Oxford

After spending the entire day in Oxford, I have only one word to describe the city: BEAUTIFUL. The architecture is breath-taking, the history of the city is extensive, and best of all, Harry Potter was filmed there! We arrived in chilly Oxford at about 11 am and spent all day walking around and seeing the sights before boarding another bus back to London at 7:30 pm. In between those times, we went to Oxford Castle, Christ Church and the Botanical Gardens, with some extra wandering in between.

Oxford Castle was very interesting, even to me, who is completely uninterested in history. It was built in 1071 and is still standing today - this fact alone blows me away. We first went up into the tower to see Oxford from above. Despite the typical gloominess that lingers over Great Britain, the views were beautiful.

The tower and most of the castle open to the public were originally used to house prisoners. We heard a lot of gruesome stories about torturing the prisoners and their horrid living conditions. Also, we had a chance to take our own mug shots. Ladies and gentlemen, meet Theo.

After meandering through Oxford Castle, we began the real fun of the day. We headed to Christ Church, which is an amazing church that I know nothing about because the only thing I could focus on was the fact that it was used in the Harry Potter films, including one of my favorite scenes. The scene where Harry first arrives at Hogwarts and meets Professor McGonagall and Draco Malfoy was filmed on the stairs that lead up to the dining room in Christ Church. Here they are.

 

"Red hair, and a hand-me-down robe? You MUST be a Weasley."

Also, the hallways near the quads in Christ Church may or may not have been used to film the movies. They look awfully familiar to me....

Also, the Great Hall in Harry Potter was based off the dining hall in Christ Church. It was set up and looked ready for the houses to walk in and sit at their respective tables.

Harry Potter aside, however, Christ Church was gorgeous. The architecture and details of the buildings were amazing and the quads surrounding the area were breath-taking.

 

 

I was perfectly happy to wander around all day just looking at the buildings - a significant statement for myself, who has the attention span of Rolly (a goldfish) and the patience of a five-year-old.

I don't know what this is

 

 No idea what this is either...

 

Botanical Gardens

If that car wasn't there, you would have thought we time traveled to the past

 

Cute modern houses

After waking up at 7:30 am and walking around all day in the freezing cold, I am exhausted. I can't wait for Harry Potter Tour-Part II - ocurring on Tuesday afternoon.