went out walking to find and recreate a picture that my aunt and uncle took during their time in London in 2011. We also had a picnic and did some reading at St. Paul's cathedral where we learned of a free evensong which we also attended.

The next day we would go to Oxford to meet up with Katie for one night before returning to our flats to move back in and start a new term back at Oxford. This morning, I woke up with so much joy and excitement, I wanted to leave as early as possible to reach the flat. On the way however, my laptop would make a tumbling fall to the floor of the bus, popping out the battery and part of the cover for the hard-drive. Fortunately, everything was fixed and once I was finally settled, I did the one thing that I had been missing over the last two weeks, a run.

During my run, I was overwhelmed with a feeling of home and joy at returning to a life that I really had enjoyed building for myself. Oxford is a gorgeous city and I love living so close to everything I need and still having beautiful nature to immerse myself in. I am excited to get back into the swing of things and begin term with all the archery, role playing society and of course tutorials. Returning to Oxford has made me so immensely happy and it is only twinged with sadness at the thought that once again my lifestyle is temporary and all the habits and things that make me happy will need to be recreated anew in a new place for another temporary time. Being in Oxford has made me realize the joy that can come from laying down routes and building a life for myself. It has only made me frustrated at my lack of continuity and routine that my life has to hold over the next 5-10 years. That being said, I have no intention to change my future goals or aspirations and recognize that it is an element of my youth that necessitates the frequent moving around that lays in my future. For now, however, I will live in this beautiful and wonderful moment. I look forward to seeing all my friends and participating in all my hobbies.

Until Next time,

Adventures Await!

KH