Originally Posted by violist
1. We're a party of 4 - three guys, 88, 87, and 54, and one gal, 40+.
The oldsters are reliving their glory days, 60 years ago; the others of
us are interested only in drinking. Is there any point of satisfying both
factions? None of us is interested in the Lewis-Tolkein bunch.
1. Any protocol for dress for an an audience with the president of a
college? I'm asking for 40+ - the rest of us will wear ordinary summer
clothes.
On the protocol point, the Presdient/Master/Principal/Provost (there are a variety of titles depending on the college) could be wearing anything from a suit (unlikely IMHO) to very casual clothing (especially as it is summer and outside term time). There is no dress code whatsoever for visiting - as a student I visited the Masters lodgings wearing a T-shirt, jeans and sneakers more often than not. I would simply wear whatever is comfortable - you won't cause offence.
If you are going for dinner with the President/Master or a more formal event (e.g. drinks reception), then I would smarten up a little (i.e. no jeans/sneakers).
As for what to do, Oxford is small enough that you can fairly easily split up and arrange to meet. The pubs are good landmarks to meet at. Indeed, I am sure the glory days would have included the occasional visit to a pub, and quite a few of these haven't changed radically in the last 60 years.