Day trip to Oxford -- July 18, 2011

After class on Monday, I went to Oxford. It was about an hour train ride from Paddington and of course, it was raining. I immediately jumped on a city sightseeing bus because that was a quick way to show me around the city.  I didn't have a lot of time and I wanted to see as much as possible.  I had no idea that there were so many colleges there.  I guess they all make up Oxford University.  There are something like 34 colleges. High Street in Oxford is the most architecturally diverse street in the country.  

Here are some pictures from my trip: 

The shop where Alice, from Alice in Wonderland, bought her sweets!  Lewis Carrol, real name Charles Dodgson, was the author of Alice in Wonderland.  He also worked at Christ Church College as a Mathematics tutor.  While here, he wrote Alice in Wonderland.  It is rumored to have been inspired by the new Dean, Henry Liddell and his daughter, Alice. 

This is Christ Church College in Oxford.  Not only does it have the largest Medieval dining room, but it is also the place where the dining room scenes from all of the Harry Potter films were filmed. Isn't that cool? 

Another shot of Christ Church College. 

Here is the administrative building for the Rhode's Scholarship.  It is named after Cecil Rhodes.  This scholarship is an award that is given to students from 14 nations.  Australia; Bermuda; Canada; Germany; Hong Kong; India; Jamaica & Commonwealth Caribbean; Kenya; New Zealand; Pakistan; Southern Africa (South Africa and neighbours Botswana, Lesotho, Malawi, Namibia and Swaziland); USA; Zambia; and Zimbabwe.  

Famous recipients of the scholarship include Ivan Getting, the co-inventor of GPS technology,  Nicholas Kristoff, a writer who came and spoke at Meredith this past year (you should check out his book Half the Sky), and ex-president Bill Clinton, although he did not receive a degree from there. 

This is the Sheldonian Theatre. It was built by Sir Christopher Wren, who also built St. Paul's Cathedral.  He also rebuilt London after the Great Fire of London in 1666. 

This is a monument that memorializes 3 bishops that were burned at the stakes.  They were ordered to be burned by Queen Mary, the Catholic daughter of Henry VIII.  She wanted to return England to Catholicism so she knew that she needed to get rid of bishops who preached about Protestantism.  To do this, she declared them heretics.  For this, they were burned at the stake. The names of these martyrs are Thomas Cranmer, Hugh Latimer, and Nicholas Ridley.  They are better known as the Oxford Martyrs.