To Oxford!!

Wednesday: Started out the day a bit edgy and nervous about finding my way out of London, especially after initially getting on the wrong tube, but once my train arrived at the station at Oxford, i relaxed. I didn’t even care that i was in a strange town without a mobile phone, simply hoping that my friend would arrive and meet me. (I miss my phone. I feel like i’m in some sort of timewarp, where i’m in 1998 but everyone else is in 2011. How did i used to live like this? Just making plans and showing up, without any sort of backup plan or way of letting your friend know if you’re running late?!! It’s madness!!) As it was, Anna was late, but there's a strange serenity that comes from knowing there's nothing you can do - so i just hung around the train station and read my book while i waited.

Seeing Anna was wonderful. She, Adam and i had lunch and a short walk around the shops in Oxford before they had to dash off to continue their whirlwind tour of England, seeing everybody they’ve ever met before they leave tomorrow evening. But – joy! – i’ll see her again tomorrow! She’s meeting up with Ros out near Slough, so since i have nothing much on tomorrow, i’ll go too!!

After she left, i wandered around the town. I took photos of a 1000-year-old Saxon tower, a street sign with the word “Corn” in it (made me think of Bam!), a window display of Lego (made me think of Dunky!) and a comedy club called The Glee Club – i shit you not, apparently there’s quite a few of them around the country – with a Jimeoin poster out the front. I also hung around the shops like a teenager, checking out cool stuff. I went into a Zara store, to see what the fuss was all about (in Straya, there were huge queues and velvet ropes outside the Sydney store when it first opened) ... it’s basically Sportsgirl with a much bigger range of jumpers and coats. Nice coats, though. I also saw a huge range of very fancy ugg boots – all around 200 pounds. Get Away!!

They sure do love their bikes in Oxford. Here are just a few of them at the train station.

I confidently took the train back to Paddington, and then the tube to Euston Square. Picked up a free copy of The Evening Standard as i trotted home in the fading light, as if i’d done it every day of my life.

I've decided i like London. A lot.