Oxford - 2nd trip

So the first time we were in Oxford we barely saw it since we spent most of the day at Blenheim Palace. We planned this trip with the Gilberts, to tour the city and specifically see Alice's shop and Christ Church College.

We had been confused on our first trip by all the colleges - which one was actually Oxford University? Turns out the "University" is made up of over 40 different colleges in Oxford!

We took the park and ride into town, then hopped on the City Sightseeing Tour bus.

Of course, we had to ride on the top of the bus, lol. It was a beautiful day!

We stopped by the shop across from Christ Church College, where the real Alice (Alice Liddell) bought her sweets as a child. Now, it's a Alice in Wonderland souvenir shop. Neat stuff.

I'm sure Alice didn't pay £2.99, ha!

Cambria, Kayleigh and Meridian in front of the shop, in the bright sun!

We stopped for lunch at a nearby cafe, mostly because it had "Loco" in the name. :)

Inside Christ Church College, in a courtyard - looks like one from a Harry Potter movie, but I'm not sure.

Staircase, definitely used in the Harry Potter movies. Suh-weet!

The Harry Potter Great Hall - actually the Christ Church Dining Hall, still used by students every day.

It was grand, just maybe not quite as grand as they make it seem in the movies.

Excellent ceiling!

A portrait of Wolsey! We learned about him from watching the Tudors. :)

Henry VIII - we keep running in to him around England, he was a busy King.

Queen Elizabeth, daughter of Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn. (yay Tudors!)

Just chillin at the Harry Potter tables. No big. LOL

Alice Liddell, possible inspiration for Alice in Wonderland, memorialized in the windows of the great hall.

Notice the small Alice in the corner of the window.

All of the windows in this set had Alice characters in the corners. Pretty neat!

Henry Liddell, Alice's Dad, who was Dean of Christ Church College when Charles Lutwidge Dodgson (aka Lewis Carroll) attended.

More Alice characters

One last shot of the Great Hall.

Cambria on the main courtyard, outside the chapel.

The small garden outside the chapel where the author drew inspiration for Alice in Wonderland. According to the docent, the Liddell family lived in the house in the background of the photo. Alice's dad was dean of the college, and had this little door (back right) put in so he wouldn't have to walk all the way around to the front of the chapel building.

He was the only one to have a key to the door, though Alice was seen to look through the keyhole. This is the door and key that gave the author inspiration for the door Alice first encounters in the story.

While touring the chapel, we came across a choir and orchestra practicing for a performance of Handel's Messiah later that evening. They were pretty amazing. I didn't get the most famous part of the Messiah on tape, though we did hear it - I did get this snippet:

Apparently it's quite common for people to be buried inside the chapels.  This is one ornate tomb.

And there were many floor tombs as well.  Very odd to our American eyes.  :)

Candles lit by parishioners.

A pulpit in the middle of the chapel.

Huge organ pipes we didn't notice when we walked under them!

Quaint little side street outside the college.

Scott and Cam in the entryway to the college.

Back on the tour bus, we passed this building with gargoyles all around the rim.  Pretty cool.

Outside the Sheldonian Theater, there are a bunch of these huge busts.
They're believed to be Roman scholars.

OK, so they're not mincing words here... LOL

This was over a street, pretty cool looking.  No idea what it actually is.  :)
(edit: I came across it - it's Hertford Bridge, between two parts of Hertford college.  It's also called the Bridge of Sighs, after the famous bridge in Venice.)

Ha!  We fit together!  :)

Kayleigh and Meridian

My Cammie Coo!

Radcliffe Camera (which I guess is a reading room)
A little disappointing, since we couldn't go in, even though every guide books says not to miss it. :(

So we're looking around for what to do next, and we see this Church behind Radcliffe Camera.  Turns out it's University Church of St. Mary the Virgin.  So we're gazing up, taking some pictures, and suddenly we see people walking around on the ledge over the clock!  Whoa, let's do that!!

Close up of a gargoyle on the tower, in the picture above this, it's on the near corner, at the clock level.

From the tower, a much better view of Radcliffe Camera.  Whatever it's attraction is...

I believe this is All Souls College.

Up close with the ornate tower design, you can see this to the left of the clock in the larger photo above.

This ledge above the clock was only about 18" wide.  You could go all the way around, but I only made it to the second side before I was close to a panic attack and had to turn back and get myself down the stairs.  :)

Pretty, no? 

One last picture on the ledge, to prove I was there, before the panic set in too densely.  I didn't even bother to retake until I got a good one... I took it and ran.  The staircase was one person wide too, and steep and circular.  Makes me panicky to think about it even now.  Why do I always think reason can win out over my heights thing?  Reason only wins for about 5 minutes!

After the rest of the non-panicked group met me downstairs, we went to the covered market and shopped a little.  We all ended up with ice cream and shakes before wandering over to Cornmarket Street, then back over to Broad Street where we started out.

Broad Street is engulfed in history, the most interesting of which I thought was this:

So we all know about Archbishop Cranmer from the series The Tudors (or from history books, show offs). He helped Anne Boleyn on her quest to be queen by pronouncing Henry's marriage to Catherine of Aragon void. He was one of 3 men burned at the stake in Oxford (one of hundreds country-wide) for being a Protestant after Mary, daughter of Henry VIII and Catherine of Aragon became regent.  Mary, also known as Bloody Mary, wanted to return the country to Catholicism, and punished any remaining protestants. 

In the middle of Broad Street, a marker for where the three were burned at the stake.

One can only thank our ancestors for our current freedom of religion.  We can only hope that one day all the world will be as free to worship, or not, as they choose, without persecution. 

So much to see and do in Oxford that we missed, and with it only 20 minutes down the road, we're sure to visit again soon!