At noon we received our keys to our flat at Ivydene (Ivy-Dean). Then we quickly prioritized life’s necessities to move in. We grabbed our work computers and a bottle of wine; the espresso machine would arrive that afternoon, having been ordered in anticipation a few days before. Clothes would move in over the next few days.
Ivydene is a renovated 3-story 19th century building. The location is on Iffley Road, 100 meters off the Plain and north of where Roger Banister broke the 4-minute mile. If you were from Oxford, at this point you would say “Ahhh, that’s a great spot”; however, if you aren’t from Oxford, you’ll need me to clarify. The Plain is peculiar name for a particular traffic circle, which is the only entrance to the city of Oxford from the south side.
There are four roads in The Plain. The road to the north is High Street and the only road into Oxford. Three southern roads: St Clements, is to the southeast and travels onto the park, the village of Headington, Oxford Brooks University, and the hospitals. Cowley, the southern-most road, can boast of a high concentration of diverse restaurants, shops, concerts venues, taverns, many coffee shops, and grocery stores both ethnic and mainstream. And to the southwest lies Iffley, the road that goes nowhere in particular.
Unlike its two close neighbors, walking down Iffley, you’ll find a tree-lined street with residences on one side and prep schools with sporting fields on the other. One of the fields has a big sign announcing the date a world record was set. It is a very exciting plaque and the most notable thing about Iffley. Or at least it was before we moved into Ivydene.
We occupy part of the 2nd floor of Ivydene, with a view of trees and a prep school. The flat is fully furnished, which means it has furniture and some crazy wall hangings but nothing else. Finally, it was time to go shopping.
It might be helpful to know that the day we moved in also marked the day freshmen moved into their dorms. So every shop was filled with parents and anxious adolescents purchasing the exact same items we were; sheets, pillows, comforter, wine glasses, and towels.
One thing interesting about the UK, is the charity shops. Not since college had I frequented Salivation Army or Goodwill stores as a buyer. In fact, before I left the US I had emptied most of my 3,200 square foot home into my local Goodwill. In Oxford the shops are plentiful. They represent charities such as Cancer Research, Heart, Lung, Hospice – if you have a charity, you have a shop. But regardless of the number of shops charity or otherwise, not one contains a pot or pan. We have glasses for our wine and mugs for our coffee but not a tool to cook. Until we can locate basic essentials, we will be forced to continue exploring Cowley’s vast ethnic restaurants each night.
Going out is fun, but I’m really ready for homesteading. This morning I woke from a great night’s sleep on a new mattress. Then I sat in my pajamas, peering down from my living room window onto the street below and watched the Harry Potter dressed boys racing off to school and workers shuffling along their worn routes. Mike handed me the first piping hot cappuccino, as a perfect rainbow appeared over the changing leaves across the street. That was a good cup of coffee. When it was done I took a hot shower, in a lovely tub with the most perfect shower.
