Oxford gave the world marmalade and a manner

OXFORD

Today was a trip to Oxford on another beautiful and sunny day. We had some lovely tours and got to see some more Harry Potter sites (several pieces of Oxford were used in the making of the films). We started our journey at Paddington Station. Because I am not a morning person I started out with some Starbucks and then went looking for Paddington. I found both the store and the statue. The train ride was hectic at first as we tried to figure out seating, but the ride was beautiful and so NOT the commuter rail.

Note: British transportation is extremely courteous about letting you know exactly why and how they are running late, even if it is only by a few minutes. This is absolutely amazing because my usual is waiting and waiting and waiting some more (sometimes upwards of 20min) before the train will address you and halfheartedly explain the issue. The tube will even offer substitute directions if something is amiss to help you reach your destination. (these directions are announced constantly via loudspeaker).


This is such a nice change of pace from my usual commuting experiences and I will miss it. 

Really really really really miss it.

Like so much.

Really.


EAGLE & CHILD

(BIRD & BABY)

We went to a pub frequented by famous authors, including C.S. Lewis (Narnia) and J.R. R Tolkien (Lord of the Rings). Went and had lunch, which was delicious, although my food came out far later than anyone else's. 

But it looked like this, so it was OK

MCDONALD'S??? 

Portait of Alice

After the pub we went down the street to the McDonald's. Not to eat, but to meet our wonderful and sweet tour guide that walked us through and around Oxford. We went to Christ's Church college, which gave homage to both Alice and Wonderland (the real Alice had been a daughter of the college dean) and Harry Potter, where scenes of the film had been recorded. She gave us a brief history of the college which had originally been a collection of monks to the sprawling multiple campus institution that Oxford represents today, with over 22,000 students.

Stained glass homage to Alice in Wonderland

Today's photo focus: taking pictures with
unique settings

She aslo let us know how to pinpoint an Oxford College. Basically if there is a yellow stone building with lots of bikes it is one of the many colleges.



BODLEIAN LIBRARY

Harry Potter infirmary and
 the dance instruction room from GoF

When the our finished up we went on another one, this one of one of the biggest libraries in UK, the Bodleian. According to a deal made by a huge contributor to the library Thomas Bodley, the Bodleain (see the importance shining through?) still receives a copy of every book published in the UK and can request copies of every book from Ireland. This means that the library now has over 8 1/2 MILLION copies of books in addition to some 3 million leaflets, journals, etc...

In front of infirmary doors

And these books are all the books published in the UK, from the history of religion to toilet training for young tots. That's a pretty diverse collection.

Fun fact: Bodley's current librarian is Sarah Thomas, who is the first woman and first foreigner to run the library (shout-out: she is American).

Tomorrow is BBC everybody, so be ready!