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Maryam and Nivaal Rehman | Oxford, England
We are so excited to finally be beginning our #MNRrdTrip4Change in Europe this summer. We have been planning to go on this trip for such a long time, and it feels incredible to finally be getting started. The #MNRrdTrip4Change, which is a project in which we will share our travels with you in a unique way. We aim to raise cultural awareness and celebrate diversity worldwide to promote peace and unity. Our first destination: Oxford University! Known for being the university chosen by some of the most well-known scientists, politicians and authors in the world, Oxford has been educating students for nearly 2000 years!
We started our trip in Oxford, after staying awake the whole day yesterday and all night for our flight before arriving in England early this morning. We were so excited but so tired at the same time because we had been awake for more than twenty four hours. We fell asleep immediately in the car on our ride to Oxford from the Gatwick airport, and woke up to have breakfast along the way.
When we finally arrived in Oxford, we joined a Footsteps walking tour around the various colleges and learned more about the culture and history of the University. It was amazing to finally be in the place that we had heard about for so long, and we loved all the stories that our tour guide told us about the various buildings, and their history.
One of the coolest facts we learned included how C.S. Lewis used to walk by a particular path that had a door with a lion on it - the same lion that inspired Aslan's character!
When we finished our tour, we took some time to film our vlog, and update our social media because we had been offline for so long, and then took a much-needed nap. In fact, we went into such a deep sleep that our parents kept on knocking on our room door and we didn't wake up for the longest time. They had to go to the reception and get another key card to open our room and come in. It was evening time when we woke up, and we all headed to dinner at Zizi's, an Italian restaurant.
At the end of the day, we took a stroll around the nighttime streets and enjoyed the summer breeze. We still couldn't believe that we were in Europe! It was such a rewarding first day, and we are so excited for the rest of the trip! We also absolutely loved how travelling gave us an opportunity to observe the world around us, experience new cultures, and a chance to unplug from electronics for a day. Watch our vlog from Oxford here:
Here are some more pictures from the day: