Touring and Such

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Today was quite eventful! I went with my new friend Alex (yes you read that right I made a friend!!) to the Botanical Gardens. It was cold and a lot of the stuff was dead but a lot of it wasn't. There was a greenhouse and lovely landscaping.



Then we went to the Museum of Science or something and saw ancient scientific instruments. The ones for measuring planetary movement were so beautiful although now they'd be considered obsolete. They were as much art as science - intricate measurements, graceful proportions, creativity and ingenuity and imagination marking the beginnings of new ideas. We also saw an exhibit on clocks but it was a bit dull -- apparently they've always told time...

Next we went to the Tower and Church of St. Michaels which is the oldest building in Oxford. Maybe I got that wrong, you shouldn't be reading this if you want accuracy anyway. There was a real pipe organ there - hundreds of metal tubes meticulously configured and arranged. Modern organs don't use air valves like this one, they just put speakers in the pipes! I want to attend a service to hear it I bet it's lovely. The tower took us so high and we got to but a 20p piece in a bell chime machine. It was so neat seeing all of the cogs and levels and thingamabobs moving just to strike a bell. The view was amazing - the Oxford sky in punctuated by all manner of towers and turrents -- quite different from our skies.

I had fish and chips and low quality cider which frankly tastes better than the beer in my humble opinion. Late last night I was standing on Folly Bridge and this guy named Freddy asked me for directions and said he was from Austrailia. I gave him directions but then he told me that he actually knew where he was going but he just thought I looked nice. SNEAKY!!!

The swans outside my room make squwaking noises in the middle of the night like they are dying while screaming while being attacked while honking while screetching. I like it though, I think it's charming and awkward of them 😊



I'm feeling a bit more settled. I'm going to meet my tutors soon their names are weird (Pelagia Moulimari and Nisha Manocha) but they seem very nice from the e-mails.

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