I stayed with my friend Carmen and her wonderful friends Nick and Ellie. Nick is an engineering student at Oxford, and also doesn't like pictures so is absent from all records of the trip.
Oxford is an old old city. The University of Oxford itself is around 1000 years old, with different colleges dating back between 900 and 200 years old.
Every building was beautiful, and the streets really felt like old England. Some places where the asphalt is worn you can see where they just paved right over the cobblestones.
The city is full of amazing shops and buildings and feats of architecture.
This is known as the Bridge of Sighs because of its resemblance to a Venetian bridge of the same name. Very pretty.
Each college within Oxford University (there are 38!) has its own unique feel and aesthetic. This one, for instance, has a Rapunzel tower.
And this (the Bodlein Library) kind of looks like a prison.
And this one has a cool chandelier and pretty bay window.
And this one has a giant statue in the wall.
Christ Church (which is a college, not a church) is the most touristy of the colleges in Oxford.
Even in November everything is green!
It's very grand and very old. Very pretty.
Look familiar? Christ Church is known for the role it played as a set for many scenes in the Harry Potter films. This staircase leads to the Grand Hall where many of the Great Hall scenes were shot (it was also closed, unfortunately). You may recognize this staircase from The Chamber of Secrets, when Dumbledoor and Tom Riddle stood here!
Many other scenes were shot in the college, such as the infirmary, the hallways, the arched courtyard, and more. It's a beautiful, beautiful area. Girls selfie!
The Cathedral within Christ Church is very famous for several reasons. First of all, it's beautiful.
This Cathedral is the only Cathedral in the actual University of Oxford (all the other colleges only have chapels).
And, despite its size, it is the smallest Cathedral in England.
People such as John Locke and Lewis Caroll are buried within its walls and stained glass interior.
As well as this guy! He was a knight. This tomb is 500 years old!
The stained glass work was amazing. Catholics know how to decorate!
In one corner there was a little rack of prayer candles. It was surprisingly beautiful and simple amongst all the grandiose trappings and ornaments.
My ultimate destination for the city was this little pub right on the main street into city center.
The Eagle and Child is famous for being the meeting place of The Inklings, a local group of writers; amongst them, some obscure names like C.S. Lewis, Lewis Caroll, and J.R.R. Tolkein. I was really excited.
Got my first (wonderful!) taste of Mulled Wine. Being legal is awesome!
And took a trip to Narnia!
One weird gem is the Pitt Rivers Museum. It's connected to the Natural History Museum of Oxford, but unlike most museums it doesn't seem to have much of an organization system. At all.
It looked like a scene right out of my favorite book series! Artifacts of all kinds from all cultures and all eras are sort of thrown pell-mell into this three story storage room. I was very impressed by their totem pole.
The college buildings are full of all sorts of strange things that Nick the native Oxfordian showed us. For instance: Hobbit Doors. The college seems to be full of doors that are roughly waist high!
This door is an actual door. The kids who live in that room to my left? They have to go through this door to get to their bathroom.
What the heck, England?
We had an amazing American Thanksgiving meal on saturday. So many happy Brits!
The city is full of amazing and surprising finds, like this little hole in the wall pub called the Turf Tavern which we went traipsing down sketchy alleys and dodgy streets to find.
The city center is full of odd gems like three-level underground bookstores and amazing leather shops and a stationary shop that I'm 100% convinced is an exact copy of what heaven looks like. I would suggest Oxford to any visitor to England for sure!
