OXFORD

After three years of endless toing and froing between Uni and home there was definitely no love lost between me and train journeys. I hated them. They meant saying goodbye, leaving a home of some description, and always made me nervous.

But with a definitive end to University life, and my feet firmly planted in one loving home I think my fondness for travelling might just be starting to renew.

Especially if you stick a familiar face and the prospect of a sunny city at the end of it.

And that's exactly what I was greeted with as I arrived in Oxford this Friday. To say I enjoyed it is a complete understatement, and yet, the word that keeps springing to mind when hopelessly searching for the most appropriate adjective is nice.

English lessons taught us to avoid that word like the plague, and up until now, I probably have. But honestly, in all of its simplicity and contentment, that word seems completely justifiable in this case.

We visited an Alice in Wonderland shop, gazed over Oxford's rooftops, ate delicious food and took pictures aplenty. We even managed to enter Christchurch college whereupon I pretty much dragged my jaw across the floor and grew increasingly conscious of my midlander whisper echoing across the prim and proper courtyard. Somehow it didn't seem to compliment the neighbouring grandeur of the Harry Potter staircase, although I'm glad I left my heavily accented mark on the place.

After hours and hours of catching up, exploring and laughing at awkward waiters, it was time to say our reluctant goodbyes and head our separate ways.

She to a whole new world of education, friendship and adventure, and me to a familiar looking job-search website.

I'm definitely more eager than ever now to get my own adventure started, knowing that whatever it may be, it's sure to include many more visits like this one.

And to that I say, YAY.

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