Oxford

getting to the bus station is fine but getting to the right bus berth proves to be difficult and stressful! we were sent to 2 different buildings by different people... in the end, we walked to n fro the 2 buildings twice! i was certain we know the road between the 2 buildings very well by then. when we finally got to the right berth, the bus left almost immediately after we got on. thank goodness we made it otherwise we will need to wait for another hour (and pay for another bus ticket!).

after abt 2.5 hrs of bus journey (should be faster but there's a jam in London), we finally reached Oxford and were greeted by our host Mark, a grad-student in Oxford Uni and we are to sleep on his sofabed. he took us out immediately to see the Ashmolean Museum after we droppped our bags as the attractions closed rather early in Oxford. the museum was holding some Egypt exhibits (including a real mummy!) at the time and of cos the house collection of paintings and scupltures.

Ashmolean Museum

we left the museum just before closing time. Mark then took us on a quick orientation of the town (since everywhere else seems to be closed). all the buildings are historic and most of them are more than 300 yrs old! the buildings looked really nice and all but after a while, all the buildings looked the same especially for non-locals like us! i had a very English dinner (mash & sausage) at a pub/restaurant and we called it a night. still jet lagged and tiried from the drama in the aftn!

our 1st stop in the morning is d Bodleian Library. it's d oldest library in Oxford. it took 65 yrs to build and was completed in 1488. it holds some of the most precious manuscripts from hundreds of yrs ago including the very 1st edition of shakesphere. becos of d priceless manuscripts/books, the library only allowed scholars (masters & above) into the library and they are only allowed in the section they are researching in. it is also 1 of d 6 libraries in UK to have every book published in UK. it has more than 8 millions books to date and still growing! as space is running out, the library has started to digitize some books and may continue to do so... we were not allowed to take photos inside the library due to copyrights issue. but i can say the library in Harry Potter movies, yes they looked like this 1. the library tour itself soooo feels like a history lesson.

Duke Humfrey's Library in Bodleian Library

The Divinity School - Bodleian Library

the next 2 places we went to, we didnt have real good luck. The Modern Art museum was closed to prepare for the new exhibition starting the next week. so it was quite a bummer. we then head to Christ Church. we want to see the Dining Hall, which was used to shoot the dining scenes in al of Harry Potter's movies. unfortunately, the dining hall was booked for a private function that night n was closed to the public! i cant believe our luck! arghhhhh

we took a long walk to the next destination, which is the Pitts River Museum. it was right next to the Museum of Natural history. both the museums was full of interesting exhibits and there were lotsa kids there running around filling up their little book of information. a pity we got there pretty late and only managed to spend 1.5 hrs in the 2 museums. we did see some huge dinosaurs' in there thou!

Dinosaurs @ d Museum of Natural History, Oxford

we were still pretty disappointed with not seeing the Dining Hall in Christ Church and told our host about it. he suggested us attending the service the next morning and then staying back in the church and maybe get a glimpse at d hall. so we decided to heed his advice and head for the service in d morning.

this would be my 1st service at a Catholic Church. more than half d time i didnt know what's happening... well u cant blame me! d last time i attended a service in a church was when my Christian friend got married! anyway the service took 1 hr and we left to roam around d church. we walked to an area where we thought it would lead to d dining hall. we were right! however, there was a person there guarding the stairs who wont allow us to head up to the Dining Hall at all!! we werent even allow to get a glimpse of d hall! sobs!

Dining Hall @ Christ Church - we REALLY wanted to see this!!

Christ Church Cathedral

just before we left, Mark took us up to the top of the Nuffield Tower. we were able to see most of Oxford from there! the view is really nice (least d 10 storeys we climbed was worth it!). we were asked which buildings

Host Mark & me at top of Nuffield Tower

so that's our 1st 'history trip'! i'm sure there's more to come later!

written by  wangyng on March 28, 2008 from Oxford, United Kingdom
from the travel blog: Hello Europe!!
tagged Oxford
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