Hi there, collegiettes™!
My week began with another installment of Quest for Perfect Pad Thai. I know it’s only the second installment, but I think we may have a winner. Michelle and I visited Angrid Thai, which is a ways from our flats, but the food was superb. Appropriate sized portions, fast service, and the sweet undertones of a delicious pad thai. There’s a place a little closer to our flats that I think we will try next though, for convenience sake. It’s called Thai Orchid and is a bit fancy, but with a student discount the dinner is the same price as Angrid Thai. Something I love about the UK, and Europe as a whole, is the number of student discounts, or Youth (under 26) discounts that are available. It makes it slightly more affordable to travel. I’ve found it’s always worth asking at shops and cafes if they offer a student discount, because while it isn’t always advertised, it’s common for the discount to be 10-25%.
Monday included some studying and birthday celebrations. We’ve really tried to make an effort to celebrate birthdays with spirit, as it can’t be easy being away from friends and family on a birthday. And who doesn’t like some chocolate cake? I plan on embracing the British desserts in the future. So far I have tried sticky toffee pudding. It is a common dessert at pubs and is a brownie-cake like square, smothered in a caramel-esque sauce and vanilla ice cream.
Cappuccino Flapjacks
On a food kick, fresh fruits and veggies are far less expensive than they are in the states. A pack of 6 apples can be purchased for $1.75, which I don’t think would be available that cheap stateside. The fruits and veggies have been quite fresh and delicious. Of course, on the flip side processed and packaged food is relatively inexpensive in the States, and quite pricey in the UK. But the UK does have flapjacks, which is a delicious type of oat bar. They come in different flavors (chocolate, coffee, banana) and a bunch of different sizes too.
This past week my friends and I visited Cambridge. It is a 3 and a half hour bus ride from Oxford, which meant I stayed in a hostel for the first time. Hostels are popular in cities all over Europe and are for the budget conscious traveller. Where a hotel has private rooms and bathrooms, hostels are more dorm like. Hostels have rooms with anywhere from four to 12 beds in a room, with toilet rooms and shower rooms down the hall. The rooms can be female only, male only, or co-ed. I stayed in a female only room with six bunks. One of my friends was in my room, but the other beds were filled with other travellers. It was a great way to talk to other people about their travels. We met two Australian backpackers from our room. We even got drinks with two other people staying at the hostel who were considering moving to Cambridge to complete their PhDs; they were from Scotland.
Hostels offer communal stays, which of course has downfalls in that their is significantly less privacy, and the possibility of being booked with inconsiderate roommates, or loud snorers is a possibility. I had a great first hostel experience, as everyone in my room was quiet and respectful. The hostel was clean and staff friendly. Our hostel was a YHA Hostel. YHA stands for Youth Hostel Association. YHA owns hostels across Europe, for an annual fee membership to YHA can be purchased, which gives discounts on their hostels. YHA offers summer volunteer placements, which includes working at the hostel for free room and board.
What is unusual about hostels, as it is budget oriented, a lot of amenities are not included. Of course, some hostels do offer free wifi and breakfast. The YHA hostel I stayed at had free wifi, and breakfast for a fee. YHA also offered free linens – yes, at some hostels it is an additional charge to use their bedsheets. As I’ve booked hostels for other weekend trips and spring break, I have yet to find a hostel that includes towels. To rent a towel from a hostel costs about $3.
Kings College of Cambridge, bordered by the River Cam, a common place for punting
Cambridge itself was a lovely small city, much like Oxford. Cambridge has many more parks, trees, courtyards, and flowers than Oxford, which of course were not in bloom this past weekend. I would highly recommend visiting Cambridge during the spring time to enjoy the most of the city. Cambridge had a wonderful outdoor market, where we got Chinese dumplings for lunch, fresh smoothies and handmade bread. I enjoyed attending the evensong service at Kings College Chapel. The service is a choral service held each weekday at 5:30 p.m. The church is 500 years old this year, and was lit only by candlelight.
The rest of the weekend in Cambridge including visiting historic pubs from World War II, walking around as many of the colleges of Cambridge University as possible, wandering along the canals and parks and taking advantage of the shopping malls (there aren’t any in Oxford).
I still fancy Oxford above Cambridge, but I’m biased because it has become home.
Cheers!
HCxo,
Heather
Photo Credits:
https://yankinyorkshire.files.wordpress.com/2012/04/sticky-toffee-pudding.jpg
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b4/KingsCollegeChapelWest.jpg