Oxford!!!!

On Friday I had the wonderful opportunity to go to Oxford! It is a cute town, filled with all sorts of old buildings. The Oxford University is made up of over 30 independent Colleges, and all of the students there are virtually self-taught, and work closely with tutors each week. These colleges are spread out within about 1 square mile. The most famous one is Christ’s Church College. It is huge! They have a lovely courtyard, and they are famous because it is featured in the Harry Potter films! (But I will post those pics in a special HP blog later) It is also famous because that is where Lewis Carol got the inspiration for the Alice in Wonderland books. Alice was a real girl whose father was the Dean at Christ’s Church College. And when she was little, she would go rowing down the river with Lewis Carol and her father. While relaxing in the boat, Lewis would make up these curious stories of things that Alice would do, and her father thought it would be a good idea if Lewis wrote them down. And it was a good thing he did! And her father was also the inspiration for the white rabbit, because when they would sit down for a meal in the great hall at school, he would check his pocket watch and say “I’m late, I’m late, I’m late!” And then run down a secret staircase, like a rabbit hole. There is more history to tell, but I will explain that in the HP blog entry. So for now, enjoy the pics of Oxford!  

This is a little river running through Oxford. Its so beautiful! They even have cows that graze close by.

This is the outside of Christ's Church College

This is the inside of the eating hall in Christ's Church. This was the insparation for the HP films. And the students still eat here! Nice Huh?

This is us punting along the river. Its like a gondala, and they were able to tie two boats together so we could go as a group. It was so much fun!

The other end of the boat. AND, our very cute punter!

This is a little shop across from the college that sells Alice souvenires. It is so little and cute! It used to be a sweets shop that the real Alice bought her favorite Barley Sugar's from. I got a jar of them, and they are quite good.

This is an awesome pub called The Eagle and Child. This is where C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien had weekly meetings every Tuesday to chat and discuss their newest writing projects. This old pub is small and quaint. They have pictures of both authors up on the walls, and a plaque comemorating the small room in which they met. 

This also hangs on the wall in Honor of two of our favorite Hobbits!!!!