Jul. 28th, 2011 01:25 pm
Trip to Oxford
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savvyliterateI'm noticing that a lot more people are considering the jump to Dreamwidth after the latest round of LJ DDoS attacks. I know personally that I will not renew my LJ paid account at this time when it runs out, not while it's going through all this instability. My DW list is looking a bit more like my LJ friends' list every day which is both comforting and sad at the same time. For folks looking to use the import tool for their older LJ archives, it'll only import when LiveJournal itself is working. Same goes for cross-posting back to LJ.
And, wow, I am extremely glad that I did not buy a 3DS when it first came out. I almost did to play Ocarina of Time, and so first I finally finished Zelda: Spirit Tracks after putting it down for a year. But, Mike urged me to wait since the game selection wasn't very good, so I listened to him. I'm very, very glad I did.
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fenikkusuken gave me puppy dog eyes and asked about my trip to Oxford the weekend before last. Because I can't say no to her, and really I don't want on Fenik's bad side, here's pictures and other stories of that side trip!
Around mid-morning, Mike (gigabahamut666), Icka (ickaimp) and I headed from our London hotel to Oxford. It wasn't a bad train ride except it asked for a confirmation code at the station, so Mike and I had to prod his ancient G1 Android phone into accessing my Gmail account. In a moment of pure frustration, I reactivated my AT&T data, then shut it back off when his phone began working again. I'm not sure how much that cost me. :P
When you get to Oxford, the station is tucked away on one side of the city. You disembark and go around the corner and over a bridge.
And, that is when I officially fell in love with Oxford.
Or, maybe this is.
We walked past butchers, a lady making fresh pasta and lots and lots of people as we meandered toward Christ Church, which was the goal of this excursion. Icka and I wanted to see Oxford, but it held a deeper meaning for me because this is where Namesake began and it's where some crucial parts of the story take place. The sweeter coincidence is thatsecondlina was sketching the initial pages of the first intermission chapter, which takes place in Christ Church.
We weren't expecting the loads of people though. London, yeah, but Oxford? Most of them appeared to be school groups, mostly Japanese and French from what I can tell. We wandered up to the cathedral to find it wasn't going to open until 2 p.m. But, we grabbed some pictures of one of the halls through the gates.
Mike says this shot from all of our cameras looks like a painting. So does the first one, which I took from farther away.
Then, we headed down the street to ...
Alice's shop! This store was around in the 1800s and is where the real Alice Liddell used to go buy candy. Mike and Icka took one look at the narrow room and stayed out, but I headed in. It's a tiny, tiny place, and it took some work to look at everything. I was disappointed because a lot of the stuff was extremely touristy and kind of cheap. I did find a few good gifts though, and I also picked up a walking guide of Oxford that had a lot of information about Lewis Carroll and the Liddells. That turned out to be the best find of the trip. Still, it was nice to be standing in the same place Alice and Lewis once stood.
We grabbed lunch, then Icka decided to go wander. Mike and I headed back to Christ Church cathedral to find this:
Two lines, stretching in different directions, all seeking entrance to the cathedral. Mike and I merely looked at each other, then made the agreement to go explore elsewhere while waiting for the line to die down.
Beyond the church is the gorgeous Christ Church meadow.
We headed around the side of the college and down a narrow path. Through one of the gates, I grabbed a shot of the actual cathedral:
We went through this odd twisting gate and eventually wound up onto the street next to Christ Church college. You head down here to reach Merton College and other parts of the city.
The University of Oxford isn't just a single school. It's comprised of 38 separate colleges and six permanent private halls - much, much bigger than the University of Alabama which has 13 college (including graduate school, law school, etc.). Merton College, which we were now by, was founded in 1264. This is its chapel:
This college produced, among many others, T.S. Eliot. J.R.R. Tolkien became a professor of English in 1945, and it was during his tenure here that The Lord of the Rings was completed.
We were more interested in these interesting-looking gargoyles along the side of the gates.
I thought these were really old, but apparently they were carved in 1987 to replace the older gargoyles that had succumbed to decay.
We continued our trek through the various colleges, Mike at times taking more photos than I did.
OK, I had to put in a picture of him. He's cute. Yes, we're still in the honeymoon phase after 16 months. ^_^ Actually, we've been in the honeymoon phase for the past three and a half years. But, I digress.
We reached the area where you could rent a boat and go out on the water like Lewis and the Liddells did. It was this sort of trip that led to Alice in Wonderland.
However, Mike and I, being of frugal finances, decided we weren't going to get ourselves stuck on a boat, so we headed back to Christ Church cathedral to find that the line had grown much longer and wasn't budging. Then, we figured out part of the reason why there were so many people at Christ Church - Harry Potter! A good bit of the Harry Potter movies were shot at Christ Church, and it's Great Hall was replicated to become Hogwarts' Great Hall. The final movie had just come out, so a lot of folks were taking pilgrimages (including wearing cosplay.)
So, we abandoned our plans to visit the inside of Christ Church, which made me very sad. There was a specific reference I wanted to get in there regarding Namesake, but the lines were too long and on Sundays the college/cathedral is only open for three hours. Mike comforted me, promising that we could come back at another time so I could visit the college and see the outside of Lewis Carroll's rooms, the deanery where the Liddells lived and a certain window in the cathedral.
We took a break at the tea room next to Alice's shop, then wandered about more. If you click through on any of the photos, it'll take you to the full gallery of UK pictures including all the Oxford ones. Before we met back up with Icka, Mike wanted to have a pint. We found a pub that had some pretty good food, and I had an authentic Sunday dinner of roast chicken, potatoes and veggies before we headed back to Liverpool.
And, wow, I am extremely glad that I did not buy a 3DS when it first came out. I almost did to play Ocarina of Time, and so first I finally finished Zelda: Spirit Tracks after putting it down for a year. But, Mike urged me to wait since the game selection wasn't very good, so I listened to him. I'm very, very glad I did.
fenikkusuken gave me puppy dog eyes and asked about my trip to Oxford the weekend before last. Because I can't say no to her, and really I don't want on Fenik's bad side, here's pictures and other stories of that side trip!Around mid-morning, Mike (
gigabahamut666), Icka (ickaimp) and I headed from our London hotel to Oxford. It wasn't a bad train ride except it asked for a confirmation code at the station, so Mike and I had to prod his ancient G1 Android phone into accessing my Gmail account. In a moment of pure frustration, I reactivated my AT&T data, then shut it back off when his phone began working again. I'm not sure how much that cost me. :PWhen you get to Oxford, the station is tucked away on one side of the city. You disembark and go around the corner and over a bridge.
 |
| From UK - July 2011 |
And, that is when I officially fell in love with Oxford.
Or, maybe this is.
 |
| From UK - July 2011 |
We walked past butchers, a lady making fresh pasta and lots and lots of people as we meandered toward Christ Church, which was the goal of this excursion. Icka and I wanted to see Oxford, but it held a deeper meaning for me because this is where Namesake began and it's where some crucial parts of the story take place. The sweeter coincidence is that
secondlina was sketching the initial pages of the first intermission chapter, which takes place in Christ Church. We weren't expecting the loads of people though. London, yeah, but Oxford? Most of them appeared to be school groups, mostly Japanese and French from what I can tell. We wandered up to the cathedral to find it wasn't going to open until 2 p.m. But, we grabbed some pictures of one of the halls through the gates.
 |
| From UK - July 2011 |
Mike says this shot from all of our cameras looks like a painting. So does the first one, which I took from farther away.
Then, we headed down the street to ...
 |
| From UK - July 2011 |
Alice's shop! This store was around in the 1800s and is where the real Alice Liddell used to go buy candy. Mike and Icka took one look at the narrow room and stayed out, but I headed in. It's a tiny, tiny place, and it took some work to look at everything. I was disappointed because a lot of the stuff was extremely touristy and kind of cheap. I did find a few good gifts though, and I also picked up a walking guide of Oxford that had a lot of information about Lewis Carroll and the Liddells. That turned out to be the best find of the trip. Still, it was nice to be standing in the same place Alice and Lewis once stood.
We grabbed lunch, then Icka decided to go wander. Mike and I headed back to Christ Church cathedral to find this:
 |
| From UK - July 2011 |
Two lines, stretching in different directions, all seeking entrance to the cathedral. Mike and I merely looked at each other, then made the agreement to go explore elsewhere while waiting for the line to die down.
Beyond the church is the gorgeous Christ Church meadow.
 |
| From UK - July 2011 |
We headed around the side of the college and down a narrow path. Through one of the gates, I grabbed a shot of the actual cathedral:
 |
| From UK - July 2011 |
We went through this odd twisting gate and eventually wound up onto the street next to Christ Church college. You head down here to reach Merton College and other parts of the city.
 |
| From UK - July 2011 |
The University of Oxford isn't just a single school. It's comprised of 38 separate colleges and six permanent private halls - much, much bigger than the University of Alabama which has 13 college (including graduate school, law school, etc.). Merton College, which we were now by, was founded in 1264. This is its chapel:
 |
| From UK - July 2011 |
This college produced, among many others, T.S. Eliot. J.R.R. Tolkien became a professor of English in 1945, and it was during his tenure here that The Lord of the Rings was completed.
We were more interested in these interesting-looking gargoyles along the side of the gates.
 |
| From UK - July 2011 |
I thought these were really old, but apparently they were carved in 1987 to replace the older gargoyles that had succumbed to decay.
We continued our trek through the various colleges, Mike at times taking more photos than I did.
 |
| From UK - July 2011 |
OK, I had to put in a picture of him. He's cute. Yes, we're still in the honeymoon phase after 16 months. ^_^ Actually, we've been in the honeymoon phase for the past three and a half years. But, I digress.
We reached the area where you could rent a boat and go out on the water like Lewis and the Liddells did. It was this sort of trip that led to Alice in Wonderland.
 |
| From UK - July 2011 |
However, Mike and I, being of frugal finances, decided we weren't going to get ourselves stuck on a boat, so we headed back to Christ Church cathedral to find that the line had grown much longer and wasn't budging. Then, we figured out part of the reason why there were so many people at Christ Church - Harry Potter! A good bit of the Harry Potter movies were shot at Christ Church, and it's Great Hall was replicated to become Hogwarts' Great Hall. The final movie had just come out, so a lot of folks were taking pilgrimages (including wearing cosplay.)
So, we abandoned our plans to visit the inside of Christ Church, which made me very sad. There was a specific reference I wanted to get in there regarding Namesake, but the lines were too long and on Sundays the college/cathedral is only open for three hours. Mike comforted me, promising that we could come back at another time so I could visit the college and see the outside of Lewis Carroll's rooms, the deanery where the Liddells lived and a certain window in the cathedral.
We took a break at the tea room next to Alice's shop, then wandered about more. If you click through on any of the photos, it'll take you to the full gallery of UK pictures including all the Oxford ones. Before we met back up with Icka, Mike wanted to have a pint. We found a pub that had some pretty good food, and I had an authentic Sunday dinner of roast chicken, potatoes and veggies before we headed back to Liverpool.