Jet lag has some compensations, so a 5.30 wake-up had me on the streets of Oxford by 7.00am. Oxonians are not early risers, so I had the place to myself for about a half hour, which made snapping easier without the ever-present hordes of tourists and crazy bike-riders. It was also icy cold, and an hour of ooh-aah over ancient stone colleges drove me into a cafe to thaw out. I have yet to see a glinpse of the endangered creature, the English summer, though I have mostly managed to dodge the major deluges that have hit the other parts of the country.
A day was spent following the trail around the Old Sheldonian Theatre, the Radcliffe Camera (which was roped of for filming - tee hee - irony ...) and the multitudinous beautiful old colleges around every corner of cobbled streets and blackened stone walls. I did the usual tour of Christ Church College, and the "Harry Potter" dining Hall, and beautiful cathedral. Poor old Wolsey didn't do to well with his buildings - he lost Hampton Court to Henry when he fell out of favour, and Christ Church was going to be Cardinal College in honour of him too, until he proved rather hopeless at organising divorce-on-demand for Henry. So Henry took that over too....
The Ashmolean kept me busy for the afternoon, admiring such treasures as a Stradivarius violin AND guitar, plus the usual range of Greek, Roman and Egyptian antiquities. And also, as soon as I can load the photo, I am sure I have found the inspiration for the gloriously tack Dodi-andDiana sculpture in Harrods - it is a Greek bronze with similar upstretched arms, and proably even less artfully draped clothing.
The evening was a little gem, as I attended evensong at Christ Church Cathedral - an hour of fabulous singing from the little and big boys of the cathedral choir. All quite beautiful - and free too!!!! After which I flopped into bed at Nic Smith's lovely little house right in the middle of Oxford - quite exhausting.... photos to follow when I am somewhere else other than the free hour at Oxford Library.
A day was spent following the trail around the Old Sheldonian Theatre, the Radcliffe Camera (which was roped of for filming - tee hee - irony ...) and the multitudinous beautiful old colleges around every corner of cobbled streets and blackened stone walls. I did the usual tour of Christ Church College, and the "Harry Potter" dining Hall, and beautiful cathedral. Poor old Wolsey didn't do to well with his buildings - he lost Hampton Court to Henry when he fell out of favour, and Christ Church was going to be Cardinal College in honour of him too, until he proved rather hopeless at organising divorce-on-demand for Henry. So Henry took that over too....
The Ashmolean kept me busy for the afternoon, admiring such treasures as a Stradivarius violin AND guitar, plus the usual range of Greek, Roman and Egyptian antiquities. And also, as soon as I can load the photo, I am sure I have found the inspiration for the gloriously tack Dodi-andDiana sculpture in Harrods - it is a Greek bronze with similar upstretched arms, and proably even less artfully draped clothing.
The evening was a little gem, as I attended evensong at Christ Church Cathedral - an hour of fabulous singing from the little and big boys of the cathedral choir. All quite beautiful - and free too!!!! After which I flopped into bed at Nic Smith's lovely little house right in the middle of Oxford - quite exhausting.... photos to follow when I am somewhere else other than the free hour at Oxford Library.
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