The two oldest colleges in England, and the two most prestigious, which are commonly referred to merely as "Oxbridge," were my destinations the past two days. I spent friday in Oxford, and saturday in Cambridge.
I went on the day trip to Oxford on my own. I woke up early, and took the Oxford Tube Bus from London. Thanks to Megabus, my ticket was only one pound each way. That's cheaper than my ride on the Underground to get to the bus station! So, I was pretty excited. I misjudged and got there really early, so once the bus came, I went up to the second level and got a seat in the front with a full view of everything out the window. Thought the weather prediction was for snow, the day was nothing but sunny and beautiful.
My first stop in Oxford was Oxford Castle. It was originally built for William the Conqueror, like just about every other castle in England, I am discovering. Most of it has been destroyed now, but some of it still exists. I climbed the motte, or big man-made hill first, then took the guided tour of the castle, which, for most of its life, served as a jail. Hundreds of people were incarcerated there up until 1993, and many of them were executed, or died in captivity from awful conditions. Its most famous resident was Princess Mathilda, who was supposed to be the Queen of England, but was instead replaced by her cousin Stephen after a war. It was an interesting tour with costumed guides and a few random wax dummies. The view from the top of the tower was quite spectacular. Just a warning that there is going to be an absurd number of photographs in this entry, just because I took about a million and then edited them down to less than 150 for each Oxford and Cambridge. Thus, I am pretty much in love with all of the survivors.
After that, I took a walk around town, and looked at a number of the colleges in the area. How beautiful. The architecture is incredible, and was unlike anything I had ever seen before. I also climbed the Carfax tower, which gave me some more great birds eye views of the lovely city. Oxford has many spires, and they call them the dreaming spires. You can see why. Part of me wondered what it would have been like to go to a school like this, to become part of academia. I think it would have suited me, but I am much better off the way that I am.
After my little walkabout, I got lunch at a cute outdoor cafe right next to the Carfax tower, which I had previously cliimbed. It's the second photo in the set right above this blurb. I tried strawberry tea for the first time, and it was quite delicious. I also saw this little roosting pidgeon, which was precious.
After lunch, I checked out the Botanical Gardens. Honestly, I didn't have very high expectations for this. I thought there would probably be a few topiaries, maybe some flowers in a tiny green house... boy was I wrong. It was gorgeous. There was a nice outdoor section, and then a whole row of greenhouses full of waterlillies, palm trees and the like. Stunning.
Next, I went to St. Mary the Virgin, one of the if not the largest churches in Oxford. It was beautiful. The exterior was unfortunately being worked on, but you could still grasp the overall splendor of the place. I was rather impressed by it all.
I walked out the back of the church, and there, right in front of me, was the Radcliffe Camera. I walked around that area a bit, which took me through the Bodlein Library and past the Sheldonian Theatre.
Next, I went to the Ashmolean Museum, a huge museum in Oxford. It was really cool. The museum was set up very thematically, and had some different kinds of exhibits. A personal favourite was one about ancient coins. I used to collect coins as a kid, so I had some personal connection to it
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My last attraction of the day was Christ Church, one of the colleges at Oxford University. I was actually allowed to walk around in this one. I saw the great hall (which is used in Harry Potter!), the beautiful yard, and the cathedral. I loved this place. It was so gorgeous.
I walked around the town a little bit more and saw this cart with some nice wooden puppets.
After that, I headed to a local pub for some dinner before leaving town. With dinner, I tried the local beer, called Brakspear. It was decent. Nice taste, but a tad bit too watery. I just had to at least try it.
Obviously, that picture isn't mine.
The next day, I got on a bus outside of my building, and with a bunch of other kids from my college, went on a school-sponsored day trip to Cambridge! Got to love free travel. It was to be a much shorter day- we didn't leave until 9am and left Cambridge by 4pm. But, it was a really nice day. Cambridge was, I think, my favourite English town yet. It didn't have the city-esque feel of its cousin from the previous day. It felt more like a town. This may possibly be because it is actually built from the remains of a medieval city, so many of the buildings are a little bit older than at Oxford, and a lot of the streets are thinner. Also, more of the streets were pedestrian only. In any case, I liked it even more than I had liked Oxford. We got off the bus and immediately walked past the Cam River and the Mathematical Bridge. Rumour is that the bridge is held up by its own weight. This is a lie, but, in any case, it is very picturesque.
As you can see, it really was incredible to see. Breathtaking. Especially in that last picture, which is actually the river further west in the town. I was in awe.
After seeing the river, we left on a walking tour of the town. We got to look at many of the colleges. Our first stop was the outside of Queens College.
We then passed by The Eagle, a historic pub in Cambridge. It is said to have a ghost who screams when one of the windows is closed, so by law it must be kept open. Also, this was where the information that scientists had discovered the shape of the structure of DNA was first leaked. One of the men was a little bit tipsy, and told some other people at the bar. The most facinating feature, however, was the grafitti on the ceiling. It was done by soldiers during WWII. Motifs included everything from random words, to anchors, to an outline of a woman, which was presumably made by holding a barmaid on the ceiling and tracing her.
Next stop was St. Catharine's College, one of the earlier three sided college setups. All colleges were initially designed with four buildings and a central courtyard. Eventually, it was changed to three sides so that air could circulate, and it would be healthier for the students. This is of course bogus, but it does make a very pretty arrangement. Like this.
We then looked at the super spiffy and slightly creepy new clock in Cambridge, with the creature chronophage on top. It is called the Corpus Clock.
Right accross the street is Kings College, the largest of the colleges at Cambrige, and the most elaborate. It was completed by three consecutive kings, and includes a large and very beautiful chapel. The inscription on the one wooden panel, RA is Regina Anna. This screen was dedicated to Henry VIII's at the time beloved wife, Anne Boleyn.
We also went past the Senate House, and the main University building. The Georgian building, the University Hall, is a complete bulding on one side of the square, but the other is just a facade to mask the medieval building behind it. In the 18th century, medieval buildings were considered incredibly unattractive and outdated, so many were torn down. This one was just hidden, since it was so unsightly. Coincidentally, it is the oldest medieval college building in the country. The Senate House had an amazing prank pulled on it once. In the 1950's, a group of students managed, with a system of pulleys, to place a car on the roof overnight. Not until 50 years after the stunt did they identify themselves and tell everyone how they did it. Nearby was the Gate of Honour, through which only graduates may walk.
Trinity College was our next stop. We were not allowed to go in, but the gate was rather impressive.
Lunch was at a little restaurant called The Copper Kettle. I once again tried the English Breakfast Vegetarian Style... but this time without fried bread and without a fake sausage patty. I did not get food poisoning this time. Next door to the restaurant was a wine shop with an unusual student discount and a bizarre ploy for advertising absinthe.
Our last stop was the Fitzwilliam Museum. The museum was cool, with some very nice exhibits, but the building itself was stunning. The external was similar to many other museums, with the Greek columns and such. But the inside was Victorian opulence at its best.
So thank you for sticking around through the longest blog post EVER. I hope you enjoyed it!
Once again, just a reminder that if you have questions, comments, or corrections too, you can leave me a comment by clicking the comment thing at the bottom of the post.
Thanks!
