Oxford shouldn't just be known for the University! It is a beautiful city with much hustle and bustle! Even though I was under the weather for the weekend, it was nice to go out and see a new part of England. I went with my friend Derek. We rode a bus from Birmingham and made it to Oxford in under two hours. I found a hostel before hand and we stayed for two nights. Yes, a hostel! It was actually very comfortable and a lot of fun! I had a top bunk in a room of seven bunk beds. It got really hot! They don't have the same cooling systems like we do in America in the old buildings. The bathrooms were just like at camp; shower stalls, toilets, and a couple sinks. Nothing fancy, but fancy wasn't needed. There was toast for breakfast in the morning and free wifi to be used. The staff were great and helpful. I think they could sense my newness to the situation.
This is a small recap of the pictures I took. Some of them were sideways and I couldn't rotate their position, so they got cut. It is also a recap of the information I learned. I wasn't able to learn as much as I would have liked just because I felt more lethargic than usual. But I kept good spirits and just took in the beauty of the city and the various parts of campus that I saw.
Hope you enjoy Oxford from my point of view!
These are photos of Oxford Castle. I didn't get to go inside and see it, but it was very beautiful from the outside. It was weird though! There was the old, brick structure of the obvious castle and then there were new and very modern parts of building that were kind of just there and semi- attached. It was odd. They had obviously made the castle and its mound an attraction strictly for profit; it didn't look renovated for purposes of preserving historical sites!
If you can see the flag in the third picture, you'll see that it is the flag of England. The flag of England is a white background with a red cross, vertical and horizontal. I will go into more detail about the flag in my next post "Fun Facts"!
Man, I'm all over the place!!!
Examples of the different architecture of Oxford.
This is Town Hall. The Museum of Oxford was inside. It was small, but informative. Oxford is really well known for the man that wrote Alice in Wonderland and they are VERY proud of it! You will see Alice in Wonderland stuff all over Oxford.
This display was in the Town Hall. It is a Royal Warrant. "Oxford is one of twenty- three cities in England to have a Lord Mayor. The privilege is granted by the Queen and is recorded in this official warrant from 1962." I thought this was very cool. Proof that the Queen does actually do things (for all those people who think that she does nothing)!
Mailed my best friend's 21st birthday card from the cool Oxford post
office!!!
Christ Church is both a college and a church. Here at Oxford, each field of study has its own college. The grounds of Christ Church include meadows, the War Memorial Garden, buildings for housing students, classroom buildings, offices, a chapel, and the Great Hall. Christ Church has an extensive history and I watched a very good, fifteen minute documentary when I was there, but I don't remember all the little details like usual because I was under the weather. If you are super interested, you can look it up!
Here you can see the gardens all around the grounds. They were well manicured and quite pristine! I was very impressed. It was such a beautiful oasis in the middle of the city. Once you passed through the gates off the main road, the city was behind you and you were in a different, serene, and fresh smelling place.
The colors of the trees and grass and flowers were so vibrant and alive. It was a very peaceful setting. They definitely know how to honor their soldiers. This War Memorial Garden was specifically for the students of Christ Church who fought to defend their country in the World Wars.
Just part of the grounds of Christ Church.
Another inspiration for the Harry Potter films!!
The chapel was simply beautiful! It was elegantly decorated! You could tell that the church started out as a Catholic church. At some point, a King declared that it would now be part of the church of England. I feel really bad and slightly dumb for not knowing the details of the specific history of Christ Church. Its rather frustrating! One thing that I do remember is that the patron saint of Oxford is St Frideswide and she was a girl! Christ Church was her church and she was loved by her people.
The chapel had some amazing stained glass windows!! They had great colors and intricate illustrations. I spent a lot of time in this chapel! It was so beautiful!
When I was there, some ladies were changing and arranging flowers on the alter and the foyer of the chapel. I asked one of them if something big was about to happen. She said no, but there was a wedding the weekend before and all the flowers were white, so she was changing them to pink. They have live flowers in the church all year round! She said that the chapel looks beautiful at Christmas and that there is a Christmas tree. It sounded so lovely! What a treat to have live flowers all the time! How beautiful!
The Great Hall
I was pretty excited!! And yes, that is my Gryffindor scarf!
You can't see from the picture, but it is present for proof. Alice is in the top right stained glass window and Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dumb are in the bottom right. Like I said, Alice in Wonderland is a big deal here in Oxford.
Hey, I know that guy! John Wesley was the founder of Methodism, for those of you who don't know who that is. The hall is filled with many, many portraits of important people throughout history.
More photos of the city. Such a contrast of old and new; even more so than Birmingham! I love the old brick
Found a covered market and pie minster! Sorry the side is sideways! I had my first ever meat pie! Its like a chicken pot pie, but better!!! And different! This was a Moo Pie. It had free range beef, and boy could you tell, veggies, and an ale sauce. It was atop mashed potatoes and gravy. All together, it was a fantastic, filling, and down right yummy meal! I was proud of myself for trying something new. I know its not too crazy, but it was still just a little weird because it was 'foreign' to me. I am so glad I tried it and I can't wait for my new pie!
