Oxford, Day 13: Alice’s Shop and Other Nonsense

Originally posted June 8, 2012, this blog post series is an undergraduate short-term study abroad trip in Oxford, UK in partnership with Salve Regina University and St. Clare’s Oxford. The blog post may have been edited for clarity and updated with relevant travel information and links.

I hung out with a friend downtown today and we went to Starbucks, Christ Church, Alice’s Shop, and Primark. At one point, we found ourselves on the most peculiar street. We left Alice’s Shop and headed towards the Westgate Shopping Center when we found a red telephone booth. Red telephone booths are not uncommon in England, but what struck us about this one was that instead of having “TELEPHONE” on top of it, it read “NONSENSE.”

We looked at the telephone booth more closely and there was a strange display of toys on a sandy beach. The store window next to it read Rochester’s Story Supplies–and it really is a souvenir shop of fairy tale toys from various childhood fiction. The window displayed a Little Pinch Borrower’s Trap (The Borrowers), Jack’s Magic Beans (Jack and the Beanstalk), Fib-Buster Shrink Nose Cream (Pinocchio), and Practical Pig’s Wolf Repellent (The Three Little Pigs).

The most bizarre window display was a pea on a red velvet pillow and a small cut-out that read “The Pea–Found At Last!”

After we walked away from the window displays, my friend and I realized there were no doorknobs on any of the doors.

Thankfully, we got out of the rabbit hole and checked out Primark, the British equivalent to Forever 21. Primark offers cute fashions and homewares for inexpensive prices. I have seen many people around town carrying shopping bags from Primark, so it was nice to finally see the store.

For dinner, we made pasta with steamed vegetables served with mozzarella cheese on baguette bread.