Everyone should know what I am talking about when I mention that smell. It’s the scent of memories. We all have a smell from our childhood or from a wonderful part of our past, that when it comes back we are transported back to that time. WELL, today, I was reunited with that smell and it was wonderful.
 |
| The source of the smell: Oxford Castle |
For
those of you who do not know, I lived in England from ages to 3 to 7. My dad was stationed at Lakenheath and
Mildenhall Air Forces bases for four years, and during this time, my family and
I did a LOT of site seeing. We
ended up going to many castles around England, Wales, Scotland, and France, and
they all have the same distinct smell.
It’s a musky kind of smell that is really hard to explain. It smells like a mixture of antiques, water,
and age. From that description, it
sounds like one of worst stenches in the world, but after traipsing around
Europe with my family for four years, the smell of old castle has become a very
fond smell of mine.
Fast
forward to today. My friends and I
took our first self-initiated day trip to Oxford. While there, we decided to take a tour of Oxford Castle,
which up until 1996 was actually a prison. It was also an actual castle for living in, but turned into
a full prison around the 14th century…I think. That may be the wrong century but you
catch my drift. It was a prison
for a long time. Anyways, as we
were wandering Oxford Castle, I could smell that smell. Instantly, I was transported back in
time to my childhood. Back to a
time with school field trips to old wooden castles and villages. Back to a time when we had rules that
at 4 o’clock we had to get ice cream when site seeing. Back to a time when my brother would
make fun of my lisp, while I sang along to Spice Girls during long car rides. This smell is my childhood and as terrible as it may seem, it holds a near and
dear place in my heart.
This
may seem a little too emotional for a travel blog that is supposed to be about
my adventures, but this kind of instance is really worth mentioning. I’ve come by imitations of this scent
from traveling through old buildings in the U.S. but it hasn’t been quite the same. The smell today was SPOT ON.
 |
| View from the top of Oxford Castle |
And
that was 400 words about a smell.
I hope you all enjoyed.
As
for the rest of Oxford, it was nice to get out of the city and see a college
town. The whole atmosphere of the
town was very collegiate and it was nice to walk down the street and have 95%
of the people you passed be the same age as you. Although Oxford is more like a Harvard than a Mizzou, it did
remind me of being back at school and being surrounded by so many people my
same age, with more or less the same purpose for being in that town.
The
entire trip reminded me just how exhausting traveling is, but it was totally
worth it. For lunch, we ate at literally the smallest pub I’ve ever
seen. I had to crouch down just to
get through the door and we had to climb over people just to get to a
table. The food was amazing, and
we all tried winter beverages. My
friends had mulled cider, and I had a Winter Pimms. There is something that is just magical about Pimms with
spices, heated. Seriously…magic.
That
was pretty much our time in Oxford.
Unfortunately we weren’t able to get into Christ Church where a few
Harry Potter scenes where filmed, but the trip was still amazing.
I
do hope you stay tuned for another post tomorrow or Monday because tomorrow we
will be helping the rest of London ring in the Chinese New Year. We plan on joining the celebrations in
Trafulgar Square tomorrow!
Cheers,
Janelle
No comments:
Post a Comment