Ben's Blog

From there I headed to the Tube and traveled on the Circle Line up to Paddington Station to Oxford. The train system is a little confusing at first, but overall it's pretty well organized once you get the basics down. The system is great--there were frequent trains to Oxford from London and only a two hour trek. I was told that if I wanted to go to Oxford I would have to transfer at Dipcot Station. So I got on the train and headed to Dipcot, which was the second stop. Upon getting to Dipcot I was told that there was maintenance on the line between Dipcot and Oxford over that weekend, so they arranged a bus to take us up to Oxford. After fighting traffic due to a automobile accident, we made it to Oxford. For a brief history of the college, go here.

Driving through Oxford to the bus depot, I must admit that I was not impressed. However, I discovered later that we had driven around the edge of the older part of the city, thus the reason I was not impressed. As I started walking into the city center, I started to see older buildings. Passing by the Wesley Memorial Methodist Church, I had a bit of nostalgia for the famous old Protestant minister. The Wesley family did so much good for the cause of Christianity back in their time, including reducing the formalism of religion.

Heading on, I caught up with High Street, which is a broad E-W road that runs through the old town. On both sides of the road there were numerous collegesl along the road, but almost all were closed to the public. Throughout the day I thought it might be difficult attending a college that was open to tourists year-round--that might get distracting. Then again, attending an historic college has its perks too, and being around such a magnificent setting would be inspiring at times.

I headed off of the main drag and onto Merton street, which was a small, old cobblestone road. Turning the corner I came upon Merton college, which was open to the public. There were small cobblestone paths inbetween buildings and a Quad--it really reminded me of the streets in Venice. As I went through a passage under one of the buildings I looked up to see some amazing artwork on the arches. In the same passageway was a memorial for the members of the college who served in WWI and WWII, which I found very interesting.

After Merton, I headed back to High Street for a bit of a lunch break and to visit the ATM. As I wassitting on a bench eating my sandwich, I started to hear some singing. I thought maybe it was from one of the churches, but soon saw a procession coming down the street. It was a group or carolers, complete with lutes and guitars, headed in a procession for some religious reason. Very cool way to spend lunch.

After lunch, I ducked into a cathedral (can't remember the name, it was Catholic) and paid to go up the stairs to the steeple. I walked up a tiny stone stairway to the top, which was a little catwalk around the steeple with a stone railing around the edge. It had some great views of the surrounding buildings, and well worth the price of admission. Apparently as part of that college there was a library used for the Harry Potter movies, but it wasn't open to the public. After this I headed to Magdalen college, which had a very picturesque Quad in it, also worth the price of admission.

At this point I headed back down High Street to get some coffee to warm up and plan my next moves. It was cold outside (for a Californian) and a warm cup of coffee hit the spot. I read in the local student paper that there were riots going on for the Student Union. Ho-hum. Anyways, as I was planning my next move, I read that Churchill's birthplace--Blenheim--was close by, and worth a stop in, so I thought I'd try and squeeze that into my Oxford visit. The last place I wanted to visit was Christ Church, which is one of the larger colleges and I believe largest chapels on the campus. I headed down the street and talked with a worker at the College, and he recommended that I save Blenheim for a later visit. I decided to only do Christ Church, which, looking back, was a great decision. Good advice by the staff at the College.

Christ Church was my favorite part of Oxford. The dining hall is the hall used in the Harry Potter movies, a point that was reinforced as soon as I walked in the door. Everyone in different languages was chattering and taking pictures. It was an amazing hall with a large painting of Henry VIII on the wall, who founded Christ Church. There are also references to Alice in Wonderland around the College too, since Lewis Carroll taught there too. After that I headed to the Quad, which was quite large and incredibly beautiful. Sir Christopher Wren designed the tower over the main gate as well, and I enjoyed that piece of architecture. But the best part of the college had to be the Cathedral. I have been in a lot of churches in Europe, but for some reason, this one was my favorite. I can't pin it down to anything, but I just loved it. I ended up coming back after dark for an Evensong service with the Boy's Choir that was very enjoyable. The acoustics were amazing, and I felt like I had stepped back in time 500 years.

After this, I grabbed some dinner and headed back to the Bus Depot. What an amazing place, I would love to come back sometime and see more of Oxford.