Oxford- Day 10 & 11

Day 10 was a Sunday so that ended up being a going to church and then chilling at Matt and Karey's house day.

The next day (Day 11) I hopped on a bus to Oxford! I got there a little earlier than expected and things weren't open yet, so I ended up just wandering around at first taking it all in.

I got my map out at one point and as I was standing on campus trying to figure out where to go, a girl came up to me and asked me if I needed any help. I asked her what I could do for about an hour before the museums and gift shops etc opened. She suggested I go to Christ Church Meadow and walk around there. And that's exactly what I did.

At one end of the meadow is the River Cherwell.

This was the path around the meadow. It was pretty dang muddy, but if I stayed to the sides and hopped around a bit, I didn't get too muddy. :)

Still walking along the river.

Christ Church college from the side. I didn't get to go inside, but the outside is beautiful!

After Christ Church meadow, I headed back towards the center of town and saw the Carfax Tower. I didn't go inside, but apparently you can climb to the top and see a view of the city. Also they say this building is the center of the city.

I was fascinated by how much someone was willing to pay to get their teddy back. It must have been an important teddy!

Walking around Oxford!

Before I went to Oxford, I had looked up some walking tours I could take while I was there. I chose one and it was time for me to meet up with them.

Our tour guide was great! She was very knowledgeable and enthusiastic about the history of the city. She had lived in Oxford for over 20 years and her first late husband was a professor at one of the colleges on campus.

Our first stop was Jesus College.

While we were in Jesus College, we saw the chapel for that particular college (each college on campus has one) and we saw the lunch room for the students in that college, which is where they also have some of their special ceremonies where everyone wears their robes. It was fascinating learning about the history of the school and some of the interesting ceremonial things they do there.

Our tour guide mentioned that some tourists say that this bridge reminds them of the Bridge of Sighs in Venice, Italy. But when she tells the story about it, it's not nearly as romantic...

So they built a housing unit for the students and forgot to put a bathroom in it, so they built a bridge to the other building so that the students wouldn't have to go outside to get to the other building to go to the bathroom. ;) Ha! I thought it was pretty humorous! Sad for the students, but a funny story. :)

This is where Edmond Halley (Halley's comet) lived.

Still on the walking tour. Walking around campus!

The divinity school in the Bodleian library on campus. A couple of scenes from Harry Potter were filmed here. :) I loved this room! It was so bright and the details on the walls and ceilings were pretty awesome!

On the ceiling, they carved the initials of people who had donated money to the school.

The outside of the divinity school.

On campus near the divinity school. This was towards the end of the walking tour. 

So I want to tell you a story about a man I met while on the tour. There were four of us on the tour. There was a married couple, a single man, and me. The single man started talking to me when we were walking between places and the tour guide wasn't talking. 

Our conversation was interrupted often, but I learned a little bit about him. He's from northern California. He used to work in the computer business but at the time I met him, he was a full-time traveler and had been traveling the world since Thanksgiving of 2014. I thought that was crazy. Very cool, but crazy.

He said that he was heading home in 3 weeks from the time I met him (so he should be home now). He said he was excited/nervous about returning home after so long of traveling. I wanted to ask him so many more questions, but alas I was not able to, but it was fascinating talking to him!

After my walking tour, I went to the Oxford Castle and took a tour there. This is in the castle which once upon a time was a nice place, but then became a prison.

In this room they had some sort of torture device that the prisoners had to move in a circle and was moved so much that it made permanent indentations on the floor.

They took us to the top of the castle where we could see a view of the city. It was a bit windy at the top, just in case you couldn't tell from my hair. :)

Oxford from the top of the castle.

Another view of the city.

We went from the top of the castle to the crypt in the basement. They say if you come down to the crypt by yourself during certain times of the day that you can hear the voices of the dead haunting the castle.

The man in the costume was our tour guide and he was pretty amazing! He was dressed in period costume and was super energetic and enthusiastic during the tour and made it really interesting.

The youngest inmate at the prison. I think she might have stolen something and that's why she went to prison.

You know the phrase pulling your leg.... well it comes from a time when prisoners were hanged and sometimes it would take a really long time for the person to die, so friends or family members of the person being hanged would come and pull on the persons leg to break their neck so they would die quicker.

Well one time some friends of a lady being hanged did just that and once they thought she was dead, the guards took her away to the morgue but as they did so, she showed signs of life and so they revived her and she eventually made a full recovery. I think I liked not knowing where that phrase came from. ;)

Read the picture above about a form of torture they used in the prison. It's so sad and disturbing what they would do sometimes to torment people.

Outside of the castle was a mound of a motte-and-bailey castle from the 11th century. You could climb to the top of the mound and then walk down some stairs into the hill and see an old well. It wasn't super exciting, but there was a good view from the top of the mound.

On top of the mound!

The outside of the castle.

I left the castle area and walked back to some of the areas on my walking tour to take better pictures and to get some selfies. (I felt a little self-conscious about taking selfies while on my tour.)

I saw this store front with a bunch of Harry Potter stuff in it and of course had to take a picture since I had just finished the books a couple of days before. :)

The Radcliffe Camera on campus.

Outside of the Divinity school of the Bodleian.

I'm sure the heads on either side of the arch were important people, but they were a little creepy to me.

Selfie at the Radcliff Camera

I don't remember what this is, but I liked this shot.

Overall I had a lovely day in Oxford, a little odd, but good. Not only did I meet the full-time traveler man, but Oxford is where a beggar lady wouldn't leave me alone until I either took her to the store to buy her some groceries or give her even more money than I already had given her...