Mind the Gap: Oxford Adventure

On Saturday, January 24th (I know, I'm painfully slow at posting... I warned you!) Kevin, Heather and I took the train to Oxford. At the train station we met up with Heather's two friends, Mike who's studying at London School of Economics and Alex who was spending a week in England before studying at the University of Padua near Venice. Later in the day Heather's friend Allie joined us; she's been studying at Oxford since the fall. Oxford university is split up into 44 smaller colleges that specialize in different areas of study. The campus is spread throughout the city, each college cordoned off by wrought iron gates.

We accidentally snuck into Jesus College- we just thought we had tagged onto a tour group! It was fun to see what it was like beyond the gates. The rooms didn't look much different from Mount Holyoke- but then I don't go to the most typical College, do I? The courtyards reminded me of the Harry Potter films. Actually the dining hall used in the films is on Oxford's campus, Allie tried to show us but we didn't get there in time before they closed. Just as most colleges and universities, Oxford has a card system for security, however at Oxford it doesn't matter if you're accompanied by a student, without a card, you're not permitted past the gates. After visiting the city I can understand why the Uni is so closed off to non-students. It was packed! There were so many people visiting on Saturday, going down High Street you'd think you were in New York City rather than Oxford, that's how busy it was.

We climbed up Carfax Tower to get a better view of the city. The tower was tiny, a narrow winding staircase led up to the top which barely had room enough for 10 people. Shimmying around the top of the tower, we surveyed the city to get a sense of our bearings. Before making our way back down the narrow staircase we noticed this funny looking mound of earth off in the distance. The only think to compare it to is something like a hobbit house from Lord of the Rings (dorky reference, I know). We wound up finding it, paid 1 pound to check it out and all it turned out to be was a grassy knoll- what a let down. After the tower we wandered around the city stopping at any buildings that caught our eye. One such place was The University Church of St. Mary the Virgin. The exterior architecture was gorgeous, very opulent, with lots of spires and ornate detailing. In contrast, the interior seemed rather cold and stark, aside from a massive stained glass window at one end and an impressive pipe organ at the opposite end. When we stopped in there was an orchestra (adults, not students) performing an informal concert; it actually could have very well been a rehearsal and visitors just stopped to listen- I never found a program so who knows. We didn't stay at the church long, the university's campus is massive and there were plenty of other sights to see.

Oxford University's buildings are under a strict security system; there is no tourist access to a majority of the buildings on campus and, ironically, we never seemed to make it in time to the ones that were open to the public. However, we did manage to get an inside sneak peek into student life by sneaking into Jesus College as I mentioned earlier. We followed what we thought was a tour group of other American students through the gate and into the dining hall of the college. After the "tour group" trailed off we found ourselves inside one of the worlds oldest and most prestigious universities, so naturally we had to poke around a bit. We didn't touch anything and the Bobbies (police) were never called so our adventure was a success, but as difficult as it is to get into the campuses, it's just as difficult to get out! Before Heather had a panic attack two Oxfordians smugly strolled by to let us out.

In the evening we hit some of the town's better-known watering holes. First stop was The Eagle and Child- an inspiring pub as it was the place where J.R.R. Tolkein wrote The Hobbit. Tolkein, C.S. Lewis and other notable writers would often meet there for drinks and intellectual conversation. None of us were inspired enough to write the next great epic novel, but the atmosphere was fantastic. The second pub was the Turf Tavern, a favorite of former President Bill Clinton's when he was a Student at Oxford. It had very low ceilings and was so crowded that we wound up round a fire pit outside in the beer garden- sadly not a garden that grows beer. The last pub we went to was the Royal Standard. When the Royal Family visits Oxford this is the pub they frequent- no lie! They had oil paintings of the Queen, Prince Charles and Princes William & Harry all pulling pints behind the bar! It was hilarious; too bad I didn't think to take a picture of the paintings. We thoroughly enjoyed our trip and hope to make it back again in the summer.