Goodbye Oxford, Hello Pain

Some lovely flowers inside one of the Oxford colleges.

When I got back to my room Tuesday night at the hostel, I had a text from Pandora (the CS lady who was supposed to have hosted me).  She profusely apologized for not answering and said she must have been cleaning or something and not heard me knock.  She asked if I'd like to meet up with her on Wednesday at some point for tea, and I said that would be nice. 

On Wednesday, I got up at 8 am, ate breakfast at the hostel (and took back an apple, orange, raspberry jelly packets and 2 pieces of bread that I would use with my peanut butter for lunch), then packed everything up and left my luggage in storage at the hostel.  I set out on a self-guided walking tour of Oxford and was half way through that when Pandora called and said she was nearby and we met up and walked around a bit more seeing all the classic must-sees in Oxford like the famous Bridge of Sighs, Radcliffe Camera building, Bodleian Library, Botanical Gardens, outside of Christ Church College (used to film parts of Harry Potter), and through the famous bits of town.  Oxford is really so lovely - every building is just beautiful - it reminds me of Paris in a way, but quainter (and much smaller of course).  There was an outdoor market that day and they were selling two packs of strawberries for 1 pounds, so Pandora bought some and gave me one.  They smelled SO good. 

CS guy Rick acting terrified of the t-rex.

She also bought me a milk steamer from the same coffee shop I'd used the day before to get internet (Cambibos) and we chatted a bit until almost noon.  At noon I met a CSer named Rick out in front of the Ashmolean museum.  He had answered a request I posted on the CouchSurfing site about someone to hang out with that day.  Rick was a cop (or "copper") by trade, but had been an English major in school, which was delightful because he totally followed along if I started talking about Chaucer or Shakespeare.  He had grown up in a huge old house in Bath with his 2 siblings, parents, uncle, aunt, their 2 kids, and his grandparents.  11 people in one big house!  He recently turned 30, which I keep having to remind myself isn't "old" - it's only 5 years older than me! lol 

At the Ashmolean they have tons of artifacts from thousands of years B.C., but the best part was on the top floor where they had paintings by Pizzaro, Manet, Turner, Van Gough and other famous artists. We really enjoyed that floor.  Then we decided to walk to the Museum of Natural Science where they had huge dinosaur skeletons and a lot of other crazy fossils and dead animal bodies (like a HUGE crocodile, a leatherback turtle which can get as long as 7.5 feet, porcupines, badgers, and all sorts of animals that we don't have in the US - I mean, when was the last time you saw a badger?  For me, I'm pretty sure it was the talking one on Chronicles of Narnia).  So anyway, that was quite interesting. 

I think we were more excited about the dinos than the kids.

From there we walked more about town  he showed me a "hidden" pub where apparently Clinton and a lot of other famous people have gone, as well as the oldest pub in Oxford (The Bear), and pointed out places where he's seen Emma Watson (who plays Hermione Granger in Harry Potter) about town (she goes to Oxford).  It would have been so cool to see her - all my friends would've been so jealous! We also got the best milkshakes in town (or perhaps ever), where you pick a candybar from a large rack that they use to make your milkshake.  I got one that is sort of like a large version of an After Eight mint.  DELICIOUS!  Finally, I went back toward my hostel and he went home to prepare for a friend of his who was flying in from Australia that evening. While the day was not sunny and a bit cold, it had turned out lovely and so much happier than I had expected it to be when I thought I would be wandering about all alone.

I took the 5:30 train to London and then bought an OYSTER card (which you add money to and swipe to use the underground) and took the tube to Aldgate East station.  From there it should have been a 10 min walk to Stephanie Hays' house (a friend of a friend who I was staying with) - but I exited from the wrong exit of the station and next thing you know I'm lost and its drizzling and I don't want to try and locate my map, so I just start asking people for help, and finally I manage to find the place 25 min later.

After meeting Steph and her boyfriend Peter, they asked if I was hungry, and of course I was starving so we met two of their friend out at this Turkish restaurant called Angora and Steph's friend had a "taste card" which got everyone at the table 50% off our meals.  So, I had this delicious lamb dish with a Mediterranean side salad for 4.25 pounds (plus 1.50 each that they charge everyone for unlimited bread (delicious) and olives (gross)).  So it was quite a deal and I was stuffed by the end. 

By the time we arrived back at Steph's place, I figured I'd probably walked a total of about 20 miles in 2 days.  My feet were throbbing and my left knee was starting to ache.  I figured a good sleep  would make me feel better and planned to get up at 7:40 on Thursday and take a train to Hathersage in Derbyshire where the moors are that they filmed stuff like Pride and Prejudice and Jane Eyre.  I was so excited, especially because the weather report said it would be somewhat sunny there which nearly never happens.  So I got everything ready and set my alarm.  But when I woke up and went to the toilet, I knew I was in trouble.  I could barely walk.  My left knee was killing me.

I realized immediately I could not go to Hathersage because once there I'd planned to walk about 8 miles - up and down hills nonetheless. I was so disappointed because, most of you may know, I'm fairly obsessed with Jane Eyre and I was so looking forward to seeing that countryside - I just love nature anyway.  Secondly, I'd already filled out my day on the BritRail pass, which you can't cross out and re-write or they'll think you're cheating the system.  I took an Advil and I'm hoping that I'll be able to walk enough to go visit Hampton Court Palace which I always did love, and at least not let my BritRail day go to complete waste.  I never thought about it before, but in Europe, having a foot or knee injury is about the worst thing that can happen to you - I mean, you simply have to walk everywhere.  I talked to Lieselotte on skype and she said she recently started having pain in her left knee as well (we always trend with our injuries), but hers sounds more like tendonitis and mine sounds more like a ligament thing (according to what I looked up online). 

So please, please pray for me that my knee will feel better in no time. I don't know what I'll do if it doesn't.