Radcliffe Camera

Oh how quickly I’ve forsaken you all here at It All Started! So much has happened since I left Australia and headed to the UK. I’m afraid all my energy has been poured into travelling and all the new experiences that naturally go with it. I’ve spent quite a bit of time in the Norfolk/Suffolk/Oxfordshire areas, with my favourite place down south being Oxford. So much history! It really is the most beautiful city.

Broad Street

One of the many churches…the name of this one escapes me

Balliol College

I spent a lot of time roaming the streets feeling all studious even though my student days are long over, thank goodness. The Colleges seemed to operate their own hours, sometimes opening their doors to visitors but mostly rebuffing them with a politely worded sign that led to many a disappointed face.

My favourite College, which was shut one day but open the next, was Brasenose College, site of many an Inspector Morse scene (Inspector Morse was mentioned all over Oxford as that’s where most of the series was shot). The friendly porter gave me an info sheet and I followed it around, not another soul in sight. I knew I was approaching the Chapel before I arrived, the sound of an organ playing a lively tune resonating through the thick walls. As I opened the huge oak door and crossed the threshold the organ came to an abrupt halt and then melted into a truly spooky melody that would not have been out of place on a dark night as Morse stalked about the halls on the trail of some dastardly wrongin’.

The organ was suspended above the chapel foyer on an upper level, the organist hidden from view behind the pipes. As I stood beneath it peering towards the altar, the melody suddenly changed again and become another lively number that thundered above me and jolted me out of my dreamy stupor. Laughing, I left the chapel, wondering if the invisible organist could somehow see me and waited for the perfect moment to strike.

I’m lacking the internet time and the energy to write any more right now, but I can tell you what tune popped up as I pulled into the Oxford train station. I had it in shuffle mode and – I kid you not – Vampire Weekend’s ‘Oxford Comma’ came on just before the train came to a halt. You just wouldn’t read about it would you?

Oxford Comma – Vampire Weekend