Oxford, England

September 23, 2017 -  Day 12 – Oxford, England

Outside of London, where we spent 6 days, we spent more time in Oxford (3 days) than any of the other 9 cities we visited. We weren't particularly more drawn to this city than the others, but it was the halfway point of our trip, and we felt a three night layover would be good for recharging our batteries. There weren’t specific sites we wanted to explore, just more a matter of Oxford being a well-known city, with its prestigious, world renown university, and of course, “all that history”. 

Oxford revolves around the University which was established in the 12th century, and consists of 38 colleges spread throughout the city. The city is known worldwide as the home of the University of Oxford, and the oldest university in the English-speaking world. Since this is an actual working University, and classes were in session, many of the college buildings had “Closed” signs on them, with explanations. It made me realize how disruptive it would have been to have all these tourists trying to wander about in these settings. 

We took the Hop-On/Hop-Off bus tour, combined with lots of walking through the streets, parks, and along the River Thames. We really enjoyed Oxford’s Covered Market, which officially opened on November 1, 1774 in response to a general wish to clear “untidy, messy, and unsavoury stalls” from the main streets of the city. In those early days the market had stalls for garden produce, pig meat, dairy products, and fish. Today you are more likely to see food retailers, greengrocers, butchers (including some who produce the distinctive, local Oxford sausage), gift shops, bakeries, and sandwich shops.

Christ Church was along the route of one of our walks. From their website, “Christ Church is one of the colleges of Oxford University and sits in the heart of the city. Founded in 1546, today it is a key part of a very modern university, offering a home, undergraduate teaching and graduate supervision to over six hundred students. Its academic staff cover almost all subjects taught at Oxford. It stands out for its size, the beauty of its buildings, and its welcoming atmosphere, as well as the distinguished research and teaching that goes on within its walls. It is unique in another way too: it is a cathedral as well as a college.”

We walked around the peripheral of a botanical garden which included a beautiful rose garden. It had rained just before we arrived, and there were still droplets of rain clinging to many of the flowers and roses.

We stepped inside The University Church of St. Mary the Virgin, or just St. Mary’s for short. It is the center from which the University of Oxford grew and its parish consists almost exclusively of university and college buildings.

I thought a lot of the architecture in Oxford was kind of eerie, especially all the carved heads, with some of them sporting the most maniacal expressions. On the other hand, even though Oxford boasts of having a wide variety of architectural styles, the almost homogeneous golden stone that seems to define the architecture became almost monotonous at times.

Below is a montage of the many sites of Oxford.