The Birthplace of Collegiate Education

July 21, 2007
Oxford, England

I boarded my bus to Oxford at nine AM, and lost myself in Harry Potter for almost an hour...until my eyes caught a glimpse outside the window as I was turning a page. We were driving through the countryside, but just ahead were dozens and dozens of beautiful Gothic spired.

Brittany, whom I met backpacking in Paris, greeted me at Gloucester Green and was ready to give me a complete tour of Oxford, and it was all access, considering she has an Oxford Faculty ID Card. We looked at Christchurch, saw the Great Hall from Harry Potter, which is a dining facility that Christchurch students ACTUALLY eat in. We went to Magdalene, which was one of my favorites, and walked around before taking a path to see deer in the countryside. We ended up walking this path all the way down, and it was one of the most beautiful walks I have taken in my life.

Then we went back into civilization, if you can call it that. With a couple dozen ancient schools, the oldest dating from 1249, Oxford made me feel like I was living a few hundred years ago. We looked at a couple more schools, such as Corpus Christi (where it started to rain), Mansfield, and Pembroke, and then we went to lunch. I got a panini, surprise surprise. Then we went to Moo Moos, World Famous Milkshakes that are too tasty for words. They have over 200 flavours. I got the flavour of the day, which was Rasberry with some chocolate cookie thing. It was fantastic. After lunch we tried to get into the Bodleian library, but the part I really wanted to see was closed. We looked at a few more schools, and then Brittany showed me the school she has been staying at for her research, St. Hughes. It is on the outer edge of Oxford, and a bit newer than many others, but still beautiful. And her room was HUGE. I think it was probably about 250 sq. feet, all to herself.

Then we went to dinner at The Eagle and the Child, formerly known as the Bird and the Baby, the frequent hang out of both C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkein. We ate in the room that the two met and argued in, and I had Hunter's Chicken, which has nwo became my favorite pub dish of all time. After this, we went to another place with a good view and split a pitcher of Pimm's, before going to another bar that Brittany wanted to show me. It was a ton of fun, but it rained the whole afternoon and evening, and my whole ride back to London.

I arrived back in London at about 10, just in time for Julia's 21st birthday celebration, which was also a ton of fun!!

Unfortunately I am still way behind in Harry Potter, but it was super cool seeing some of the places that are used in the movie and reading a bit of the book in Oxford!!