Lord, technology sucks! The internet has been down for days which meant I couldn't blog and now I am using my phone as hot spot (which means I had to tape it to the ceiling close to the window to get a good signal...really, it is embarrassing how dependent we are) and am writing these lines nearly a week delayed.
What a week, what a weekend! After having had a tough week at work, I decided to take some time out and indulge in a trip to Oxford. I booked a four-star-hotel (it was a bargain, so calm down already) and left London on a sunny Sunday morning to find myself two hours later in wonderful, old Oxford. Oxford ranks among my absolute favourite cities, also including London, Edinburgh and Malaga. If you have never visited, you should definitely do so - especially if you are as bookish as I am. It is old and literary and has many impressive buildings in which innumerable famous people studied and worked, such as C.S. Lewis, Percy Shelley or Lewis Carroll. When I arrived I had some hours before I could check in and so I dashed to Waterstones, occupied a table with my laptop and notebooks in the cafe and wrote for a couple of hours, which was great, as I haven't done nearly enough writing in the past weeks, which makes me cranky. Eventually, however, it was time to check in and I enjoyed the blissfulness of a silent hotel room and my complete freedom to take a shower, sing and talk to myself. I went to Oxford, took a bus tour and dined in the Eagle and Child Pub in which C.S. Lewis liked to hang out. I also went back to Christ Church College (I visited Oxford two years ago already) and saw the Great Hall that inspired the Great Hall in Harry Potter as well as the staircase leading up to it which was actually used for filming in Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone. I stayed at the Galaxie Hotel, which was really nice and I would recommend it, though Air BnB is surely much cheaper. I also had a great experience when I talked to a guy and he mistook me for an Englishwoman and strolling through the old city. If you want to hear about Oxford in more detail and visually underlined (or you are too lazy to read), click here or visit my Youtube channel WhateverFloatsYourBoat to watch clips about various things. Though I have to say I am only launching it only at the moment, but more is to come soon (as soon as I have better access to internet again). Another great thing that happened was today. It is the 1st September 2016, which means it is the day Harry Potter's two sons are going on the Hogwarts Express to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. As I had a full day outstretched ahead of me, I decided to go up to King's Cross to actually be there when it was time to leave for Hogwarts. I packed up the children and took the train up to London. We arrived at twenty past eleven (stupid delayed trains), but as we didn't have to catch the Express ourselves, it was fine. We did, however, see that there were big boards with HP pictures on them in the middle of King's Cross and it was a free colouring in for fans and others. We picked pens and helped colour the huge boards before we proceeded to the shop and examined all the interesting things you could buy. It was really an amazing feeling to be there and mingle with other HP fans, although I must say I am sad I didn't get to go on the train myself...that would have been a dream come true...
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AuthorIn September 2015 I started a new chapter of my life by moving (temporarily or permanently, not yet decided) to England where I work and socialise now. Archives
December 2017
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