Exploring Iffley, Thrift Shopping, Lunch at Oli’s Thai and Surveying Exeter College and The Broad

Wednesday, August 14, 2019

Oxford

Exploring Iffley, Thrift Shopping, Lunch at Oli’s Thai and Surveying Exeter College and The Broad

     I had the day of my life! Weather-wise, it was lousy...I might as well say that, at the outset, and it was cold. I had forgotten how dreadfully chilly the summers can be in Oxford. With only a cotton cardigan that I had carried in a very limited wardrobe, I was rather miserable. But my adventures of the day more than made up for my sartorial inadequacy.

Breakfast with Sue and Tony:

I began my day waking at 6.00 am but staying in my warm and cozy bed at Sue and Tony’s place until 7.00 am. They too had woken up early as they had a long drive to Bristol ahead of them. I joined them for breakfast—Tony’s home baked bread (toasted and delicious with his home made orange marmalade) and some decaf coffee.  While they puttered around getting ready, I dressed and was very pleased when Tony told me that they would drop me off at my first port of call as they would be picking up a rented car to go on their road trip and would swing by my destination.

Off to Iffey Village:

  My first item on the agenda was a visit to Iffley Church which I had read about in one of Bill Bryson’s books. He said that it is an incredible church and that it was set in an absolutely idyllic English village. I had decided then that on my next trip to Oxford, I would make the trek there. For Iffley lies just outside the town of Oxford and is very easily reached by local bus. This church, however, The Church of St. Mary The Virgin, is not on the main road—it is actually on the banks of the River Thames close to the Iffley Lock. Had it been a better day, I’d have gone out in search of these delights. But the rain came down in torrents and with the little umbrella I had borrowed from Roz in London as my huge umbrella has been packed away, I was not well clad at all.

     They did drop me at the gate to the church yard and were off. I had the place entirely to myself and it was with relief that I entered the church as it allowed me to stay dry for a while.

Exploring Iffley Church:

The history of Iffley Church goes back to the 12th century—this makes it older than most of the Oxford colleges and churches. Indeed, it is one of the oldest intact churches in Great Britain and its age is easily evident as soon as you enter the church yard which is dotted with moss-clad grave stones. 

You enter by the main front door that is entirely stone clad and finely carved. Indeed, this is the beauty of this church—its antiquity is evident in the stone carvings, many of which had been refurbished and cleaned up so that centuries of grime and candle soot have been cleared up completely—at least from the outside.

     Just past the stone-carved entrance is the baptismal font in black basalt that is in the baptistry. It is the spot at which all the baptisms took place that brought folks into the church—naturally, before the Reformation, it was a Catholic Church. Conversion to Anglicanism is essentially what saved these ancient churches from destruction in 1533 when Henry VIII ordered the Dissolution of the Monasteries. 

There is a leaflet at the entrance that gives adequate information about the interior decorative features of the church and using it, I was able to navigate my way through the essential ones. There are two modern stained glass windows high above and flanking the main entrance. Past the font, there are marble pillars that hold up the church’s square tower. Further up, closer to the altar, you see the narrow winding stone stairs embedded in the wall that lead to the tower. There are Irish tiles on the floor with Celtic designs and wonderful religious iconography in the rondels that decorate the stone-carved pillars. Indeed, the best part of this church are the stone carvings and they are being very well protected by contemporary fund-raising. 

     When I had finished exploring the interior of the church, I walked out again into the rain—the weather was vile. Cold and freezing, I took some pictures of the exterior and then used the phone number that Sue had given me for Royal Taxis and called for one. My next destination was the thrift shops of Cowley which Sue told me were plentiful. Hence, I called for a cab and was told to wait for ten minutes before one arrived. The trip to Iffley had been fully worth it, despite the foul weather, and I was so glad I took Bill Bryson’s advice and went. Sadly, because the weather was so lousy, I could not explore the thatched cottages and lovely picturesque lanes that make up Iffley Village that Bryson had extolled.

     My cab arrived within five minutes and I told the South Asian driver to take me to the shops at Cowley but to drive me through Magdalen Road as I wanted to see where the famous Thai Restaurant called Oli’s was located. He did as told and I got to see what a tiny little place this is. I would have a hard time walking back in the rain to get here, but there was no way around it.

Poking in the Thrift Shops:

     I found that Sue was true to her word—I found four thrift shops in a small block’s-space—except that there was some road works going on and I had to make a big detour to find the four places. Still, I was not disappointed as I found a really spectacular necklace that would make a real statement and which I was sure I would wear with great pride and pleasure. 

Off for Lunch to Oli’s Thai:

     Quite contented with the good bargains I found (in Jewelery and DVDs), I went on foot to the restaurant. The rain was really dampening my spirits but I tried hard to hold on to them and stay buoyant. When I did get to the place, after about a 15 minute walk, I discovered that although the place is booked solid for months, if one turned up about noon, there was a good chance you could find a seat at the bar. The bar tender told me that I would find a seat and I was overjoyed. In the past three consecutive years that I have been in Oxford, I have tried to get a booking here...but it had been impossible. This was a piece of good fortune and I was really chuffed.’

