You probably need to hear a conversation with writer Colin Dexter first to make any connections. No? OK, yes, it works without. We are talking about the city of the most famous university in the world. But it is a connection. The famous author of detective novels put Oxford on the map as an unknown. Of course, I do not want to ignore the fans of the writer J. R. R. Tolkien or, for example, Harry Potter. When it comes to Oxford, the shadows of the sights that surround you are countless. At the end of the day, it doesn’t matter why you chose Oxford. This is if you are not thinking of becoming a student. Natural History Museum / room dedicated to the absolute cellist Jacqueline du Pré / Ashmole Museum / boat trip.

Sure, I knew enough, but what made me go into town was Dexter.

And now don’t rush headlong into bookstore windows or library shelves, because you’ll only break your head or break your neck. Or put your fingers in phones, keyboards, you will simply drain the battery or overheat the device.

Colin Dexter (1930-2017) is the “inventor” of the academic detective story

so I guess I don’t know anything official so no one has rushed to translate it. One title! Too complex. However, being extremely good, his books did not jump off the screen. And here the British TV channels intervene, which exist here, God forbid!, do not be afraid, the best in the series Epic Drama and BBC First. Between 1987 and 2000, Dexter’s books were adapted into a series called Inspector Morse. It’s not with us. more. Instead, there is the prequel “Endeavour” and the sequel “Lewis”. In short, Detective Endeavor Morse is a former Oxford student who, to everyone’s surprise, despite being one of the brightest minds, does not devote himself to an academic career, but becomes a police officer. A job that was more suited to his inquisitive mind, morbid curiosity and, why not, penchant for drama as in opera, the musical genre to which he was addicted. I do not want to interest anyone, who wants intellectual pleasure can find it here, the rest of the action is invented. The books can be read (in English) here.

How did Dexter come to create this intellectual series, especially since he didn’t even graduate from Oxford?

Due to the worsening of his deafness, he is forced to leave his position as a professor of literature and moves to Oxford University to the position of assistant secretary. A lover of puzzles and all things related to enigmas, encryption, somehow confirmed by his service in the army, but probably also stimulated by the resulting secretomania, here, behind the walls, he conceives the saga of Inspector Morse. Good luck to us!

No, I did not go to recreate the routes from the series, as Harry Potter fans do, by the way, and not only

you get used to them, they are essentially thematic routes, but visiting places that would interest me anyway should interest anyone. Okay, I was also interested in touching the place where the genius detective hung out, I didn’t have time for pubs, but rather, why is there so much mystery? Because when I arrived, even in the very short time that I spent, I understood exactly what activated his momentum. Basically, everything is beautiful from the street, but almost inaccessible behind walls, old gates that lock, or with a small exception, where you can enter for a fee. You see groups of young people on the street, running on bicycles or on foot, in black and white uniforms, noisily heading to class. And also the teacher, with even bolder gestures than the minimum decency that should be in a relationship with a student!? The varied designs of the blouses reminded me of the Kawsist era, when surahs were very inventive in adapting their form to escape the monotony of school life. She could become a professor at Oxford on the subject, sic.

I arrived in Oxford on a day trip after my time in London

It is a quick train ride from Paddington Station. If you buy tickets in advance, you don’t pay more than £24 back. Comfort, cleanliness, sockets for phone charging, WiFi, nothing more. It’s obviously a walkable city, but in hindsight I say it would have been much better and more efficient if I’d rented a bike. Next time.

Naturally, at least for me, I wanted to start my visit with the memorial to the rebel romantic poet Percy Bysshe Shelley (University College, Oxford)

I don’t know if you like it, if not, then you must have emotional problems, and if you don’t know him, then you are even poorer than me. I knew it wasn’t exactly open to the public, but you can come in and have a look if you insist. Unfortunately, I ran into a day of restrictions for other reasons, and no amount of pleading made it budge. I showed them my passport, that I was traveling from afar, that I could not return, blah blah blah. nothing Later, at another point, this time in London, I realized that, despite the skill, too many procedures spoil. Even for business. So I had to leave disappointed, so I visited the church opposite, but without Percy. Poor Shelley, who, after being kicked out of Oxford, now also bans cheerleaders. A tragic fate. You write perhaps the most beautiful poems, you are expelled and excommunicated for your beliefs, you die young, and when it turns out that you drowned, the ignorant and ill-wishers immediately take the opportunity to say that God punished you for being an atheist, although this statement, in my opinion, has always been far-fetched, false. But even so, it sounds familiar, doesn’t it? Who remembers the comments during #colectiv. Some kind of satanic music, if I remember correctly. Nothing new under the sun. Just as stupid, only more so.

With a little bit of time on my hands, I headed to the Natural History Museum, well known, especially from the movies, quickly walking through to see the room dedicated to the absolute cellist Jacqueline du Pré, who was born here in 1945.

I have already realized that anything that is privately owned, even colleges or universities, is rather unlikely to visit. But at Oxford University’s Natural History Museum, it’s a different story. Usually, as with any of their museums, the collections are FREE to browse. But above all the collections, above all the super-smart presentations, above all the exhibits, it is the building itself. Impressive 19th century Victorian Neo-Gothic architecture with a glass and iron roof that takes your breath away. I will not repeat what you can read, I even recommend about the museum and exhibits. I’m just saying that, as I found out, the children’s lessons related to the topics illustrated in the museum take place in the museum. Have no money. Here at Antipa, everything costs money, from entrance to bitter explanations. It’s like being taken to the grave. Oh, they have freebies, for preschoolers, huh!?! I’ve said it before, and in front of art and science museums, but I’ll say it again, let’s stop being surprised that others are smarter than us, or have the lowest dropout rate in the world, for example. Even these days, some have remarked that there are too many intellectuals in the Kingdom, who tend to be more left-wing. Come and study here, you won’t regret it.

The next stop was the Ashmolean Museum

It is a mixture of an art museum and a history of civilizations. FABULOUS. And it’s FREE. Classes with children are also free. Again, I refer you to the Ashmolean because it’s worth studying, download the documentation, God bless them, you say. We have an Art Museum and a Museum of History, just like in Antipa, everything COSTS and not a little. From here, as, however, visiting hours were over everywhere except the churches, where I also went to play a few chords of the organ and rest, I quickly went to look at the well-known houseboats on the canals, common to the locality. Boats stand as if in a parking lot, on the shore of the power plant, from place to place some shower cabins. Inside, they organized, more cunningly or not, the living space. A kind of caravan on the water. Peace, friendship, peace, nature. I think this is the space where humanity seems to be better preserved. Residents of Karkotashi would also say that social conditions are standardized. Yes, maybe.

The rest, you can imagine what it’s like there. Lots of young people, fast food, cafes, terraces.

Perhaps in the future the percentage of young people will increase, because I saw that campuses and classrooms were still being built here and there. It also seems to me that in the short term there may even be a reduction in tuition fees, because no, these buildings have to be filled. This is not a day trip. And without a push boat ride (like the gondoliers in Venice), done mostly by students or even by themselves, you haven’t been to Oxford. But that’s left for next time. Otherwise, in a mixture in which the color of antiquity still prevails, you can feel hundreds of years, you can still imagine the life and aroma of past centuries. They treat the past with great respect and try to preserve it. But I don’t know how long.