The Ashmolean Museum
This museum was ginormous! It was, more or less, a natural history museum. The museum was split into time periods and in each time period was a civilization/ people/ country and their historical artifacts and written history. It was very interesting and well organized. I saw everything from coinage from all over the world from all points in history. There were textiles, art, tiles and pottery, official seals, and everything else from any time period in history that was significant to a civilization. There was a musical instrument exhibit and all sorts of artwork, including: Rembrant, impressionist paintings, still work like bowls of fruit and vases of flowers. It was an impressive collection with a little taste of everything. There was what seemed like an entire floor of porcelain and china. I found in one of the cases a boar's head piece of porcelain. I did sing the Boar's Head and reminisced sweetly about all the madrigals that I have participated in over the years. It was a fun find!
New College
New College is one of the many colleges of Oxford University. The most important and obviously coolest part about New College is this little courtyard within the grounds of New College. Do you recognize this?
No? Well, what about through this very detailed window? Does that look like a window looking out of a hall at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry? I think it does!
Just throwin' what I know on the place where cast members of Harry Potter have stood! I felt it was a good sign of love for my geeky sisters who couldn't be here with me! Chi O love!!!
Onto the gardens of New College. The flowers were in full bloom and the grasses were greener than New Mexico's in the summer (except not this summer because we got a lot of rain). It was quite awesome to see part of an old building sitting starkly, supporting the color of the flowers. The entire grounds held a certain type of peaceful beauty. Part of the space was very gardeny, with flowers and springtime color. But when you turned a corner and kept walk, you walked straight into fall, as if you were in a book. As if this was Wonderland and knowing where you were going wasn't a thought in your mind, but you kept walking anyway. There was something very attractive about how the garden moved and how you felt being there; a beautiful garden in the middle of a city on a rather gloomy day. Magical.
Because I read the book Chrysanthemum, about the little mouse, when I was a little girl. Little rays of light from my childhood! And I just knew my mommy would like them!
I know this one is sideways, but I thought it was my best picture of the day! This was just so beautiful and screamed fall to me. Just turn your head and see the beauty!
That's a good picture, too!!
SQUIRREL!!!!
The English are very short! They are also very polite!
Parts of the campus of Oxford University
University Church of St. Mary the Virgin
Situated on the edge of campus and a main street of the city, this church was just full of beauty. Probably one of the only Catholic churches in town, it was very pronounced. It wasn't gaudy or over done, on the inside or outside, but it was clear to be a Catholic church. It was built in a light marble and had a rather homey feeling. Lots of light flooded in the windows of the church. It was the end of the day and I was exhausted, so I didn't go snapping pictures left and right. But as I was sitting and relaxing two wall- mounted plaques caught my eye. The top, lighter colored plaque really resonated with me. It says: "In memory of Grace Eleanor Hadow. Born Dec. 9, 1875. Died Jan. 19, 1940. Student of Somerville College 1900- 1903. Tutor of Lady Margaret Hall 1906- 1911. Principal of The Society of Oxford Home- Students 1929- 1940. Vice- Chairman of The National Federation of Women's Institutes 1918- 1940. Wisdom, which is the worker of all things taught me for in her is an understanding spirit, holy, subtil, clear in utterance, loving the thing that is good. quick, steadfast, ready to do good."
The darker plaque is for John Radcliffe. I think that one is pretty readable.
Lastly, the Pub Crawl
On Friday night, our hostel took us on a pub crawl. A bunch of people went! It was good fun! I met people from Germany, Austria, York, France, and Russia. While I was marveling at their accents, they were marveling at mine. Unfortunately, my voice was raspy and sickly, they didn't know the difference because they never got to hear my actual voice. I just hope that they don't think all Americans talk raspy and silly like I sounded that night!
First, we went through campus and this alley way to finally wind up at the Turf Tavern. It is one of the oldest taverns in Oxford. It was a lot of fun! Everyone was very laid back and just sitting around having a good time! There was a sign on the bar that said "If you're lucky enough to look younger than 21, we'll ID you to make sure you're 18!" Luckily, I didn't get carded!!! This is a shock because I do look very young!!
One of the hallways was fully covered in beer coasters. It was so neat and colorful!
Our second pub was Young's. This one was on campus as well. It was a larger bar. It had a library room, a room with what looked like really comfy couches, and other smaller, more intimate spaces. There were so many people, but no rowdiness or craziness. It was more like a hang out for friends than a wild crazy drinking hole. Yes, that is a picture of the Queen riding a horse! And YES, that is the Queen Mother pouring herself a beer from the tap in that bar! There was one of Prince Charles too, but I didn't get a picture of that.
The Oxford retreat was the third and final pub of the night. It was two doors down from the hostel! It too was very intimate and casual. It was newer and more classy and it didn't have the old pub feel that the other two did. It was a modern bar.
And that was Oxford! I had a blast and would definitely recommend going if you're ever on this side of the pond. Its a beautiful place that gives you city amenities, but still has the simpleness and beauty that nature holds. It's also a great stop for Harry Potter fans!
I loved it and I hope you did too!
Until next time!
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