Hilary Term at Oxford, Take Two

My second Hilary Term at Oxford was uneventful – thank goodness! Having taken both my optional classes last year, I was afraid I would not be able to stay disciplined and work on my thesis. Fortunately, my daily 500-word quota turned out to be quite effective and although it made every day a bit of a slog to get through, it got the job done. I only made a few excursions, which I will write about in subsequent posts: one to Cardiff and another to Amsterdam for my friend May’s birthday.

I did also spend a few days in London. In February, I visited the megalopolis to vote in the second round of the Czech presidential elections; much like cavemen, we Czechs have not yet figured out how postal voting works. I spent the rest of the day exploring London with my first-year buddy Johnny; we visited the Natural History Museum and the Victoria and Albert Museum, as well as a few churches. Towards the end of term, I also dropped by to visit Tate Britain with my friend Lekha, who has recently moved to the UK (she last appeared on this blog during my visit of Seattle). Since Lekha had barely seen any of London’s major sights, we decided on a whim to walk towards Buckingham Palace – we were quite surprised when, in a meagre cavalcade of three black cars, we saw King Charles III and his wife Camilla roll by and wave bemusedly at the gawking tourists.

That evening, I also saw Turandot at the Royal Opera House with my friend Sophie. I am always impressed by the quality of production at the ROH and this time was no different; Liu, especially, was phenomenal.   

Juxon Street in Oxford
Royal Albert Hall
A fossil at the Natural History Museum
A decoration at the Natural History Museum
Another bird decoration
The famous blue whale skeleton
The Victoria and Albert Museum
A Dale Chihuly piece at the Victoria and Albert Museum
The London Oratory
The same
The Russian Orthodox Cathedral of the Dormition

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