Oxford-Where all the "Posh" kids go to learn

The train left from Paddington station again (same as the train to Bath). They actually leave from other London stations too, but you have to switch to a different train somewhere along the trip, and I'm always a little scared I won't figure out which station, train or platform to get on and will miss the connection. Doing it in Italy was somehow much easier despite the language barrier...

This looks like the same font as the t.v. show to me. Strange... (It's a comedy club, not a singing club)

??? haha

This tower is all that remains of the oldest building in town. I don't know what it's called...

Inside the Covered Market-I like that "cobbler's" still exist. I mean I know they do in the States too, but they call them "Shoe Doctors" or something equally less charming!

There were SO many bikes in Oxford. The last time I saw that many was in Amsterdam!

View of Broad Street

Oxford is known as the "city of dreaming spires" as this chalk drawing demonstrated!

Carfax Tower situated at the cross section of St. Aldate's Street, Cornmarket Street, High Street, and Queen Street right in the center of town-I climbed the 99 steps to the top to get some nice views of Oxford.

99 steps really isn't a whole lot (despite the fact that the people coming down when I went up seemed extremely out of breathe), but it was the fact that the steps came in the form of 3 of these awkward small spiral staircases.

Oxford!

I wonder why this lamp has a #2 on it?

Radcliffe Camera-Houses the Radcliffe Library (not sure why the building has "camera" in the name)

Spires!

Hertford Bridge (known as the Bridge of Sighs in Oxford like the one in Venice)

Bodleian Library-Tower of Five Orders-The 5 sets of columns on this facade represent the five classical architectural orders:Doric, Tuscan, Ionic, Corinthian, Composite. How sad is it that I don't even recall Tuscan being on the list???

View out the window of the Convocation House in the Bodleian Library-used by British Parliament when they were unable to meet in London

Convocation House

Divinity School in Bodleian Library-where students once took their exams which could last up to 3 days and were not done by writing, but by the professor sitting opposite the student to debate. Sounds like a blast! This is also where the Hogwart's infirmary scene from Harry Potter was filmed (and changed digitally).

Fall time-LOVE IT!

On my way to Alice's Shop. I did not know that Lewis Carroll attended the Christ Church school in Oxford where he met Alice Liddell whom he based his novels Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass on. I had no idea it was based on someone he knew!

Christ Church

Creepy religious graffiti...

Gloucester Green-I kept seeing signs for this and thought it would be a cool park in full Autumn bloom. Actually it was just a market outside the bus station which was named Gloucester. A bit of a let down...

So, yesterday I took my last trip outside of London before I head back to the States next week. Since I had seen Cambridge, I really wanted to see Oxford to compare. Luckily, although the weather was freezing, it was perfectly sunny! While there, I walked up the Carfax Tower an took a tour of the Bodleian Library among other things. The library dates back to the 14th century when the books were actually chained to the shelf to discourage them from being stolen. Our tour guide pointed out that the library scenes from Harry Potter were filmed in the library on the second floor, and when they recreated the book chains, they did it incorrectly by placing the bracket on the spine of the book rather than the front which would make the books impossible to open.

A little over 200 of the oringial books still remain in the library and they are in a special section on the second floor in what is known as Duke Humphrey's Library (what was known as the "Restricted Section" in Harry Potter), and must be retrieved by a librarian for a good academic reason and with many strict guidelines (such as only opening it at a 45 degree angle so as not to damage the spine). They are also only allowed ot be opened 4 times a year. As it is only a reference library, no books are allowed to leave the library or be checked out. Even when King Charles I came in to check out a book, they wouldn't let him, and instead made him read the book in the library. Harsh!

Also, there is a room in the Convocation House which used to hold the student court. Until the 1900's the students of Oxford were known as "priveleged" and for any crime they committed, they were to be tried by the Oxford University Court, not the Town Court (and the university court was usually more lenient). This room now holds a refrigerator as it acts as a place where caterers prepare food for events held in the Divinity School such as weddings and private parties. Sad!

All in all, Oxford was beautiful. Especially on such a gorgeous Autumn day. However, it was much more spread out than the colleges of Cambridge, and I found it hard to know what was part of the University, and what was not, as all of the architecture of the city was old. It's also ironic that I visited the home of one of the world's most prestigous universities on the day when over 50,000 students held protests in London against university tuition fee increases. I'm sure glad those didn't extend into Oxford as they turned out to be quite violent!

Bath, England (sometimes you have to clarify)

My token scooter mirror pic...

