(This was meant to be a quick list and got a bit out of hand... but I do so love Oxford, so perhaps it was to be expected.)
My Oxford diversions were largely related to assorted literary figures associated with the place, and especially Tolkien (I went around visiting houses he'd lived in and colleges he'd been a part of and so forth, basically using Humphrey Carpenter's biography as a tourist guide, which allowed me to see quite a bit of the rest of the city). Things I remember fondly:
Colleges and environs:
- Magdalen College botanical gardens, park, and river walk (Addison's Walk, I think it's called). The botanical gardens particularly impressed me with their giant watery lily pond. One can also go up and stand outside of Oscar Wilde's rooms -- when I vsted, there was a piece of paper taped onto the door announcing "Oscar Wilde Lower Rooms", but can't actually go or see inside I think. (I believe people still live in them, which would be why.)
- Christ Church Meadow was also a nice pace for a stroll. There were cows...
- University College -- I wanted to get in to see the Shelley Memorial, but they wouldn't let me, which I very much regret... I don't think it's open to the public, but I wish I had pretended to be a student and bluffed my way in.
Standard attractions:
- Bodleian Library -- I'm not really sure what-all is open to the public there (we were brought in as part of a guided tour), but something is. It's nice in its own right, but mostly I like that can now say I've been inside "Bodley"
- Ashmolean Museum -- the archeology part especially. I found the spears and armour and stuff on display pretty inspiring.
- There's also the Bridge of Sighs, which is a standard sort of attraction, but I personally wasn't terribly impressed.
Walking around the city:
- Hollywell Cemetery at St. Cross Church (I think I've got the name right... was a lovely place to sit in solitude and listen to birds and such.
- Groucester Green Market (twice a week) -- I just found it fun to browse the trinket stalls and drinking in the local colour.
- On a similar note, the Covered Market on High Street was kind of fun to visit, too
- I also spent an embarrassing amount of time browsing Blackwell's Bookstore and the English Teddy Bear Company, but that might be just me...
And, kind of generally, one of my favorite things about Oxford is that pretty much werever you step, you stumble over some odd piece of history or other. There are these little plaques here and there announcing things like, "On this spot, King So-and-So ordered the beheading of Noble/Bishop/Etc. So-an-So in the year 1***", or you spot a bit of the original city wall, or traipse through a college quad and find ot that this is the quad that's supposed to be haunted by the ghost of Archbishop William Laud, kicking around his severed head (that would be St John's College, more alleged ghosties here.)
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My Oxford diversions were largely related to assorted literary figures associated with the place, and especially Tolkien (I went around visiting houses he'd lived in and colleges he'd been a part of and so forth, basically using Humphrey Carpenter's biography as a tourist guide, which allowed me to see quite a bit of the rest of the city). Things I remember fondly:
Colleges and environs:
- Magdalen College botanical gardens, park, and river walk (Addison's Walk, I think it's called). The botanical gardens particularly impressed me with their giant watery lily pond. One can also go up and stand outside of Oscar Wilde's rooms -- when I vsted, there was a piece of paper taped onto the door announcing "Oscar Wilde Lower Rooms", but can't actually go or see inside I think. (I believe people still live in them, which would be why.)
- Christ Church Meadow was also a nice pace for a stroll. There were cows...
- University College -- I wanted to get in to see the Shelley Memorial, but they wouldn't let me, which I very much regret... I don't think it's open to the public, but I wish I had pretended to be a student and bluffed my way in.
Standard attractions:
- Bodleian Library -- I'm not really sure what-all is open to the public there (we were brought in as part of a guided tour), but something is. It's nice in its own right, but mostly I like that can now say I've been inside "Bodley"
- Ashmolean Museum -- the archeology part especially. I found the spears and armour and stuff on display pretty inspiring.
- There's also the Bridge of Sighs, which is a standard sort of attraction, but I personally wasn't terribly impressed.
Walking around the city:
- Hollywell Cemetery at St. Cross Church (I think I've got the name right... was a lovely place to sit in solitude and listen to birds and such.
- Groucester Green Market (twice a week) -- I just found it fun to browse the trinket stalls and drinking in the local colour.
- On a similar note, the Covered Market on High Street was kind of fun to visit, too
- I also spent an embarrassing amount of time browsing Blackwell's Bookstore and the English Teddy Bear Company, but that might be just me...
And, kind of generally, one of my favorite things about Oxford is that pretty much werever you step, you stumble over some odd piece of history or other. There are these little plaques here and there announcing things like, "On this spot, King So-and-So ordered the beheading of Noble/Bishop/Etc. So-an-So in the year 1***", or you spot a bit of the original city wall, or traipse through a college quad and find ot that this is the quad that's supposed to be haunted by the ghost of Archbishop William Laud, kicking around his severed head (that would be St John's College, more alleged ghosties here.)