Recently, I took a trip to Oxford, learnt to punt on the River Isis (the Thames), walked through meadows filled with wild horses to cross the city, and stumbled across galleries, such as Modern Art Oxford and the Ashmolean.
Modern Art Oxford is spacious and interesting, and also quite hidden which adds to the initial appeal. On entering, the shop is there to greet you, and it really is quite a wonderful little treasure trove. They've picked out the finest, arty cards and postcards, some great tote and hessian bags, and jewellery from the likes of Tatty Devine. Check out the mustache cufflinks/ necklace if you haven't already! http://www.tattydevine.com/boutique/index.php
There's a lovely cafe, which sells homemade cakes and the infamous, glorious, Monmouth Coffee - and the area is dotted with woodblock tables (designed by Richard Woods) in primary colours, with beanbags to lounge in. It's light and bright and all very tempting, and there's free wi-fi if you've got work to do, or need to plan your next stop!
We saw an exhibition by Slovakian artist Roman Ondak which aimed to 'transfer real life experiences into the context of art'. The first room showed 'Time Capsule' revolved around the incident in San Jose where 33 miners were trapped for 69 days. Set in a large space, the work evoked a sense of claustrophobia and fear, replicating the device that pulled the miners from the mine. The second work, 'Stampede' - 'reflects the movement of people through spaces'. Walking into a dark room, you are faced with a projection of the same room that you have entered, filled with hundreds of people.
See: www.modernartoxford.org.uk for more information on upcoming exhibitions.
The gallery also run talks from artists & writers, exhibition tours, live performance, residencies, film screenings, oh - and they sell a cool beer called Plot 16: The Fermenting Room in the cafe. It's grown and made by artists in residence on their allotment, hence the name.
One last word - make sure you visit the TRUCK record store if you go to Oxford, these are the guys who set up and run the festival, and it's always a pleasure to visit a good music store, with high-quality records from years gone by, and the new ones from J. Mascis, Bon Iver and co.
Pubs to visit:
Turf Tavern (down a crooked path, lovely little beer garden)
The Perch: Across the meadow, past the river, down a path that bears twinkly lights after dark - and sells a range of Gins, with Cucumber dont-chya-know!
The Bear: Tiny, tiny pub - sporting over 2,000 ties... all framed and covering walls and ceilings. It was the tradition of the old Landlord to cut off the the bottom of scholars/ pilots ties (if he liked the look of them) promising them a pint-in-the-wood for their wares!
For breakfast:
Try Bleroni Cafe in the Jericho District for either a very tasty, not too naughty full-english, or a huge bowl of toasted muesli, yoghurt and banana, and a darn good cuppa.
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