A few weekends ago it was the Open Doors event in Oxford. There really is nothing better than a good excuse to be a tourist in your own town.

I’ve lived in Oxford for over a year now, and there’s still a pretty large percentage of the city that I’ve yet to explore. It’s made more difficult by the fact that the university owns so much of it, meaning its often difficult (or at least not free) to get into lots of it. Last year I missed Open Doors, but having been to it in London for a few years, I knew what to expect.

What I didn’t expect was just how beautiful it all was. It shouldn’t have been a surprise – the public and accessible parts of the city are hardly ugly. I almost felt guilty though, that I’d walked past walls and fences and doorways all year without considering how beautiful the other side might be.

We went to Exeter, Lincoln and Queen’s Colleges – each as stunning as the next (although I might have a sneaky favourite in the amazing Lincoln College Library). I took my DSLR, which I don’t do that often these days – I’ve got into the bad habit of relying on my phone camera. I need to make sure I have it with me more, I’d forgotten how much I enjoy shooting with it.