Oxford weekend

A short trip to Oxford at the weekend.

First off, it was Arts Week. This meant various places open as showcases for local artists/crafts people. A good idea to attract folk along to purchase work, or at least for the curious to peer around unusual places. Like this church with a photographic exhibition of Istanbul.

Or this barge hosting some arty silver jewellery.

But the main business of the day was watching the Cup Final. Little Ivo is for some unfathomable reason a Wigan fan (despite hailing from Oxford), and so was delighted at their win. A good late afternoon spent in a pub with a big screen and a couple of pints. And a happy atmosphere. No one much likes moneybags Man City any more.

Sunday was an another opportunity for me to wander around the restored Ashmolean Museum, this time quieter than any time I have previously visited, no doubt partly because it was a Sunday outside peak tourist time and partly because the City Centre was somewhat cut off by the Town & Gown road race.

The plaster cast gallery is particularly pleasing.

A nice Spring morning just to wander around the City.

  

And then on to the Botanical Gardens. One of the oldest such gardens in the country. The gardens were certainly not in full bloom yet, but the tulips were certainly at their best.

The glasshouses aren't exactly up to the standards of Kew, in size, architectural merit or anything else, but that doesn't mean they aren't well worth the visit.