Oxford Odyssey

Saturday was spent exploring the grand old city of famous Oxford.

It did mean I had to wake up early...7 am to catch the bus that'd take me there, but it was definitely worth it! I loved the charming atmosphere of Oxford. There were cute medieval winding street pattern. The buildings were mostly made of cream sandstone, like Bath. It had a variety of different building styles, but mostly they seemed to be Tudor. There were also charming courtyard gardens tucked away in the various colleges. The perfect touch for a landscape architecture student!

When we first arrived, I took a tour of the original Oxford castle. The first written record of it was in the 12th century, but it was probably built earlier. It was in use as a prison up until 1997!

Next, I explored Christ Church College:

There was a lovely courtyard, surrounded by a mercury statue.

The most exciting part was seeing the stairwell that was used in the filming of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, when they enter the castle to be sorted.

The staircase led to a magnificent dining room with portraits of famous people hanging on the wall. It was unclear if the portraits were of faculty members, founders, and/or students.

After that I explored Trinity College.

I admired the stain glass windows in the chapel while a beautiful mezzo-soprano was singing.

The dining room there was cozy. It was tiny though. Apparently only about 25 students dine there regularly. Trinity is definitely one of the smaller of Oxford's colleges.

There were extensive gardens tucked around back of the main buildings. I'd say the gardens seemed more extensive than the actual academic buildings, but maybe that's because that's what I was focusing on.

The rest of the day I was exploring the streets of Oxford, wandering through the winding streets.

Some favorite moments were admiring the Sheldonian Theatre. It opens onto a wide plaza area.

Also seeing the Hertford Bridge was a wonderful spectacle.

Near to the bridge I had a good laugh seeing a sign that said “Bicycles left here will be removed” with a bike parked directly next to it! Way to go folks!