Oxford, July 19th

So I was going to wait to write this recap because I was getting exahusted by posting on the various blogs but then it started raining. Now, I don't mean the little mizzle (mist + drizzle = mizzle) or light shower that I've seen here recently. I mean a downpour with the addition of lightning and thunder. Because the computer lab is across the street from my housing, I decided to be lazy and stay around a little longer. Hopefully the downpour will lessen soon. I don't think the sweater hoodie I found yesterday (for £2, I couldn't resist) will cut it as a raincoat.


OK, Oxford. We met in the courtyard of Stamford St. at 7 am to take the tube to London Paddington station for an 8.52 train to Oxford. Upon arriving at Oxford, we made our way to the Bodleian Library for a guided tour. Here is a map of the 4 buildings in the Bodleian complex. We visited 3 of those buildings: the Old Library, the New Library, and the Radcliffe Camera.



And here is a picture of the Radcliffe Camera. Our guide told us that it is probably the most photographed building in Oxford. Pretty impressive.
The tour was very interesting. In the Old Library, we got to see some chained books and learned about how they were stored and cared for. Readers can use the old chained books but they must be supervised closely.

After the tour, a group of us went to the Eagle and Child pub where J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis used to meet and talk about their writings with their group, the Inklings. I had a wonderful steak and ale pie and a pint of cider. Almost all of our class went there for lunch other than 3 students and the 2 professors. And none of it was planned!

After lunch, Carrie, Stephanie, Cortni, Meagan and I went to Christ Church College for the tour. It was nice walking through but we got stuck in the middle of a three huge groups so that was a little crazy.

Picture of the dining hall.
Tom Tower, another design by Christopher Wren (the man did not sleep!).

After the tour, Cortni, Meagan and I wandered around the streets and looked into the shops for a while. All of us were museumed and toured out. Everyone met down at the train station at 6 to leave for London. A long and tiring day.

Now the rain has stopped and the sun came out so I am off for the day!