Picture This!

Because I spent the majority of yesterday resting and catching up on sleep, this morning I woke up early and decided to go into town for some shopping. I took along my camera to document the journey around town. Therefore, to make up for the lack of pictures in yesterday's post, here is a visual tour of Oxford (the parts I covered this morning). Enjoy!!!

The "scenic route" into town is to go behind the apartments and along the canal. I absolutely love this walk because it takes me away from the busy streets where cars give no notice to pedestrians. Walking along this path in the morning is especially nice, because you can smell wood burning from past night's fires that keep the boaters warm.

Going across this bridge and continuing on will lead you to Botley Rd. Instead, I usually walk past the bridge and under the train tracks to take the path towards the City Centre. 

Walking under the train tracks. I have to physically duck when going under. This is especially scary when a train passes overhead. And at night it is not lit...so I usually try to avoid this route in the evening.

The canal path continues. There are more boats on the left. And on the other side of the canal is a sports field. This morning there was a futbol game going on. 

The path finally lets out onto this small street. This is normally where my duck friends are waiting for me, but I guess they had Saturday morning plans today. 

The small street then meets Hythe Bridge Street. Turning left is how I get to the main part of Oxford. You can see in this pic one of Oxford's spires (it's sometimes called the City of Spires).

When I take the canal path, I get to miss most of the traffic intersections. This is the first one I have to cross. The street straight ahead is George Street. This is where the bus station is located (as well as lots of restaurants, an open market, and the bank).

The Four Candles is a cheap place to get food. They have a deal where you can get a burger, chips, and a pint for 5 pounds. We like to get the "brunch burger" (which has bacon and a fried egg on it) and a pint of Strongbow cider.

Turning up this street is how you get to St. Peter's College. At the corner is Java Co. which has wifi and is a popular place to get coffee and study.

Hello, St. Peter's College! (Where I had lectures during the intro course.)

The previous street then meets Queen Street where the West Gate Shopping Centre is. Straight ahead is the Central Library, and slightly to the left is the shopping centre (with a Primark).

I stopped by the Covered Market to maybe do a little Christmas shopping. There are shops that sell fresh produce, fish, meat, and flowers. They also have clothing shops, sweet shops, pastry shops, and some cafes. The picture above shows some musicians playing in the middle of the market.

Another picture inside the Covered Market

This is the view up Cornmarket Street (a pedestrian street with lots of shops). I took this after buying a new scarf from one of the street venders. You can see that they have already put up Christmas lights. 

I then went down Broad Street to Blackwell's bookstore where I bought some of my school reading. The White Horse is a pub next to Blackwell's. Down a little further is another pub, The King's Arms, which I would've taken a picture of, but the boys track team ran by...and I got distracted. 

Across from Blackwell's is the Bodelian library. (It's mainly a tourist attraction and photo opp.) You have to have special access to books and even then it's nonlending.

I backtracked so that I could stop at Tesco on the way home (which is right by the bus in this picture).  Tesco is the cheapest place to get groceries and I make a trip there at least once a week. 

Finally arrived back at the flat, laden with shopping sacks. You can see on the right of the picture a train heading my way. Every now and then if a big train comes through, the flat will shake a little (at least the third floor does).

Now I'm sitting in my room, enjoying the solar heat from my windows and snacking on leftover pasta for lunch. My pumpkin still sits on my desk uncarved. He's good company.