Springtime in Oxford

Well summer came and paid us a visit last weekend.  Soaring temperatures and blue skies were welcomed so gratefully especially with another little trip planned.  So without further ado, here we go again, boil up the kettle and grab yourself a cup of rosy lee and a cupcake and let me take you around Oxford, one of our University Cities.

We started in Balliol College, one of the constituent colleges of Oxford and established in 1263.  The perfect gardens, wisteria climbing the stonework and the carefully placed rusty gate.  Music to my eyes!

What is it with me and windows?  Especially stone ones!  The chandelier through the window took my eye and the more I looked the more I loved.

And aren't these fun...

Of course, we all know someone who does this...

Wisteria and stone in the sunshine, such a beautiful combination.  The oak door welcoming scholars inside.  What a wonderful environment and can you imagine the book lined rooms that lay beyond this?  Yes, my longing for that particular room made another appearance in my mind!

Being a University City, every nook and cranny had students either studying, socialising or working.  This student was capturing the building on her canvas just as I like to with my camera.

It was also degree day (well, it certainly was with the degrees of heat!!), and gowns and mortarboards were seen everywhere.

Because of the celebrations, there was a lot of this going on (a tad disappointing!)...

... and lots of party preparation...

We were a little disappointed that we couldn't get into places, but we could still see the amazing architecture so my finger was poised over the shutter button to keep on capturing the day.

Hertford Bridge that joins two areas of the Hertford College but also known as The Bridge of Sighs...

I just love little streets such as this one.  I lose myself in space and time when I see such quaintness.

Colourful houses lined some of the streets, each pastel shade complementing its neighbour.

Eclectic mixes of different eras of architecture.

Hidden windows behind thick stone walls.

Stone walls providing the steady protection for hundreds of bicycles.

We made our way to the Bodleian Library which opened in 1602 and has been a library legal deposit for 400 years and has over 12 million documents.

We would have loved to have gone in but all tours were sold out and at the time of us visiting it was, you guessed it, closed to visitors!  Grrrrr!!!

Remember how proud I was when walking around London a few weeks ago?  Well, maybe I was a little too confident when walking around Oxford and by this time I was feeling it.  For those who have been reading my ramblings, especially since last December, they will already know that my feet have been on one hell of a health journey after an operation on both.  I have been walking very nicely especially five miles in London recently, but Oxford... apparently 11367 steps according to my phone and now my face couldn't hide the pain anymore.  So a slow walk back was in order with frequent stops along the way.

Pretty benches to take the WEIGHT off my feet.

Pretty flowers to take my MIND off my feet!

Of course, we would have loved to have gone punting but that will have to wait for another day.

As you can see, the weather was changing and the sky was getting darker.  It wasn't long before the rain set in, so the slow walk back to the transport taking us home was very welcome indeed.

Back on the coach, my shoes eventually came off with some prompting and pain killers were taken.  I'm glad to say that the following day, all was well, but I now know my limits!!

Have a wonderful weekend and week ahead everyone.