Tuesday - visit to Oxford

(Warning: the following shall be written as if it were Tuesday to help the writer keep her thoughts straight. Today is today in whichever time zone you are currently located in. Not Tuesday or July. You have been given the heads-up.)

Tuesday July 31, 2012:

Had a nice sunny/rainy visit to the beautiful university that is Oxford.

Like any other daytrip, the first place I visit is the information center. And like most information centers, they had me pay for the good detailed map. But at least it had a nice guide with pretty pictures inside so it was worth it.

There was a self-guided walking tour route that they had in the map guide so I decided to go with it. First place it takes me through is the shopping area. Took some pictures and moved right along before my mind could register all the "sale" signs in all the windows. I then proceeded towards Christ Church College and entered through its Meadow Gate to a beautiful looking (and smelling) garden. I walked into the college (after paying for admission) and came up to the stairs for the dining hall, but it was closed. Luckily it was to reopen at 14:30 so I continued walking through. I went inside the college cathedral and for the first time, I was allowed to take pictures. FINALLY.

As I was going through reading the fact sheets, memorials, going camera-happy, I came across a door. A rather small door that you wouldn't notice unless you stood in front of it. It was an elegant door. Didn't see any signs of "No entry" so I decided to go through it. I proceeded down the old cement steps with dim lighting from the poor lighting and when I got to the bottom. BOOM! All lights went out. Wish I could keep building up this awesome story but that's all. Turns out some kid was playing with the light switch and when his mom made him turn the all the lights back on, the room was just full of chairs and a TV to watch an informal video about the cathedral. Yup. But you have to admit it was a pretty cool beginning, right?

Well I ended up not being able to return through the door I entered in so i had to go back around to see the rest of the Cathedral. The elderly gentleman at the front looked a bit confused to see me again. "Did you like the cathedral that much to see it again?" Since I wasn't sure if I was allowed to go through that door, so I said, "Yes, it's really fascinating." The man smiled and replied, "Good to hear that some people still find history interesting." Well, it is fairly true :)

After looking around the rest of the college, I went through the rest of my self-guided walking tour. Eventually, I made it to the science museum and took a look. They had a Renaissance astronomy exhibit about the tools and discoveries from the time period. Outside of the museums were busts of what I'm guessing were famous people or well-respected historic figures but they had really funny expressions on their faces. I just couldn't take it seriously.

I then made my way to the Bodleian library and looked around the courtyard. Found out the section of the library I wanted to see most (Duke Humfrey's library) required going on a tour so I bought a ticket and decided to head back to see the Great Dining Hall at Christ Church College. Turns out lots of people had the same idea so it was pretty crowded. But it was SO worth it. What an amazing feeling it was to be walking up the steps the actors walked when they started their grand adventure of making the Harry Potter Films. The magical world became real!

Since the crowds were big, I didn't get to spend a whole lot of time in the hall, but I was content with all I got to see. So then I went back to the library for my tour. I walked into visiting info area, had my ticket verified, then proceeded into the Divinity School. The tour guide lady (Naomi I believe was her name) was super friendly and had a pleasant sense of humor. Random fact I learned about the school, a long time ago back when boys entered university at age 14 and had to take their final exams, they would have to have a debate with their professor in front of their class and head-master figure (he decided whether or not you passed and how long you would have to debate for. It was always for at least 3 hours). Never thought I'd say this, but I'm actually happy with how I take my finals.

We then proceeded VERY quietly to Duke Humfrey's library aka the restricted area of the Hogwarts library. Naomi did tell us a good amount of history but of course a good amount of time was talking about how the filming was done for Harry Potter. She guided us towards one of the far bookcases in the front to tell us about the security system. They used to chain all the books to a rod on the bookcase, but that was a problem since people wouldn't be able to go sit down with the book so they upgraded. Now that I think about it, Naomi never did tell us what the new system was. She just told us if we saw the first movie, we saw the security system when Harry Potter took a book off the shelf. Random cool fact: As Naomi was telling us this, she described how the candle Harry held was computer generated since there's ABSOLUTELY no fire allowed in the library and as she did this, she pointed out that I was standing right where Daniel Radcliffe stood when he pulled the book off the shelf. It was Legend - wait for it - DARY! Oh yeah :D

By this time it was getting late and my legs were tired from all the walking so I headed back.

Sorry the catching up is taking some time but I shall keep working on it!