Yesterday, Kevin and I took a day trip our of London to the famous university town of Oxford! I have wanted to see this famous college for years, and it finally happen! But it was certainly not what I expected!
For starters, Oxford University is the 3rd oldest University in the world! However, when the students founded the school, they were not welcomed by the town what-so-ever. If you can tell from my pictures in my Facebook album, all the colleges are closed in, by walls/fences/whatever. This is because the town folks use to try and kill the students around the 13th century, so as a mean of protecting the students the university developed residence buildings and gates so that the students could remain in the university and not worry about being killed (According to our walking tour guide, there was one period when 60 students were killed by the townsfolks. CRAZY). But this wasn't the part that I would describe as "what I didn't expect."
Oxford University is not a unified campus, so-to-speak. Instead it is made up of a bunch of little colleges, and I don't mean a bunch of specialized colleges (ex. College of Pharmacy, School of Education, etc.). Each college offers more-the-less the same courses, so when applying to Oxford University, you have to also apply to the college you want. And they are treated as if they are all different colleges, not just one big Oxford University college. For example, If I was a student attending New College at Oxford University majoring in English and Kevin was attending Balliol College at Oxford University also majoring in English, I couldn't just waltz my way into Balliol College and see Kevin. I would have to be invited in as a guest. But I still couldn't use the facilities on my own, such as the dining hall or the libraries. It's rather confusing (or at least I think so). But the map below shows how the colleges are spread out ll throughout the town and not necessarily even connected/close to one another - all the lettered dots on the map represent the colleges of Oxford Univesity
But anyways, itinerary wise Kevin and I went on a walking tour of the city and got to go into some of the colleges: Balliol College, Wadham College, New College, etc. We also went around and saw some other important pieces to Oxford University, such as the Sheldonian Theatre which is where some of the university's graduation takes place.
Entrance to Balliol College - the oldest college of Oxford University
Chapel at New College
After the tour we went and had some lunch at the oldest pub in Oxford, Turf Tavern! Following that, we headed up to Oxford's Museum of the History of Science and got to see a collection of old instruments that the university has collected - such as teloscopes and instruments used to create penicillin. But the most cherish item that the museum held was the blackboard used by Albert Einstein when he taught at Oxford University briefly as well as the his notes that were left on the board!
Official Chalkboard & Writing of Albert Einstein!
We then headed down to the Museum of Natural History and the Pitt Rivers Museum! the Museum of Natural History is known for having the most complete collection of the Dodo bird! Unfortunately, the museum was going through renovations, so most of their items (including the Dodo bird) where wrapped up and moved for protection. After the museum we took another stroll around the town to see Christ Church College (their dining hall is what Hogwart's dining hall is model after in Harry Potter). We didn't get to go inside, but it was nice to walk around the building, which is next to a large park full of dear! Afterwards, we headed to the train and headed home!
But before I end the blog, there is one last thing I must share - that I believe is BEYOND cool. First off for any Harry Potter fans reading this, you should be familar where I am from my picture below. But if you haven't seen Harry Potter, I included a clip for you to watch!
Here are the pictures from my walk down Harry Potter lane:
Less then a week till I'm off to Scotland!!
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