Oxford is known for many things. From the university, to harry potter, to Alice and wonderland and even more, it was a beautiful day to explore this town in England.
We took a coach bus to the city were our tour guide provided us with facts along the way. After disembarking in the center of town near the Ashmolean Museum, we walked with our guide as she showed us the highlights. We went to part of the university (because oxford is made up of 35 colleges not one university campus) near the history museum. This building was were the students signed up for classes and in the center hall was a large Greek theatre. There was also a bit of Harry Potter history tied to the spot as well. The divinity hall was where they filmed the infirmary scenes as well as gave the students dance lessons in The Goblet of Fire. Also, on the stones outside the theatre, was a lightning bolt scar just like Harry’s carved into the pavement.
In this area was also a library where the students still come to study which leads to a rotunda across the way which houses a reading room accessible through underground tunnels. This is also where the people who choose the words for the Oxford English Dictionary reside…talk about a cool job.
From there, we walked through the city as our guide pointed out notable moments along the way. Our tour culminated at the Christ Church College which is the most recognizable of the Oxford University buildings. Here is where they filmed multiple Harry Potter scenes including the infamous dining hall. This is also where the author of Alice in Wonderland attended college and became inspired for the story.
We explored the grounds and church before setting off on our own. We went to Alice’s Sweet Shop which is across the way and dedicated to Carrol’s storybook. From here we made our way back into the center of town and ate lunch at a diner in the middle of a Victorian arcade market. We explored some shops and went back to the museum where we saw their most notable piece, a chalkboard which writings on it from Einstein.
Afterwards, we got back on the bus and drove through the picturesque area of the Cotswolds until we ended in Bourton-on-the-Water, a town with barely 3,000 inhabitants. We went to the perfumery where the Queen allegedly buys her scents, saw the motor museum which boasts cars from Top Gear, and took a walk down “memory lane”. I ended the day which ice cream and then upon my return to London a jaunt to the cinema for a screening of Beauty and the Beast.
All in all a lovely day.
