Thursday 21 April 2011

xx Couchsurfing

Remember that a while ago (probably months) I was going on about this website community called www.couchsurfing.com? It’s a place where you can meet other young travellers, either to offer/find accommodation or just people to hang out with, and though I love love love the idea, I’m not quite ready to strike out on my own and stay overnight with a stranger.

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Luckily, couches are not necessary for couchsurfing and a few days ago a guy who was studying in Munich (my hometown) got in contact with me and I offered to guide him around Oxford. That was yesterday. I got back so exhausted I literally didn’t even have the energy to write a blog post! But here it is:

As you know by know, I love Oxford (just take a look at my oxford tag to see how much it is mentioned!), and I feel a secular version of blessed that I will be allowed to live in that beautiful, vibrant little city. And Dominik (for that was his name) was a great ‘tourist’! He let me drag him all across town, and even encouraged me to join in in some street theatre which I never would normally have done!

We started off by climbing the Carfax tower, which I think is a great starting point because you get a view over the whole of Oxford:

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Then on the way to lunch, we joined in with some street performers doing the usual fire, knives, acrobatics stuff. In the blink of an eye we were both lying on your backs on the street and two young skinny men walked and hand-flipped and crawled over us, juggling fire and holding burning sticks in their mouths. It was exhilarating! But we got no pictures sadly so you’ll have to just have this instead:

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After that, it was time for The Best Sandwich In The World from Morton’s (hummus and roast vegetable on a brown baguette):

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After that, we went to Exeter (my college) to have a look around and the porter was really nice and let us in even though I’m not ‘technically’ a member of the University yet. Every time I go I love it more:

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OK! So, I love where I am going to live so much next year that I don’t even care that course isn’t my ULTIMATE PASSION since, as covered, I currently have no ultimate passion.

Right, well anyway… After that we sort of bummeled* around a bit: a beer (and a coke for me) in The Turf Tavern; a wander through the Botanic Garden and Dead Man’s Walk; had a Kaffe und Kuchen** at The Vault Cafe in St Mary the Virgin; and nabbed some Ben’s Cookies for the train ride home.

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Bloquiry

Any funny nicknames?

*bummeln is a German word. It sort of means window-shop, but also just wandering haphazardly aroudn a town, taking in the sights and soaking up the atmosphere

**German tradition which isn’t actually uniquely German but exists in probably most European nations; coffee and a slice of cake in the afternoon

1 comment:

  1. Ahhh, ich liebe couchsurfing! Habe es allerdings auch nur ein einziges Mal (in Dublin französische Studenten aufgenommen) gemacht, dafür hat aber alles ganz gut geklappt! Generell bin ich eher für diese andere Art Urlaub. Klar, man will sie schon erholen, aber für mich ist es auch wichtig, das Land und seine Leute so gut es geht kennen zu lernen!
    Ich rede hier wahrscheinlich schon viel zu viel, wollte eigentlich nur Hallo sagen. Komme hierhin von Delightfully Tacky :)
    Und ich mag deinen Header!

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