Oxford

Oxford

Charlie’s Academic Trip to the Oldest University

Charlie’s tour to Blenheim Palace and Stratford-Upon-Avon eventually led her to Oxford. She did not just pass through but stayed for one night. Charlie had booked two separate Oxford Tours: A Ghost Tour for the evening and a Free Walking Tour to see the most important places in Oxford. She stayed at the Oxford Backpackers Hostel (as you know, she always stays in places where you could meet other travellers).

Walking around Oxford

Charlie had reserved herself a spot on the Oxford Free Walking Tour with Footprint Tours. The guide that day was James and it was quite a big group with more then 25 people. That was unusual for a city tour.

 

Balliol and Trinity Colleges

They started the tour opposite Balliol College and James provided an overview of the history of Oxford. The fact that the Trinity College is right beside Balliol, gave the opportunity to talk about the rivalry between the two schools early on during the tour. This made James talk about Rosa the tortoise who became the “fastest, slowest animal in Oxford” who was the pride of Balliol but mysteriously disappeared one day. Another great story made the three sheep that Balliol students sent grazing in the beautiful gardens of Trinity College. To add another prank, they had been numbered 1,2 and 4 making students search for a non-existing number 3 for days.

On their way to other college buildings, the group passed by the Museum of Science which was opened in 1683 and is one of the oldest in Europe. It still contains the original blackboard that had been used by Albert Einstein.

The Sheldonian

Next to the museum is the Sheldonian Theatre which gave James another opportunity to make one of his jokes: Oxford is the only place in the world where people laugh about jokes in dead languages. That might sound strange, but he was referring to the annual Encaenia – a ceremony for honorary degrees that is held entirely in Latin.

As they turn to the right and walk behind the Sheldonian, Charlie suddenly felt as if she had been placed in a scene straight out of Harry Potter. James explained that the Divinity School provided several magical locations in the movies.

The Bridge of Sighs

The tour guides them to the Bridge of Sighs whose official name is Hertford Bridge as it belongs to the Hertford College. They made a quick stop to take a group shot for which James tried to make 30 people jump at the same time to get a picture with all participants floating in the air. Charlie isn’t sure it worked, but it was fun.

A little hidden passage next to the bridge leads to the Turf Tavern, a historical pub where some famous personalities did some infamous things. We don’t know what Oscar Wilde there in his time did, but we know for sure that Bill Clinton did not break the law because he did not inhale the tea.

The Bodleian Library

One of the last stops was the Bodleian Library. It is a copyright library that hosts a copy of each book written and therefore needs a lot of shelving space that has been created below the ground. It holds 13 million books and approximately 117 miles of shelving. Charlie would love to see that. Unfortunately, only Oxford students are allowed inside but Charlie will try to get on a library tour the next time she will be in Oxford.
The last stop of the Oxford Free Walking Tour was at the backdoor to Brasenose College where one can see characters from the Chronicles of Narnia. This is because C.S. Lewis studied in Oxford. The lamppost in front of the house was supposedly the inspiration for the lamppost in Narnia.

Break at one of the oldest Coffee Shops

After the tour, it was time for a break and Charlie had been recommended by a friend to try one of the oldest coffee shops in town: The Queenslane Coffee House. That’s what she did. The coffee shop had been opened in 1654 and claims to be the oldest, continually working coffee house in Europe. Charlie can only say that it is a nice place with a good selection of food. She treated herself to a piece of apple pie that afternoon.

Hostel nights

Charlie stayed at the Oxford Backpackers Hostel which is opposite the train station and a 5-minute walk away from the heart of the city. She always stays in hostels on her trips as it is the only place where you can meet other travellers.

Playing Cards Against Humanity

She was sitting at one of the tables in the common area and sorting all the pictures she had taken during the day when she was asked if she wanted to join the others for a round of Cards Against Humanity. How could she possibly deny? That game was always fun, but she had never played it with people that she didn’t know. That could be interesting.

For those of you, who never played it, it is a game that gives a lot of opportunity for dark humour, very dark humour. If you play with your friends, every player usually knows how far they can go, with strangers…That’s when it gets interesting.

The people she met at the hostel

Charlie met Rob, Gabs, Rodrigo, John, James and some others whose names she was never told but would say that by the end of the game, knew quite well. As the beers also kept on coming (even after they had officially closed the bar), everybody showed their true sense of humour throughout the game. They finished the night off with a game of pool and Charlie fell into her bed at 3 a.m. It was one of those nights that was worth sacrificing some sleep for and she can only recommend the Oxford Backpackers Hostel if you want to meet people. There’s no need to mention the comfortable beds and the breakfast.

Haunted Oxford: Ghost Tour

A city as old as Oxford also has some ghost stories to share and Charlie learned about those during the Oxford Ghost Tour. If you ever walk along Magpie Lane and feel as if somebody was linking your arm to theirs, it might be the ghost of the young girl that had fallen madly in love with a soldier during the civil war. She had ended her life after he had disappeared and is roaming the street where she lived to this day.

Most of the ghost stories are naturally related to students of the Oxford university. That’s how Charlie heard of a student at Magdalen (official pronunciation is “Madlyn”) College who read from the book of dead in Latin without even speaking that language. That college believed in the success of exorcism until the 1990s.

It’s not all ghosts

Some of the stories told during the Oxford Ghost Tour though are of pure human nature and don’t have much to do with spiritual appearances, although that one student might still be haunted. It is the story of a young man who tried to outsmart the professors during the exams by demanding a beer as this was written in the rule book. He did get his beer but did not pass the exam as he hadn’t read the whole rule book and forgotten to bring his sword to the exam.

And yet again during a city tour, one could learn about the English language. In Stratford-Upon-Avon Charlie had learned about the origins of the “frog in the throat”, now it was the expression of “the stinking rich”. It dates to Tudor times when the rich would pay an extra to be buried below the church instead of the churchyard where their bones would be removed after a while. Unfortunately, the job of burying the body was often not done very well and an inconvenient smell would spread inside the church. That’s how the stinking rich made their way into modern vocabulary.

It hadn’t been two full days, but Charlie did get a very good idea of the city of Oxford. Fortunately, it is very close to London and can easily be reached by coach. The Oxford Tube leaves Victoria Station every 20 minutes, every day per week. A return ticket is only £15 per person. Charlie could easily return any time to dig a bit deeper into the stories of the university town.

A few places are now on her list to visit the next time. She wants to do a special university tour, get inside the Bodleian Library and the Ashmolean Museum.

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