Not Quite at Hogwarts

Ever since I was in elementary school and discovered that parts of Hogwarts were filmed at Oxford University, I have wanted to visit Oxford, England. For a spell in middle school, I thought that I would study archaeology at Oxford. I have changed since then, I no longer want to study archaeology, but seeing Oxford was still a place that I needed to see at least once in my life. Last weekend my program took a day trip to Oxford, and it was quite the adventure.

As you can see everyone was paying attention to the tour guide...

The buildings here are incredibly photogenic.

This street looks very intense.

The day started with a walking tour which was lovely, except for the fact that it was rather wet outside and our tour guide refused to speak loudly. We all had to stand very, very close to hear his speeches. We were led down cobblestone streets, through market places, into small alleyways on our way to the colleges. It was truly the perfect day for walking: cool and overcast. We walked past absolutely stunning gardens in front of brooding skies, adorable little shops, and beautiful stone buildings.

British markets are greater than American markets

I want these gardens.

Look at that brooding sky.

We then traversed through Christ Church College (apparently it's wrong to include 'college'). I finally saw the Great Hall of Hogwarts and the staircase on which J.K. Rowling based the Grand Staircase. It was pretty crazy to think that these were the places I so longed to be growing up. While I was walking around, I kept thinking to myself Wow! That looks like Hogwarts! Then I would realize that's because it was used for filming Hogwarts and I would become even more excited. Harry Potter excitement aside, the most beautiful part of Christ Church was the Christ Church Cathedral. I am not a religious person, but I can appreciate the beauty of religious spaces, and Christ Church Cathedral was quite a sight to behold.

I think this is the outside of the cathedral. I might be wrong.

This is the Great Hall of Hogwarts

Look how pretty.

I had to throw in an artsy flower pic.

Why don't we use stained glass anymore?

The source of the artsy flower pic.

 It was very dark and crowded in the cathedral, so I didn't get as many pictures as I would have liked. Anyway, after walking through the cathedral we walked down more tiny cobblestone streets that cars can somehow manage, and found ourselves outside of All Souls College. We could only see the outside of this college, but that was sufficient for me. I was very excited to see this college as it is the main setting of one of my favorite books A Discovery of Witches. I don't have any pictures of All Souls as we were moving very quickly, but it was definitely one of the highlights of the day.

Imagine walking across this every day.

This looks exactly like Hogwarts.

I don't know what this is but it's beautiful.

I know that this was built by Christopher Wren for some sort of ceremony.

Again this is very Hogwarts.

I like this ceiling.

After the tour, I had lunch at The Eagle and Child. It was the pub where J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis discussed their books, so I was pretty pleased to be eating there. The bangers and mash was actually very good, too, so it wasn't just a mediocre tourist trap. After my literary lunch, I went punting. Punting sounds like it would be a fun activity. It is compared to being boated around Venice, but I am going to object to that comparison. Punting is just sitting in a small, cramped boat that is very low to the water while a young college student stands at the back and pushes off the bottom of a canal with a pole. The boats were already wet because it had been raining earlier, and I was wearing a dress, so I was uncomfortable even before we started moving. The boat kept moving like it was going to tip over, it never did, and I was absolutely terrified. I was not afraid of getting wet because I was already soaking from the rain, but I had my Nikon and new Scottish Wool coat in my bag. We kept bumping into other boats and into the sides of the canal, and I was just cold and on the verge of tears the entire boat ride. I really wish I had some commemorative pictures of punting, but I do not.

Punting aside, my trip to Oxford was wonderful. Punting included, my trip to Oxford was memorable. It was wonderful seeing where parts of Harry Potter were filmed, and driving through the English countryside was just as lovely as I thought it would be. I hope to explore more and less touristy towns in the English countryside before I leave.