London, Oxford and some snow

Last week I was in London attending the kick-off of a project which will keep me busy for one year. So many things happened that I am afraid this post to my blog will be very, very long. But I feel so excited and happy every time I am in London that anything seems special and remarkable. Here we go...

The first days were devoted to work and there is not much interesting to report. I walked through the Natural History Museum, the Victoria and Albert Museum, Harrods, the Millenium Bridge, the Tate Modern, the Houses of Parliament,... What wonderful walks, believe me!, they supply live to my life for a while. These days I had lunch with my work colleagues close to Saint Paul's, enjoying London's sun, something which is really seldom found.

In the Houses of Parliament happened something a bit sad. An helicopter landed just in front of me, in the garden close to Westminster Abbey. I could even feel the wind in my hair, it was fifteen metres in front of me. I thought it was some kind of special event but unfortunately a car leaving Houses of Parliament had hit a cyclist minutes before... Let's hope nothing serious happened. The doctors in the helicopter did not seem to be much in a hurry, what might mean good news.

On Saturday morning, I decided to take a bus to Oxford (there are two lines: Oxford Express or Oxford Tube), since it lies relatively close to London and I had never been to it. But on Saturday morning there was an FA Cup football match in Wembley, what collapsed the traffic in London. As a consequence of this, I had to wait for more than an hour for my bus to Oxford. The bus-stop was near the base of some touristical buses and I had the "pleasure" of witnessing a argument between two employees of two different companies. Besides, I was next to Speaker's Corner and some idiots hiding their faces with masks were there "giving hugs for free" and simply destroying the meaning of the Speaker's Corner. Sorry, but I cannot help getting angry with it.

With this tough start, I took the bus to Oxford. The city centre (around High Street) is amazingly beautiful, but I must highlight the gardens: they are so green and perfect! The best views of the city are those from the tower of Saint Mary the Virgin. Climbing up is not as tough as a poster reads. Actually, the picture to the left was taken from there and it shows the Radcliffe camera. I thought it was some kind of chapel or religious building, but I was wrong (once more): it is a room belonging to the Bodleian Library.Concerning colleges, a visit to the Christ Church (attention to the tomb of philosopher John Locke in the Cathedral) and to the New College are a must, but I also enjoyed Merton College. The visit is free and one feels that it is a real Oxford college, with real students. Learning must turn into a pleasure in place like Merton College (see picture above). What do I have to do to study there? What, what, what?

Once back in London, on Sunday, it snowed! In April! This picture was taken in Russell Square, in my way to the British Museum. Every time I go there I wonder why the museum is called "British", since its main masterpieces are not British, they were plundered from Greece, Turkey, Iran,... Probably, withouth this "plunder", the masterpieces would have been destroyed by the natives. So, just change the name of the museum and do not discuss any more about it. About the museum itself, it is an outstanding treasure, where everything is remarkable but overall the mummies and the pieces from Ancient Greek and Ancient Assyria.

Leaving the British Museum, I found the parade of the Olympic Torch, with Chinese and Tibetans shouting and a lot of policemen among them. It was quite an strange event, since I only watched policemen and people in buses, no trace of the torch. This picture to the right was made with my mobile phone (sorry for its bad quality) and the entourage may be appreciated in the background (do you see the red bus?). I would talk about this in a subsequent post, do not panic.

In conclusion, since this is getting to long, very nice days at London and Oxford, despite the four-hours delay my flight back to Madrid had. However, this time, I felt something different, as if quality of life in London had decreased since my last visit (two years ago), I do not know how to explain it with words, but it was not a positive feeling...