Day 16: Oxford

Luckily, the weather is better today and after breakfast, we take public transportation to Oxford. The ride is quick and we are right in the city. First, we choose the Ashmolean Museum. A 3-story museum with various exhibitions on art and history. There is also an Egyptian section with mummies and statues. When seeing this, it quickly raises the question if these artifacts really belong here or should be returned to Egypt. There is also an interesting coin collection here. We take a look at some paintings and try out the interactive stands. After an hour, we leave the museum and stroll along Broad Street, past some colleges. Oxford has a total of 39 colleges, spread throughout the city. We see many old buildings from the 17th century, including a theater, museum, and a library from 1602 with currently around 9 million units spread over 176 kilometers of shelving, including more than 6.5 million volumes. Guided tours of the library are offered for tourists, but they can only be booked for children aged 11 and older. We take a look at the building from the outside and admire the architecture. Then we take the small alleys to the Turf Tavern, a pub from the 12th century and therefore the oldest pub in Oxford. We choose cider on tap for ourselves and the children have soft drinks. The pub quickly fills up, the food is quickly served and tastes delicious. We relax for a bit and then set off to explore the city. The next attraction is the Bridge of Sighs. It is similar to the bridge in Venice and the bridge in Cambridge, but here it connects two college buildings and crosses a road.
There is also a church called St. Mary the Virgin a bit further on, with a tower from which you can observe the surroundings. Unfortunately, there are age restrictions here as well, so we skip this as well. So we continue to Christ Church College. The college was founded in 1546 and is one of the largest and richest. Here too, you can only enter the grounds with tickets and that would cost almost 60 pounds. We decide against it, although there were no tickets available today.
The city is very crowded, there are tour groups everywhere that disturb us. They are inconsiderate, blocking the way and not making space. It makes it exhausting to walk through the city. We visit a small market and the Science Museum, where many scientific objects such as telescopes, celestial globes, compasses, etc. are exhibited. Erik wishes that we visit an English fire station again. So we walk there for 10 minutes, only to find the doors closed. We ring the bell, but no one opens. So we leave empty-handed. After a coffee and bubble tea for Erik, we sit back on the bus back to the campsite. The city has many beautiful places, but there are too many tourists today, which annoys us. We are glad to be back at the campsite. We like Cambridge better than the two college towns. Erik and David play with other children. The sun is shining and we are glad it stayed dry.