Although I really dislike the cold, I LOVE seeing Autumn leaves somewhere that has seasons (not like Houston where it's 90 degrees one day, then 40 the next, and all the trees and plants freeze and the leaves are all brown).

Not sure what this was, but it said "The Hot Bath", so I thought it had something to do with the Roman Baths...maybe not.

I like bikes with baskets.

They had their Christmas decorations up to, but unfortunately I didn't stay late enough to see the lights turned on.

Bath Abbey

A Flame Thrower outside the Roman Baths?

This was my first siting of these strange costumed people....

Inside the Roman Baths (I really liked photographing these fellows you will see. Very dramatic in their skirts and robes.haha)

Their hats are dramatic too...

The actual hot springs still from Roman times. The rest of the Roman Baths out in the open (from what I understood was all reconstructed, but then again, I stopped listening to my audioguide as I usually do after about 2 explanations).

The River Avon

Just in case you were thinking about diving...I would think the next picture would be more of a deterrent...

See what I mean...

The town had a lot of cute little shops. This Antique Map Store made me think of Dad and is located on the Pulteney Bridge (just in case you want to find it Dad like those houses I didn't get you in Prague located near the Charles Bridge...haha).

Back of the Pulteney Bridge

The Circus which I mistook for the Royal Crescent (see a few pics down and I think you will see why). It is a prime example of Georgian architecture (as is the Crescent), but a tighter circle and with a giant tree in the middle. Not sure the significance, but the tree was really pretty (it was one of 5 things marked on the free map I got of Bath, but then again, until I saw the Crescent, that's what I thoguht this was).

The Royal Crescent-well part of it. I couldn't fit all of it in, but I didn't think it was that amazing...especially with all of the cars parked out front ruining my picture!

This is the tree in the middle of the Circus (the sun decided to come out so I took a picture on my way back!).

Dusk on the River Avon (this is about 3:15 or so...)

Bath Abbey from the opposite side of the River

So there are blue ones too! And they put on a dance performance with sticks. From what I could tell, the red and green ones played the instruments while the blue ones danced and banged sticks? Perhaps I should have asked what the heck it was for.

The Abbey glowing at dusk!

Outdoor markets started appearing when it started getting dark.

So today I had quite a busy day! Despite last night being Bonfire night and fireworks going off until early this morning (thank goodness for my ear plugs!), I got myself out of bed at 6 a.m. (this is beyond early for me these days), to catch the tube to Paddington Station where I could catch the train to Bath. I had bought tickets yesterday and looked up times to see what was possible. Of course there were planned engineering works on the Bakerloo line which would have been my quickest route to Paddington, so I had seen on NationalRail.co.uk to get a train from Victoria to Paddington would take about 17 minutes. Well when I got to Victoria and didn't see a train listed at "8:14", I asked the guy at information and he looked at me like an idiot and in a thick Scottish accent said that I had to get the tube because these trains only run South. He definitely didn't get his job because of his "pleasant" demeanor. Thanks NationalRail.co.uk. Well I got to Paddington none the less, and much earlier than expected (surprise..haha) and the 8:12 train was delayed a bit, so I thought I'd be doing well to catch that one instead of the 9:12 I was planning on. I got on the train, and it left about 8:30. Now the journey is supposed to be about an hour and a half, but for some reason, this train kept getting delayed, so we were literally moving so slow that I could walk along side it faster! We finally got there just before 11-right when the 9:12 train was supposed to get there (not sure if it was delayed as much too)!

Another unfortunate thing was the weather. Now I know I shouldn't have trusted the BBC weather report, but I did, and got rained on and very cloudy skies all day. The cloudy skies made the temperature freezing as well! I was wearing tights under my jeans, knee socks, boots, two shirts, a jacket, scarf, and gloves, and was still freezing! At least the rain only lasted for about ten minutes though, or I would have been much colder.

The city overall was very nice. The Baths were a bit dissapointing as much of what you get to see is reconstructed (do you really think those statues or columns were there in Roman times??no me either). I did miss my opportunity to climb to the top of the Abbey to get an overview of the city as the last tour left at 3:30 and I got there at 3:35. However, the skies were quite cloudy, and you had to survive a 50 minute guided tour before climbing the 212 steps, so maybe it was for the best! My favorite thing by far was walking along the River Avon. It was so beautiful-especially with all of the trees chaning color! Despite all my hiccups on the journey, it was a good trip to a new city!