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Published: June 14th 2017
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All Souls College, Oxford
Taken from the tower of St Mary the Virgin Church Geo: 51.7523, -1.25582
Today, we said our goodbyes to Nonno and Nonna and headed off towards the Cotswolds. The route took us directly through Oxford, so we decided to make a stop there. Steven & I hadn't thought of taking the kids there, guessing that the architecture and academic focus of the city wouldn't excite the kids. We had forgotten something – HARRY POTTER!
We climbed the tower of the church of St Mary the Virgin for a panoramic view of the dreaming spires of Oxford, then came down to find that the rain was coming down cold! Past the Radcliffe Camera (you know, the famous round building) but we couldn't go in, then into the Bodleian Library to the Divinity School. Now, the kids didn't really appreciate the room as one of the finest examples of Gothic interiors, with a vaulted ceiling with intricate carved bosses, nor did they understand the significance of the chair carved from timber from Sir Francis Drake's ship, but – this was the infirmary in the Harry Potter movies, and Ron learned to dance with Professor McGonagall in this room! The Duke Humphreys Library above it wasn't able to be viewed by tourists, but it is the
Radcliffe Camera, Oxford
The Radcliffe Camera is part of the Bodliean Library. This shot taken from the tower at St Mary the Virgin Church library in Harry Potter!
Georgia certainly didn't understand the significance of the Bridge of Sighs at Hertford College – "but why would anyone come to see a copy of the original, when you'd just see the original?" She's got a point! Then we had a few false starts before we found lunch at a pie shop in the covered markets – and got to watch the butcher next door to the pie shop carve up a side of beef whilst we were eating! Georgia and I ducked off to toilets that subsequently we have found were in a famous pub, the Chequers, and we all raced off to Christ Church college for an afternoon tour before the parking meter expired!
Christ Church was lovely – again, thanks to Harry Potter. It was the college established by Cardinal Wolsey and Henry the Eight after the dissolution of the monasteries, to train new cardinals for the Church of England. The staircase to the Dining room was very beautiful, even if the kids did expect that it would move (as in the movie), and the Dining Room was wonderful, and very atmospheric. Alice in Wonderland's father was a someone at Christ Church, and there
The Divinity School, Bodliean Library
Apparently, this building was famous BEFORE Harry Potter! The kids were impressed tht this was the infirmary and the room in which Prof McGonagle taught Ron to dance! were links to the story around the dining room – fire dogs with long necks (Alice's neck grew long in the book), and pictures of a little girl like Alice in one of the stained glass windows. Tom Quad and the Tom Tower were also popular with one little boy – he was thrilled to hear that the big bell is called Tom, and it tolls 101 times each night at 9.05, to signal the curfew for the original 101 students. We arrived back at the car just as the parking inspector arrived – lucky again!
Off to Bourton on the Water – I cannot believe how gorgeous our cottage is, or how large it is (4 nights in hotel accommodation will do that to you!) We really enjoyed having a simple dinner of soup and noodles at home, and I am enjoying the chance to wash some clothes! We had a lovely walk around the village – everyone was thrilled at the 20cm deep river, the ducks which followed Matthew and the beautiful Cotswold stone cottages. Our cottage is for sale – seriously tempting!
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