Day Two: The Tour of Oxford

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A HUGE sigh of relief...

I've never seen a dorm that serves full three course meals with a complete table setting of silverwear and cloth napkins. The Rewley House is a labyrinth of halls and tiny, spiral staircases to me at the moment. I was lost a few times, but from the outside you could swear there were only three stories to the charming, homey brick building.

As most people are very jet lagged on this day, the only thing scheduled is a guided tour of Oxford. I can't possibly go over all the things we saw during the tour, but the highlights are: The outside of the Bodleian Library building, Christ College, The Bridge of Sighs, The Radcliffe Camera, and a pub called the Eagle and Child. Apparently, Oxford is made up of many colleges that operate mostly independently of the Oxford University system. Some things are done through the univeristy, such as science and other research, but to apply to Oxford University, you must apply to up to three of its colleges. Christ College is where the Harry Potter Dining Hall set were modeled after (and of course I was all giddy over this).

The Bridge of Sighs was modeled after a bridge with the same name in France, leading prisoners to their deaths. This bridge in Oxford connects the students dorms with the exam halls, hence the sighing.

The Eagle and Child is where C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien used to hang out. The pub did not hesitate to plaster the walls and menus with this little bit of trivia. Nonetheless, I was amused.

We haven't seen inside the Bodliean Library yet, but I got a cool shot of grotesque molding on the outside of the library. Most of it is little gargoyles, but the TB stands for the founders name, Thomas Bodley.

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Photos

Christ College Dining Hall
They modeled the Harry Potter Dining Hall set after this room.

The Bridge of Sighs
Where the students would pass over on their way to exams. :::sigh::: In the distance you can see the tree where Draco Malfoy was turned into a ferret by Mad Eye Moody in the Harry Potter film.

Radcliffe Camera
A humanities library: the first circular library to be built in England. Books could not be kept on the ground floor due to the dampness issue making this library very inefficient.

Eagle and Child
Where C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien used to hang out.

Cool grotesque on the outside of the Bodliean Library
The letters TB stand for the founder, Thomas Bodley. There are some cool gargoyles and stuff too!

The Rewely House
This is the "house" where I am staying. Full staff take care of our every need... we are being fed very well.

Comments

[AHK]

So is it like Hogwarts?!?!