Adventures in Oxford- Chapter 1

online, keeper could find no coaches or trains leaving for oxford that day. but she wanted to go. so far, things didn't seem to be going very well in the planning. but, being the ever adventurous, keeper decided to just go. she packed her bag with a few essentials and caught a double decker bus to town centre. a couple minutes into the journey, keeper fished out her camera to begin documentation of her trip. she turned on her camera and found that the screen had gone out, a discovery which was met with much weeping and gnashing of teeth. well, almost. it was the greatest disappointment she'd suffered in the weeks since she'd been in england.
upon arriving at the bus station, keeper found someone who seemed to have a bit of authority. 'is there any way i can get to oxford tonight?' 'bus leaves at four... buy a ticket from the bus driver.' wow, that was easy, she thought. after all those hours online trying to find transportation. the ticket was much cheaper than anything she'd found earlier, too.
keeper walked around northampton for a while, waiting for her departure time. finally growing bored of walking, keeper looked at her watch. still about an hour to kill. so she stopped in caffè nero for some coffee. finally, keeper walked back to the bus station, stopping at a used book stand to get (what else?) a book. onto the bus and off to oxford.
when keeper arrived in oxford, she found she'd gotten off the bus one stop later than planned. but the hostel being situated about halfway between the bus station and the train station, it was no problem to walk from the latter. upon arriving at the hostel, keeper was asked for her passport, which she'd forgotten in her room. (what kind of person travels in a foreign country without her passport?) apparently only a formality, the passport was neverminded and her student id sufficed. the young bloke at the desk gave keeper a few instructions and a bit of paper with a code to unlock the door, then he led her to her room.
with ten beds, the room was a bit crowded, but hey, it was a hostel. keeper was used to bizarre travelling conditions and had no reason to complain. walking back to the counter, she asked the barefoot bloke where she could get some food. his vague directions were enough for keeper to decide she'd stop at the pub she'd seen down the street.
after walking for a couple blocks, keeper stopped into the irish pub. it was only six pm and the place was so crowded she couldn't see a seat anywhere. ah, six nations match tonight. everyone was watching the rugby game. finding a menu, keeper ordered a smoked salmon toastie (for toasties were the only thing on the menu). after a bit of looking, keeper finally found a tiny table in a corner that was unoccupied. the lone seat left was built into the wall, resembling a small wooden throne. above her throne was a single word: seanchaì, the gaelic for storyteller.
after finishing her toastie and smirnoff (which cost her an absurd six pounds!), keeper began the trek back to her hostel. she got on the internet briefly and assured herself of the address of the church she wanted to attend and got numbers for a couple local taxi services. then she curled up with her book on a couch next to some french blokes playing pool.
after a while, keeper made her way to a chair that was out of the way of french bums and pool cues and listened to italian and spanish being thrown across the room. finally, one of the italians began to speak to her in english. ever on her quest for good travel, keeper asked him where the most beautiful place in italy is.
'rome' he answered without hesitation. one of the other italians told him keeper needed to learn italian without delay, and he taught her to tell someone her name.
after another couple of hours of partially understood jokes and anecdotes (both in spanish and italian, and occasionally in partial english), keeper decided it was bedtime. so she gathered her things, took a shower, and headed to her room.
keeper had the squeakiest bed in the room. and many people were already curled up, sound asleep. making as little noise as possible, keeper climbed into a bed that was less comfortable than her plywood in china.
around half past two, the french girls came in. from where, she had no idea, but keeper could hear the french well enough; probably everyone in the city could hear the french, they spoke so loudly. and did they have to turn the lights on, too? finally they settled down, and keeper drifted into her first bit of restless sleep for the night.
until half-four. that's when the english girls came in. and they were drunk. very drunk. the bloke with the instructions kept interrupting to tell them to shut up and listen. and when he finally left, they kept talking. and laughing. lots of giggling...
eventually, though, keeper drifted off to sleep.