If all the doors of my advent calendar opened on places where I had found calm, and peace, and inspiration, then the various museums of Oxford (on a quiet winter's day) would feature prominently. From the beauty of the Ashmolean's paintings (and its much talked-about architectural redesign), with the added bonus of being right next to the Taylorian languages library, through the dark and mysteriously purposeful spaces of the Museum of the History of Science, and the briskly insightful exhibitions in the Bodleian, to the soaring space pictured here, which houses both the wondrous collections of the Pitt Rivers (yes, I know, including shrunken heads), and the Oxford Natural History museum, the free entry of these museums was an amazing addition to my time in Oxford. They wouldn't be there without the academic presence of the university, but they are (refreshingly) not academic spaces. Just curious spaces, full of light and air and information.
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