 |
| The High Street on a Sunday morning, before all the tourists have descended upon it |
Every Sunday morning, other social engagements permitting, I meet my good friend A. at some likely eateria for a gossip & forkful. A. is an old colleague from my university days, and since she shares my love for hanging out endlessly in cafes while discussing the events of the day, meeting up for breakfast has become a dear habit for us over the last ten years or so.
I like to arrive a little early, so get a chance to glance at the papers - always good to be up-to-date when having a gossip with A.! She quite often pips me at the post and gets there first - but she doesn't read the papers! She gets her news from more reliable sources, like one of her numerous friends & acquaintances or even the serving staff. A. makes friends easily, and invites confidences, and is an excellent source of reliable gossip. My newspaper gleanings come a poor second in our discussions, but she has a generous spirit and doesn't hold it against me that I am short on university gossip and long on news!
Those breakfast mornings are one of the things I really miss during these cooped-up days at home, and so I was particularly cheered when I discovered some photos I took of Oxford and our then breakfast hang out. We have moved on since, because this one has become so infested with tourists that locals don't get a look in anymore, but I thought you might enjoy the photos.
Below is the photographic evidence of a typical Sunday morning in Oxford, rainy and gloomy and full of gossip and food!
 |
| All Souls College, that has no students and a desirable location right next to church St Mary the Virgin |
 |
| St Mary the Virgin, official University Church; used to house the library |
 |
| "Ich halt' es mit dem Gockelhahn" - identify the quote! |
 |
| And there it is again - the tree in front is a magnolia, which blooms splendidly for a week or two in Spring. |
 |
| This Buddleia came uninvited, as usual, but blooms for 9 months of the year and never fails to cheer me |
 |
| Catte Street - between All Souls and St Mary. Further down to the left is the entrance to St Mary's crypt |
 |
| View from entrance to the crypt - Radcliffe Camera overlooms the garden |
 |
| The crypt garden serves as an outdoor cafe annex, and can be very nice in the sunshine. Notice the tourist group in the background? This is at 08:30 in the morning. Four hours later there will be more tourists than landscape. |
 |
| Entrance to the crypt |
 |
| Crypt garden, different angle |
 |
| Inside the crypt |
 |
| Ditto |
