My short vacation after my graduation started with a visit to Oxford. My friend and her family picked me up from Hyatt Heathrow at around 11 in the morning-it was really nice to see her and her family again after 3 years or so! The kids have grown up real fast and the eldest is taller than me now.
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| The Bridge of Sights at Oxford |
The drive to Oxford took more than an hour. It is one beautiful place which made me wish I was still a college student , riding my bike to catch my classs. I would have earned money for my allowance by being a tour guide, as what many students do. But who knows, maybe my nephew would have the chance to experience studying in Oxford University, his dream school.
Aside from Oxford being a center of learning, I fell in love with its cobbled steets, the old, “honey-toned buildings”, and the university and college courtyards. Very Harry Potter-ish (well some scenes were shot here).
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| The Clarendon Building - Broad Street corner Catte Street |
We parked at the Parks Road near the Broad Street, one of the major roads. It is very near the Bodleian Library of Oxford University, which is naturally our first stop. The Bodleian Libary, which was founded in 1598 and one of the locations for the Harry Potter movie. There is a tour of the library which costs 6 pounds and run for 30 minutes.
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| Entrance to the Library |
A few steps from the Library is the Radcliffe Square where the Radcliffe Camera is. Radcliffe Camera is a beautiful building inside the university built in 1737 and was once the Science Library. This is the image normally seen in Oxford postcards or travel books.
We headed to the Oxford University Museum of History of Science along Broad Street. The collection of early scientific instruments can be viewed for free. We did a stroll around the city, a little shopping (of course I had to buy my nephew the Oxford University shirt) and had a buffet lunch.
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| Along Cornmarket Street, on the way to ChristChurch |
After lunch, we we also went to Christchurch Cathedral and Christchurch College, which I find to be the most beautiful of Oxford University’s colleges. Unfortunately, we were not able to enter because there was an on going event at the time of our visit. I had to be contented with the view of the courtyard from the outside. The cathedral is said to have been built in the 12th century. Christchurch College was built by Cardinal Wolsey, the same person who originally owned the Hampton Court Palace in London. Founded in 1525, it is said to be the largest college in Oxford.
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| View of the Christchurch Cathedral |
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| Facade of the Christchurch College |
We were done before 5 PM and decided that we still have time to visit another famous place, The Bath.
And so off to Bath we go.
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