The City of Dreaming Spires--Day 16

What a jam-packed but amazing day in Oxford! It was a real treat to get away from the big city for a day, even if Oxford is only a little less busy than London. We started off with a general tour of the city after quite a picturesque ride through some English countryside. I'm sure the construction of the freeway between London and Oxford has spoiled some of the natural condition of the countryside, but I feel certain that at least some of it has been preserved. We saw some sheep grazing peacefully on small country farms and drove through rolling hills before entering the outskirts of Oxford.

100% Real English Countryside (sort of).

 Nicknamed "The City of Dreaming Spires," Oxford is quaint and charming, with ivy growing on many of the buildings and old cobbled streets curving through the University and surrounding areas. We saw a few of the colleges that make up the University, such as Balliol College (pictured below), Hertford College, and Christ Church College (the most impressive, which I will discuss shortly). The history of Oxford (the school) is actually very interesting. The university was started by King Henry II when English students at a Paris school were expelled following the death of Thomas a Becket at the hands of the king's followers. I guess the French were disgusted with the English for murdering a good Christian. At any rate, King Henry II decided to start his own university for the displaced students in 1167 or so. The university now comprises some 35 colleges, all of which admit women and two of which admit ONLY women. The tuition fees are not much higher at Oxford than they are at Augustana, actually, although up until a few years ago, Oxford was essentially free for those students who were academically qualified. It's quite the issue in the UK right now, whether students should have to pay to get a formal education. I think we in the US kind of take it for granted that higher education should be expensive, but Europeans think much differently.

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The facade of Balliol College.

After our tour around the University, we wandering through a cute little indoor market before stopping on a plaza and breaking for lunch. I brought my own sandwich and carrots with me to save money (why bother buying groceries if I'm not going to use them?) but accompanied my friends to the famous Turf Tavern, a favorite of such notable persons as Ben Kingsley, C.S. Lewis, Oscar Wilde, Margaret Thatcher, and Thomas Hardy, to name a few. The tavern is located in a cute little back-alley spot that can only be reached through a tiny walkway between two buildings. The pub is so named because its roof is covered in moss.

One of the buildings at the Turf Tavern.

After lunch, we met our guide at Christ Church College for a tour. If you didn't know, a few scenes of the first two Harry Potter movies were filmed at Christ Church, most notably the Great Hall (which is the dining hall at Christ Church). This excited my classmates much more than it did me, but it was still interesting to see because of the stained glass windows (one of which is called the "Alice Window" because it contains characters from Charles Dodgson's--AKA Lewis Carroll's--well-loved stories). Dodgson tutored the dean's daughters in math and created the Alice stories to entertain them. The White Rabbit is the dean, and Alice is one of the dean's daughters, whose name also was Alice. I thought the cathedral at Christ Church also very beautiful for its stained glass windows and adherence to the very British Perpendicular style of architecture. To give you a quick info session, the Perpendicular style is a somewhat sparse style consisting mainly of vertical and horizontal lines that break a building up into discrete sections instead of incorporating those sections into a unified whole. The style is mainly about creating a kind of balance by repeating a few different shapes and lines.

The front of Christ Church College, with its crimson ivy.

One of the stained glass windows in the Christ Church Cathedral.

Part of the "Great Hall" from Harry Potter.

 Christ Church College is also charming because near it lies a meadow with cattle that the university is raising. These cattle tend to be rarer varieties (such as Longhorns), and their value to the university is probably very obvious.I really appreciate scientific endeavors like this, but I also really enjoy such idyllic scenes as that afforded by the grazing cattle in their meadow:

Another great part of the day for me was walking past the building leading to the Botanic Garden. I did not actually get to see the garden because no one else wanted to go when our program leader offered. I felt a little awkward being the only one to volunteer, so I went with the rest of the group to Christ Church instead. However, I did get a very nice picture of the garden in front of the building. It looks a little like a maze to me but also very British because of its neat lines and general orderliness.

A very British garden, complete with roses, highly organized spaces, and lots of vertical and horizontal lines (a la the Perpendicular style?).

We spent the remainder of our time in Oxford wandering through souvenir shops and looking for gifts for ourselves and our families and friends. I did not find anything worthy of spending money, though, so the gift-buying will have to wait for another day. I hope we go back to Oxford while we are still here. I would really like to see the Botanic Garden and the Ashmolean Museum (a museum run by the university). Tomorrow should be interesting because it is the start of Open House Weekend in London, when many normally closed buildings will be open to the public FOR FREE. I am particularly interested in seeing Lindsey House--once the site of Sir Thomas More's garden and said to be the oldest house in Kensington and Chelsea, mainly because my friends and I could probably walk there. My friends also invited me to come with them to see the Docklands area again because they have to complete a homework assignment for their sociology class. I might go, but I also might like to stay back and work on homework or possibly check out the nearby Saatchi Gallery (also free, which is always awesome). Once again, thanks for reading and have a great start to your weekend!

P.S. Something to think about: Augustana is putting on a photo contest for students who studied abroad during the summer, those who are studying abroad now (yours truly), and those who will be studying abroad during Winter Term. I would like your input as to whether I should enter any of the pictures I have taken (or those I have yet to take) are worthy of entry. You can include your comments as we go along, and judging by your reactions, I will pick something to enter. There are five categories: architecture, Augie students (with my classmates in the picture), nature/animals, daily life, and cultural celebrations. The winner of each category gets a $20 iTunes gift card, and the overall grand prize winner gets a $200 travel voucher on American Airlines. Let me know what you think!