Not Just Another College Town

Oxford

I landed at London Gatwick at about 10 am.  From there, I took the National Express bus directly to Oxford (£22, about two hours).  The "coach" station is Gloucester Green.  From there I walked to Magdalen Street to catch bus 6 ("Wolvercote," £1.70 single) to the Paramount Oxford Hotel.  Here I am in front of the sign and the hotel.
I was the third of the group to arrive, as I arrived just after 2 pm.  After I checked in to room 215, I chatted with my professor and the early arrivals while waiting for the rest of the group.  The rest went to town while I was out walking, so I got back early, changed, showered, and watched TV.  The room had two twin beds (mine was the one near the window), a TV, safe, desk, two phones, odd/weak reading lamps, an electric kettle (with Walker's stem ginger shortbread cookies--so good!), two chairs, and a trouser press.  The bed was very comfortable and had sheets (not a duvet!).  Above all, the room had exceptional air conditioning.  Wonderful!
		The bathroom had a sink, toilet, heated towel bar, and bathtub with good shower.  The door to the bathroom was frosted glass.  The weird thing about the bathroom was a notice that said the fire alarms might go off if you showered with the bathroom door open! The room was kept quite clean.  Our towels and glasses were replaced most days, and the beds were made every day. The breakfast buffet was very impressive and delicious!  I just forgot to take a picture of it. Be warned, though: the hotel's restaurant for dinner is disappointing (over-priced, with very slow service by wait staff with poor English skills)
It didn't rain on our first day in Oxford.  Here is how the Christ Church college memorial garden looked that first day!		The next day was all torrential downpour.  Our group had a tour guide (center) take us through Christ Church and a few other places in central Oxford through the rain.  We got drenched!
Here is a lightened photo of the Christ Church (dining) hall. Reminds me of Victoria University's dining hall or the South Dining Commons of the University of Notre Dame!		Even in the pouring rain, Tom Quad of Christ Church was impressive.  Lewis Carroll had his lodgings on this quad!
One of the fun sights in the modern stained glass window is the toilet in the right-hand corner of the St. Frideswide window.		I enjoyed visiting the Alice Shop across from Christ Church college--this is what the Old Sheep Shop was based on in the book Through the Looking Glass.
It was fun to see this copy of Venice's Bridge of Sighs near the Bodleian Library in Oxford.  I was more impressed here than in Italy!
The final book in the Harry Potter series, Harry Potter and the Deatly Hallows, came out on July 21, 2007. I reserved a British copy (left) and read it over the next several days.  When I returned to the US, I had an American copy waiting for me (right). I also bought a strip of Harry Potter stamps, one with each of the British book covers on them.  Fun!
The next day, I headed to the Oxford Museum of Natural History and the Pitt Rivers Museum.  The building's facade itself is pretty, but I visited because of the two authors we were studying.  The Natural History Museum has a dodo skeleton and a few small exhibits on Charles Dodgson (Lewis Carroll), and it is speculated that Dodgson was inspired to have a Dodo in Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by this dodo.  In Pullman's The Subtle Knife, Lyra visits the literary equivalent of the Pitt Rivers museum to see the skulls with holes in them.  I couldn't find the skulls, but others in my group who visited the next day told me they found them!  Wow!
Here is that famous Dodo exhibit!		The inside of the museum was no less spectacular than the facade.
The Pitt Rivers Museum section was much darker and felt older.  There were so many things to look at, it was hard to choose!		Other than the literary references, my science-teacher self was enthralled with the fluorescent mineral booth.  You walk inside and see all the minerals fluorescing under black light!
		Here's a view from the second floor.
One of the things that surprised me was this set of Salvador Dali-illustrated exerpts from Alice's Adventures in Wonderland.  I hadn't read about them in any of my guidebooks.  I felt like I had discovered them!
Our afternoon group activity was to meet up for a 3 pm tour of the older sections of the Bodleian Library.
We waited for our tour in the Divinity School, where the hospital scenes of the first Harry Potter movie were filmed.		Here we are waiting together.
For most of the tour (the part in Duke Humphrey's Library), photos weren't allowed, but they were at the end.
Just walking around town was fun!  Here I am walking down St. Aldates toward Christ Church.		I'll climb Carfax (Quatre Fois) Tower on my next visit!
That night, I picked up my British copy of Harry Potter 7 (with a better cover but no illustrations) from Waterstone (for £8.99, almost the exact same price I paid for my pre-ordered US copy).  After that, I went with the group to eat at the pub Far From the Madding Crowd near our bus stop.  Pub food in Britain is what diner food is in the US--fairly cheap (although nothing in Britain is cheap), predictable (you can always get Hunter's Chicken and Fish & Chips), filling, and good.  I had the fish and chips. Note: England's different Fanta flavors are Fruit Blast (not great) and Summer Fruits.
		Our classroom was at our hotel.  We discussed our books (by Carroll, C.S. Lewis, and Pullman) and gave presentations.
After class, we took Oxford's Hop-Off, Hop-On guided bus tour.  You plug your headphones into the side of the bus and choose your language.  I chose to listen to the live guide (the man in the front in the cap).  It only rained on us a little!  I quite enjoyed the trip but wouldn't have sprung for the cost on my own.  I hopped off at the train station, only to find out there were no trains to or from Oxford (because of the extreme flooding).
		I went walking and found this neat plaque: In a house on this site between 1655 and 1668 lived ROBERT BOYLE Here he discovered BOYLE'S LAW and made experiments with an AIR PUMP designed by his assistant ROBERT HOOKE Inventor Scientist and Architect who made a MICROSCOPE and thereby first identified the LIVING CELL
I actually paid to walk around Magdalen College, alma mater of C.S. Lewis and Erwin Schrödinger.  The buildings and grounds were beautiful!
On the grounds of Magdalen College was this fabulous gate to Addison's Walk and deer in a deer park!
Along the walk was this poem by C.S. Lewis		The walk ended at Holywell Ford House--very picturesque!
We all met up at the Martyr's Monument across from our bus stop at 6 pm.  This was our class's best group photo!		I didn't end up eating at the Eagle and Child (I had kebab instead), but I did go in.
On another night, we ate at the Turf Tavern.  I had the Hunter's Chicken (chicken breast with barbeque sauce, melted cheese, and bacon) and fries.  This is where I learned that the English smoking ban in restaurants doesn't extend to their terraces.  Cigarette smoke wafting over an excellent pub meal is most unpleasant!
I also walked to Summertown and found the public library on South Parade mentioned in The Subtle Knife.  I used the Internet for free there, too!  The Marks and Spencer in Summertown had Coke with Orange.