University Oxford Style

Breakfast at the Premier Inn this morning and then we got on the road to Oxford, arriving about 10:30am. Of course on the way into Oxford we saw lots of B and Bs but I’m not sure we would have spotted them in yesterday afternoon’s semi darkness, as they weren’t all that well signposted for spotting in the dark. It was a grey, drizzly day today – Marjorie’s sister would have called it miserly as that’s how she describes weather that is a mixture between drizzly and misty! We decided the best way to see Oxford and learn some of the history was to do the hop on hop off bus tour around the city and it was really good. Even though the day was cold, the drizzle had stopped so we were able to sit on the open top of the double decker bus. We learnt a lot about the various colleges that make up Oxford University and the history of the town. The full lap on the bus took just over an hour and then we got off at a stop where a 30min walking tour departed from. This tour started in the University Church of St Mary the Virgin (the site where the Archbishop of Canterbury – Archbishop Cranmer – was sentenced to death during Mary Queen of Scots reign) and then into the pedestrian area around Radcliffe Camera (which houses the Radcliffe science library), the Bodleian Library and Exeter College. The guy doing the tour – there was only the 4 of us on it – was very knowledgeable and made it really interesting with the extra things he pointed out

and told us about – things you would completely miss if you were doing this on your own. After the walking tour, we had a very nice lunch at a Greek café in the Covered Markets and then had a bit more of a wander around Oxford. We went passed Christ Church College – the sorting hat scene and the stairs leading to the great hall in Harry Potter were filmed here – then through the botanic gardens and back along High Street passed some more colleges and the Bridge of Sighs. We saw the area where the head of the river rowing competition between Oxford and Cambridge used to take place. This race now happens in London and the rowing races in Oxford are now between the various colleges instead. The colleges that make up Oxford University are all very beautiful and it was a very interesting city to visit. By this time it was 3:30pm and we decided it was time to make tracks back to Calne.
We had an easy run home, stopped at the supermarket for some food for dinner and were home about 5:30pm. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets was on TV so after our nibbly tea we watched that before heading to bed.