The Grand University City of Oxford

We spent the day, yesterday, in the city of Oxford.  I had heard of Oxford, always making a vague association in my mind with some sort of college there that really smart people attended.  Never had I dreamed of the almost 40 colleges there....with buildings so old it is difficult to wrap my mind around it.   We spent many hours walking around, trying to take it all in, but really only touching on all that is Oxford.

Our first stop was "Alice's Shop".

Lewis Carroll, author of Alice in Wonderland, is one of the many literary greats who spent time at Oxford. It is said that Alice's Shop is where Alice Liddell, a young girl whose father worked at Oxford ~ on whom Alice of the book is based ~ bought her candy.  It was filled with wonderful Alice memorabilia and trinkets.  Chris and I also had the privilege of being shown the area below that is usually closed to the public.  It shows the garden that was the Carroll's inspiration for the garden in Alice, including the famous little door.  Alice had a cat that used to sit in the chestnut tree in the picture ~ that cat was the basis for the famous "Cheshire cat" of the book.

Can you tell I love the literary stuff? :)

Next stop was Christ Church, one of the grandest of all Oxford colleges.  It was founded in 1525 (yes, that was 1525!) by Cardinal Wolsey, Lord Chancellor to Henry VIII.  Ben and I are in our 3rd year of studying English History and had just read about Wolsey ~ I love it when there are natural connections between what we are studying and what we are seeing....makes it so much meaningful for him AND for me.  Due to how long it seems to take my computer to upload an image, I will try to pick out a few key pictures in an attempt to capture the essence of Christ Church.  The cathedral, in particular, was stunning (the building was constructed as a monastery church sometime between 1150 and 1210 ~ amazing!)   I don't think I will ever tire of cathedrals....though I think Ben and Chris might not be in my camp on this.

I can't even begin to describe the beauty of the stained glass.  I liked this one, in particular, even though it was just a smaller window in an obscure nook.  It is of Jonah looking out over Ninevah.

This one showed the martyrdom of Thomas a Beckett ~ another figure in English history that Ben and I have studied.  (His story is very interesting....you might want to look it up.)

Next we strolled through the Covered Market on Turl Street.  Could have spent hours there, but we had to find a place to eat...not always an easy task with Chris.  

One of the things I was looking forward to seeing at Oxford was the Bodleian Library.  In preparing for our trip to Great Britain, a dear friend got me started on a series of books by Laurie R. King about a character named Mary Russell who becomes associated with Sherlock Holmes.  I am typically not much of a mystery reader, but these books grabbed me.  Mary Russell attends Oxford and there are many Oxford references, first and foremost about the Bodleian, where she spends a great deal of her time.  I just had to see the place.  Most of it was not open to tours yesterday, but I got to walk around a little and check out "The Divinity School".  I was glad to see whatever parts of it I could.

This is the view from the courtyard of the Bodleian out toward the street.  There are signs everywhere that say "Silence, please".  I bought a coaster there so that I could pull it out at home to ask the boy for "Silence Please".

This room is referred to as "The Divinity School".  I believe I read it was the very first hall built specifically for lectures in all of Oxford.  It had the most interesting ceiling.  I think if you click on the pictures you can make them bigger and see more of the detail

These next pictures are of a place I had hoped to go into, but we only had time to stop by and take pictures of it.  It is a pub, called "The Eagle and Child".  It was frequented by C. S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien, along with some other writers who met there regularly to discuss their writing back when they were teaching at Oxford.  C.S. Lewis has become a favorite of mine, so it was neat to think of walking in some of the places that he did.  Apparently "The Inklings", as they called themselves, referred to the pub as "The Bird and Baby".

While there is much more I could tell you about Oxford, I suppose it is better to leave you wanting more than to have you saying "Enough already!".  Oxford truly was a wonderful place ~ so much history and so much energy.  It is definitely a place I would like to go back to someday.  Maybe as the mother of a student......... :)