New! Oxford, Punting, and Disco

Thursday July 30 - Oxford and Punting

So this morning we woke up in Warwick, packed our bags and headed towards the city of Oxford (ask your delegate how this town got its name). We took an awe-inspiring walking tour around Oxford University, England’s oldest, founded in 1167. Ask your delegate how many colleges are considered a part of Oxford. Did you know that, if you apply to Oxford, you have to apply to a specific college or colleges? You can’t simply apply for all of them in one application.

It was easy to see how so many writers were inspired, just by experiencing the architecture of the buildings around us. Ask your delegate about Oxford Press and how many books are contained in the Oxford libraries. We had about 30 minutes of free time to explore the town further and (what else?) go shopping. Who doesn’t want a purple t-shirt that says, “Oxford University,” on it, anyway? Pretty much anything you could put “Oxford” or “Oxford University” on… there was a shop with it! Then, with little warning, it began to rain again (a lot)! Luckily, we had decided to meet up in front of Starbucks coffee shop, so it was a great place to settle in and have something warm to drink.

Lunch was a 20 minute walk away, but we made it in good time - even though most of us were experiencing some consistent (are we there yet?) foot tiredness. We went to a Mexican restaurant named, “Iguanas,” and had some tasty chicken wraps and curly fries. What is it with Europe and French fries?!

Our next stop was at the Cherwell River to give our feet a rest and ride on punting boats. They are similar to the gondolas one might see in Venice, but not as intricately designed. The funny thing about our ride, was that the punters tied 3 boats (and with the other group they tied 4) together parallel to one another and pushed us along the river that way. Our punter described some of the wackiest “traditions” of the different colleges in Oxford… some were pretty silly! Our leisurely tour lasted about an hour and was nice and relaxing. We returned to the starting point of our tour and met for a quick count off , and then boarded the coach, heading towards the heart of England... LONDON, baby!