Oxford Pictures

Like the label on the tin says:



John Lowrie and I in front of Trinity College gates. Thanks to John's breaking and entering skills, we had just walked up the lawn behind us.



Pitts River, AKA, An Organized Victorian Hoarder.



Yes, Virginia, This is a street. At the end of it, there's a bar where Bill Clinton "did not inhale" back in the 60s.



My quarters in Oxford. It's a "new" building by local standards - late Victorian.

Oxford to London, Travelogue

I made it from Oxford to London. My trip was not without some (minor) drama.

Things started well enough. Not wanting to lug my suitcase nearly a mile over crowded streets, I booked a taxi. Said taxi got me to Oxford's train station early - around 2:15 for a 3 PM scheduled train. As it happens, for short-haul commuter trains like the hour-long run to London Paddington, there are no reserved seats and you can take any train. Thus, I got the 2:30 train.

Arriving at Paddington early, I had to take three Underground train lines - Hammersea, Jubilee and Dockyards Light Railway (DLR). I made the first two with no problem, but the Jubilee train I caught terminated one station before I was supposed to get off. So I got off where I thought I could catch the DLR. Yes I did, but the DLR has essentially four routes, and figuring out which to take was a problem.

I eventually got it right, but I was a bit hot and sweaty from hauling luggage around. Fortunately, I ran into a local fan on the DLR (he was wearing a Star Wars t-shirt) and he gave me the advice to the right DLR stop (two past what I thought I needed). Also thanks to him, I was able to find the hotel, which was not immediately visible from the station.

I'm staying at the Travelodge ExCel. It's a bit of a walk from here to the convention, but one (short) DLR hop, and since I have a prepaid card I'll probably be training it. The hotel is pretty basic, but adequate, and (for London) cheap.

My last item of note is a personal one. I was bending down in the hotel room and the seat of my pants ripped out! (Reason number 1,542 I always packs more than one pair.) Fortunately, the rip occurred once I was in the room, not on the road. So I changed and walked across the street to the white-tablecloth Chinese restaurant and had dinner. Registration tomorrow.

ETA: Oh, and my 10-year-old el-cheapo digital camera has gone to that great camera store in the sky.