That’s What I’m Tolkien About

Day: 177

Towns / Cities Visited: 110

Countries Visited: 22

Steps Taken Today: 12,381

Steps Taken Around the World: 2,981,734

Today was to be one of knowledge and education, and if you are to have a day of learning in England, what better place to do so than in the home of the country’s oldest university; Oxford. Thus it was that we hopped in the car, and drove to one of the many park and rides that reside on the outskirts of this historical centre. Understandably, a city with buildings stretching back almost a millenia isn’t really designed for the needs of the modern day, and as such there is little parking to be found within its narrow streets, and what parking there is comes at a high price. Luckily their alternative, of which we were taking full advantage of, is comparatively cheap, fairly quick, and extremely convenient.

Before too long we were bundling off of the bus and seemingly stepping back in time. Take away the cars and traffic accoutrements and this place looks almost exactly as it did centuries ago. For anyone with even a rudimentary interest in architecture and historical buildings, this place is a wonderland. Every stone speaks of a time when frock coats and top hats were the height of fashion, further back to a time when reading was a pastime only afforded to the wealthy, and even further still to a time when a king made his own church just to get out of a marriage. This was a point in history, not so long ago, when…