'...Oxford, where the real and the unreal jostle in the streets; where North Parade is in the south and South Parade is in the north, where Paradise is lost under a pumping station; where the river mists have a solvent and vivifying effect on the stone of the ancient buildings, so that the gargoyles of Magdalen College climb down at night and fight with those from Wykeham, or the fish under the bridges, or simply change their expressions overnight; Oxford, where windows open into other worlds...'
Oscar Baedecker, The Coasts of Bohemia