Oxford

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Oxford – The name that is associated with renowned colleges , university and intellectuals. One cannot help but visualise students hurrying up to the university and intellectuals debating and busy innovating. Well, along with all this, Oxford is also rich in history with its age old buildings standing there with a pride of having witnessed the history.

From Bournemouth, Discover Dorset Tours offers day trips to nearby places of historical significance. My husband and I along with a friend, bought 3 tickets to Oxford tour through Discover Dorset tours. On a Saturday morning, we were picked up by a mini bus from the Bournemouth bus station. Oxford is around 94 miles from Bournemouth which takes about 2 hours. We started at 9 am and reached Oxford at around 11 am. On the tour, we had people from other countries too. Steve was driving the mini bus and would also be our guide on the walking tour. He was a lot of fun!

After alighting from the bus in Oxford, our walking tour of Oxford began. We all followed Steve. Our first stop was Oxford Castle. Steve told us the history of the castle. We then walked down the Queen Street to Carfax tower. Carfax tower is at the intersection of Queen Street and Cornmarket street. We walked down the Cornmarket street towards The Saxon tower of St. Michael at Northgate. The tower is the oldest building in Oxford . We then walked towards Balliol college. Opposite to the main gate of the college was Blackwell bookstore – the oldest in Oxford.

After getting a glimpse of the Balliol College, we headed straight towards Sheldonian Theatre. There was a film shooting in progress at the theatre. The pillars on its compound wall had stone heads ( I do not know who they were!). We could also see the Bridge of Sighs from the theatre. We then walked down to Bodleian library and then to Radcliffe Camera.We passed by the University church of St.Mary the virgin, but since some renovation work was in progress, we couldn’t go inside.

We then walked down to Christ Church Meadow campus. I think a class was graduating and we saw students getting their photographs clicked in their best attire. It was almost noon and we all gathered around Steve. He told us that the walking tour had come to an end and that we had all of the afternoon to ourselves which we could use to explore more of Oxford and Christ church college. Steve asked us to report back at the bus stop where our bus was parked by 5 pm. We then dispersed.

My husband, I and our friend walked down to the Queen street to grab a bite. We then strolled around the Christ church campus for a while before making headway towards University church of St.Mary the virgin. Though the renovation work was on, visitors were allowed to go up the tower and hence we walked up the stairs to the top of the tower. What a magnificent sight of Oxford city it was from the tower. Radcliffe tower, All Souls college and so much more of the city could be seen from there. Coming out of the tower, we walked to Christ Church campus again. This time , it was to see the famous dining hall that was also featured in Harry Potter films. As we walked inside the campus, I could see a huge square courtyard in the centre. On the opposite side , was Tom Tower. The entrance to the dining hall was in one corner of the building. There was a flight of stairs leading towards the dining hall and the ceiling had large geometrical patterns. There were large windows on the wall on the stairway. The dining hall was a long one with three columns of tables placed along the length of the room. The room also had portraits of eminent personalities adorning the walls. I could visualise Harry Potter and his friends sitting at one of these tables and Dumbledore and other teachers sitting on the far end of the room at tables placed on a higher platform. We walked out of the hall ecstatic. We came down to the courtyard and walked to Christ Church cathedral. Beautiful stained glasses, artistic ceilings and carvings decorated the inside of the cathedral. The Peck Quad and the New Library just outside the cathedral is a treat to look at. A symmetry that could not have gone wrong!

Lastly, we walked down to Ashmolean museum before returning back to the pick-up point. We reached Bournemouth around 9 pm and bid good bye to Steve and our fellow travellers. It was indeed an enriching experience at Oxford.

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