  So, at 12 noon, the restaurant opened and I saw how really tiny it is—there are 5 seats at the bar and about 20 seats in the rest of the place. The bar filled up in about ten minutes and I decided to have a virgin mojito. For my lunch, I chose the Thai Beef Salad (which was exquisite, if a tad too spicy for me—there was an abundance of red Thai bird chili in it) and for my entree, I had the Padang Duck—this is a duck curry that is served over steamed rice. This dish too was awesome. It is served with fine beans and it was wonderful. I really did enjoy it very much. I always order duck whenever I get a chance, as I do not get to eat it often enough. The delicate flavor of this dish was also fully satisfying and I could see why this restaurant has acquired such a sterling reputation. It really made my day, being able to eat here.

Back to Oxford on the Bus:

Luckily, when I left the restaurant, after settling the bill, I realized that it had stopped raining—such a relief. I found my way to the bus stop on the Iffley Road and took the Number X3 returning to Oxford. I paid the drive 2 pounds in cash and I found a seat on the top deck.  This allowed me to spy the Iffley Sports Ground on which Roger Bannister, a medical student at Oxford, had trained to break the four-minute mile. Indeed, Iffley has little bits and bobs of history that are truly interesting. 

Exploring Favorite Parts of Oxford On Foot:

Once the bus reached Oxford City Center, I alighted and then freewheeled my way across the city for the rest of the afternoon. First of all, I walked through the pedestrian plaza of Cornmarket and took Ship Street to get straight to Exeter College.  Since it was past 2.00 pm, I knew that the college would be open to visitors. I entered the main quad and made my way directly into the chapel where there was a student-led tour underway. The chapel is unique in terms of architectural style as it was designed by Sir George Gilbert Scott on the lines of Sainte Chapelle in Paris—complete with the spindly black spire at the top. I took some pictures of some of the features of the interior—the Byzantine mosaics of the altar, the tapestry by Edward Burne-Jones featuring ‘The Adoration of the Magi’ and the organ loft with its highly decorative pipe organ.The chapel was all lit up (probably because the tour was on) which allowed me to see it in a new light, as it were.

     I left the chapel and walked to the Margery Quad where my room had been located and which has been turned into a car park (irritating!). There is also constant renovation going on in this college and the workers’ vehicles are always parked there. I left this space and entered the Junior Common Room with the aim of getting into the Fellows Garden at the back of the main quad. This garden has access to the ramparts of the college walls that overlook Radcliffe Square and offer stunning views of the beautiful buildings that surround it: the Radcliffe Camera in the center with All Souls College, Brasenose College, Exeter College, part of the Bodleian Library and the Church of St Mary The Virgin vying for attention in a spot that is the richest in Oxford. I took the requisite photos and left after enjoying the views of the Fellows Garden in its perennial splendor.  

Walking away from Exeter College, I made my way to Broad Street. It was a bit startling to see and indeed to be there in person on the street which had lived with me in my imagination for almost a year as I lived in Bombay. It was then that I had the brainwave of taking a screen shot of myself in the middle of that famous street. It took a bit of ingenuity to find out exactly how this could be accomplished and it did not help that my phone battery does not hold a charge and that I did not have very good internet connectivity.  However, long story short,I did mange to actually put myself into the shots of the Oxford webcam and was able to get some fairly good pictures. It has been a long adventure to get this far with this webcam project with which I actually became slightly obsessed.

     I then went in search of someone in the Martin School where the webcam is installed—Sally Stewart—to thank her for reinstating the camera for me based on an email request I had made to her from Bombay when it had stopped functioning! But she was in a meeting and I had no way of reaching her.

     I was really tired by this point but I managed to find the energy to enter the Oxfam shop on The Broad and from there, I got a few more really glorious necklaces for an absolute fraction of the price I would have paid in a regular shop. Plus these pieces are one of a kind as most of them are of the vintage variety. 

Taking my goodies out with me, I walked again along Cornmarket and decided to make my way home. But then en route, I realized that I was very close to the Marks and Spencer store and since Llew had asked me to buy him something and I still had to buy the cakes (Battenburg and Rich Fruit) that I usually carry home to the States with me, I did swing by there to do my shopping.

I finished shopping quickly enough and then thought I would go to the cafe upstairs for a cuppa and a sit down as I was quite hopelessly fatigued. I sat there for a long while but then decided to try to get home as quickly as I could so that I could really relax there. 

     And that was exactly what happened. I meandered my way slowly through busy George Street and past the late evening tourists either out for a night on the town or getting back to their hotels. I stopped to pick blackberries off the vines and decided to eat them with yogurt for dessert.

     Once home, I wasted no time in taking a shower and then fixing myself some dinner--leftovers of Tony’s dinner which he had insisted that I finish. There was too much left for me to eat so I had half of it and decided to have the other half tomorrow night. 

Left to my own devices, I had one portion of the leftover apricot tart for dessert with a bit of yogurt and some of the blackberries I had picked. I watched a bit of Kavanagh QC on TV and then I readied myself for sleep as I was really exhausted.

     It had been a pretty fulfilling first day at Oxford and I looked forward to the second as I fell asleep.

Until tomorrow...