Onward to Oxford: Day 1

    I left Kenilworth early so I could have some time wandering around Oxford before I went to stay with some cousins in Yarnton (a suburb outside of Oxford). I had about 5 hours and thus ended up with lots of pictures! Oxford was so beautiful, everything was old--steeped in history. Every pub and building boasted of someone influential or famous who used to frequent them. I walked right by places where Lewis Carroll taught, C.S. Lewis chatted with Tolkien, wars were fought, the cell was discovered, the list goes on and on.

     What surprised me was how different all the Oxford colleges were compared to how I had imagined them. I had pictured a set-up similar to most American universities: a campus with lots of buildings for different departments. However, the Oxford colleges are all separate from each other and spread out across the city. Tourists are not allowed in without having to arrange a private tour, so I just observed them from the streets--there is a very big separation between the colleges and the surrounding city. There weren't very many students around because it was the summer holiday so I have no idea whether or not Oxford has a rockin' social atmosphere. 

        After I dropped off my luggage at a very dodgy youth hostel (great place to stash luggage when you're somewhere for a short period of time) I found out that one of the colleges was open to tour: Christ Church College and Cathedral. For all of you Alice in Wonderland fans, Charles Dodgson (Lewis Carroll) was a mathematics tutor at Christ Church and Alice Liddell was the daughter of the dean there.  The tour pointed out how Lewis used rooms and decorations in Christ Church in his stories he made up for the Liddell girls and later published.

     I love vaulted ceilings!

    This dining room...does it look familiar to you? Hint: a magical place involving a scarred lad.

Was your guess Hogwarts!? It should have been! SO, because of how cool I am I thought I was getting a tour of Christ Church, but must have stepped through a wardrobe and ended up in Hogwarts...a Hogwarts full of Asian tourists...and non-floating candles...Oh well, it was still exciting!

    The Cathedral was also super pretty! Each college appears to have university buildings and a different church in each one that they're named after (?).

"I know there is truth opposite to falsehood that it may be found if people will & is worth the seeking"-John Locke

   Right outside of Christ Church is a shop:

...that I got very excited about! It ended up being less enchanting than I thought it would be. Quite touristy and "disneyfied" oh well.

10 points if you can guess why one of these shops is exciting 

This plaque is exciting because it's about Robert Hooke the man who made a microscope and first saw living cells!

  

     Then I wandered around some more, people watched, and then headed off to my cousin's place.