All these activities revolve around the presence of the University of Oxford, which makes hard thought a local stock-in-trade. “Brain Basil” is Oxford schoolboy slang for a clever boy, and in this city he comes two a penny. Nobody here is surprised to find that you earn your living with your mind. … For Oxford is built upon books — books being read, books being written, books being published, books in the dozen bookshops of the city, books littered through a labyrinth of libraries. — Jan Morris, Oxford.

Oxford is my idea of paradise, though I must say I find Cambridge even more beautiful, though sadly, neither has anything to recommend them as places to eat. Still, I’d take either, without complaint or scruple. Read Jan Morris’s book, why don’t you?