I can not have enough of Oxford. Being there is like being in another world: a timeless, self-contained, engrossing, and intellectual stimulating one. And you don’t even need to be a student or to attend a lecture to feel it. On Sunday October 4 I visited with my wife, my son and my parents-in-law.

I took them to the college I attended and others, enjoying their architecture and gardens, marveling at the incredible amount of cultural events (mainly concerts and lectures, not so much art, though) going on for such a small town. To end in a familiar note, we had dinner at Brown’s, a classic favourite of mine, and bought a couple of souvenirs (I wonder if I look more like a tourist or like a pretentious show-off when I wear my Oxford sweater… but I could care less) before catching the train back to London.

I know my in-laws and my wife enjoyed the visit. But when I asked my son if it had inspired him to study there, although he still has quite a few years to go before starting college, he gave me an unexpected answer: “dad, this feels too old, I think I prefer MIT”. I guess I will take it. Advantages of being an alumni of both 😉