These books are so good! Intrepid Flavia de Luce is an 11-year old girl living in England back in the 1950s, who solves crimes and performs interesting science experiments using one of her ancestors' old chemistry sets, which dates back to the time of Isaac Newton or something like that. She is a sleuth. A sleuth, I tell you! She is a truly vibrant character (the author himself says that he wrote these stories with a theme of "youthful idealism" because it sadly gets forced out of children nowadays).
So before I go on and butcher more summaries of these books (seriously, just read them! I can't do them justice), I should say that one of the things Flavia is known for in the stories is jumping on her bicycle named Gladys and cycling madly into the town of Bishop's Lacey to snoop out a crime scene.
I am currently reading "The Weed that Strings the Hangman's Bag" in the series, just in case you wanted to know.
Back to business! This past week I found my Gladys! For those of you who aren't privy to my Facebook or Instagram (you're not missing much), here is a photograph of my beauty:
A mint green Peugeot made in France with minimal rust! (I know I have a knack for describing things in the most romantic way possible, don't I?)
Nota Bene: In between taking the photograph and now, I purchased a basket and put it on the back, which has made grocery shopping a MILLION times easier. Although, the first time I loaded and strapped my groceries in I didn't realize how heavy my rucksack was until I started riding- heavy weight back there can really throw off your balance!
In case you didn't know, Oxford is a cycling town. People just do not own cars. Still, this doesn't mean that the streets are quiet. Not only are there double decker buses whizzing past every minute, but there are a lot of taxi cars and the crazy folk who do put up with the stress of owning a car, as well. So there is noise in the streets, yes. But since there are so many people who bike around, the bike lanes and car drivers make cycling a safe option. Way safer than in the United States. Everyone just assumes there is a cyclist next to their vehicle at all times. Phew! Either that, or the English happen to be particularly polite safe drivers...even though....they.....
DRIVE ON THE LEFT...!
Seriously England- why?!?! I had to grab Max's arm a couple times in the beginning when we'd be walking around and he would instinctually look for where he thought traffic would be coming from. It is so different!
When I went to meet the guy to buy my bike (it was sort of a Craigslist-y operation, had to go to his house, thought he was going to murder me but ended up nice sort of thing) I remembered that now I had to partake in this madness and ride my bicycle on the left. It's been going well. That first day none of the huge buses came next to me, and I (on accident!) found a way home that only involved left turns.
That's right! FREE LEFT TURNS. All day every day. God help me!
I've got it - that's how you'll find me- I'll be the only girl cycling in Oxford making exclusively left turns. If you've seen the show New Girl, Jess's dad only makes right turns, for exactly the same reason. Although the show takes place in the United States where people are sane, right side of the road drivers.
I'm really kidding- riding on the left is easy and you get the hang of it. Still, it was pretty funny that the first day riding I went home doing all left turns.
Another fairly big culture shock is that it is common to see parents strap in a baby or toddler to the "carseat" on the back of their bicycles. I can barely handle having my groceries in my rear basket- I worry about how well I packed in my crackers and cheese. I can't imagine having my child back there. The more favorable alternative for parents is that they buy one of those ridiculous contraptions that places the child lower down and in front of the bicycle, much like the big things they put in front of grocery carts in America. They are almost always a blinding neon color, and the parent can ride with up to two children sitting in front. This still scares the (asterisk-poundsign-dollarsign-exclamationpoint, or *#$!, since I have to spell it out for you) out of me.
All I have to say to the cycling community of Oxford parents with toddlers is: you rule the earth and deserve the respect of all. I bow to you, oh brave ones.
That's all for now! Be back more later with stories in which I sing in choirs, meet more people, and get sucked in to an hour long conversation with the Wolfson College Porter!
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