Day Three: Oxford

We left York this morning, and made it to the train station with plenty of time to spare, after either I or the St. Andrews travel office made a mistake in booking the train tickets (I thought we were buying the 9:27 departure, but actually ended up with the 10:34 departure). The students were very understanding about having missed out on an extra hour of sleep, and sat amidst the luggage nursing Costa coffees for an hour before our actual train arrived. Once we actually did board, the four of us ended up sitting at a table, which makes for an absolutely fabulous train trip and gives the kids ample space to spread out their snacks and their coloring pads. David got in a bit of work, and though I had brought my computer to do some work as well, I actually couldn’t tear myself away from just watching the English countryside go by outside the window. Not only has spring sprung here so the grass and the trees are gorgeously green, but I was struck by the difference in the scenery from that in the United States—here there are no billboards, no suburban shopping areas, no mega-gas stations. Just serene and tranquil scenery. I passed the time by looking for lambs in each flock of sheep, and watching a canal system that moved along (and sometimes under) the train tracks, which was full of canal boats and lined by fishermen. The kids had a ball on the train as well, especially after so many plane trips. Here, they had plenty of space, could look out the window, and kept getting up to talk to various students and go into other cars to use the space-age bathroom, which featured electric door openers and locks that were very much straight out of a Jetsons episode. John kept asking how much longer we would be on the train, but only because he wanted to stay ON for a longer period of time!

We arrived in Oxford just after 2pm, and walked through town to Oriel College, where we would stay for two nights. The outside of the college is pictured above, and quite beautiful. The college’s official name is “The House of the Blessed Mary the Virgin in Oxford, commonly called Oriel College, of the Foundation of Edward the Second of famous memory, sometime King of England.” It was founded in 1326 by Edward the II, though most of the buildings date from the early 17^th century. The college’s famous alumni include Cardinal John Henry Newman, Sir Walter Raleigh, and Beau Brummel, who is credited with creating the suit-and-tie fashion for men. I can certainly understand the latter, as this is definitely a suit-and-tie kind of place. Our denimed and backpacked group screamed “Americans!” as we walked through town. After we had settled, we began a tour of the various colleges, led by an official city tour guide who was excellent—full of interesting facts and able to keep our group on the move. The colleges are absolutely stunning—it’s almost impossible to decide where to look as you walk, since one building is even more

beautiful than the next. Our guide took us to many of the well-known sites, such as the Radcliffe Camera, which is the main reading room of the Bodlein Library, and the Bridge of Sighs, which is synonymous with the center of the city. We also saw several sites used in the filming of the Harry Potter movies, such as the Divinity School, which was used as the infirmary in the films, and the tree at New College under which Harry Potter and Draco Malfoy fight and Professor Moody turns Draco into a ferret.

After our tour, the students went in search of some of the famous pubs such as the Eagle and Child, which was frequented by C.S. Lewis and JRR Tolkein. The four of us went in search of the previous haunts of another scholar—we walked to the neighborhood where David lived here as an undergraduate during his junior year abroad. We found the flat, took a photo, then went off in search of yet another bathroom for John! Then we took a walk through the Christ Church meadow, which was full of weeping willows in bloom, and tulips and windflowers in every corner. It was sprinkling just a bit, but the weather made the colors of the flowers stand out even more, and though the four of us were quite tired from all the day’s walking, the meadow was magical

for all of us! Eventually, we went back to our “flat” in Oriel College (a three bedroom apartment with incredibly sloping floors done in “grad school chic”…upon our arrival, John took one look at the stained carpet and said, “I think someone has stayed here before.”) then met the students in the dining hall for a formal served dinner, where Emma and I tried our first “sticky toffee pudding.” After dinner, the students went out for some after hours exploring, but the four of us turned in early!