Oxford - the Sequel

Mike and Francis took one look at us last night and decreed a slow day today with a late start. They were right - we're getting a bit ragged around the edges. So after a slow morning we got on a bus with Mike to have a look at Christchurch College.

We wandered through the covered market and dropped in briefly to the Town Hall, where Mike showed us the glorious architechtural results of some serious Victorian civic pride. We passed Exeter College, which was the model for Jordan College in the His Dark Materials books, which Thomas is reading and headed down to the Christchurch meadows which were dotted with Canada geese and small deer. The sun had reappearead and the river was high and flowing swiftly. We strolled along, lapped occasionally by energetic runners and passed by student rowing teams. Thomas experimented with using willow for whip cracking, but gave up after hitting himself too many times.

The Great Hall at Christchurch was closed for lunch, but the Cathedral and quads were open, so we started there. Touring with Mike is fantastic, because he combines serious energy with the perspective of a local involved in town planning. As a result, you see corners and views which we would never have found on our own. Mike walks in Oxford like a king in his domain.

The Cathedral is a lovely mash of 13th Century with Victorian and early 20th Century additions. The sun shone through the stained glass and lit the arches and wooden carvings.

Outside, the same sunlight turned the walls of the Great Tom quad a beautiful honey colour.

The Great Hall wasn't open yet, so we headed back to the covered market for sandwiches.

Once full and warmed up, we headed back to see the Great Hall, which was one of the models for the great hall at Hogwarts. Thomas once again used the sonic to investigate and keep us from harm and we had fun spotting names we knew among the portraits.

One of the college tradtitions is to chalk up sporting achievements on the walls of the quad. Among the Christchurch rowing and rugger awards we were pleased to see their orienteering team doing well.   

Finally, as an antidote to all that ancient architechture, Mike took us to see the new Blavatnik Building which houses the school of government. It's a lovely confection with a passing resemblance to a wonky wedding cake. A series of circular levels each slightly offset from the last with golden light even in the winter afternoon and a wonderful sense of open space in the middle.

As dark fell we found a double-decker bus to take us home, with Helen and Thomas scooting up the stairs to watch the view and discuss Agatha Christie (for no particular reason).

Francis arrived back from a day at work in London to find us tucking into Chinese takeaway. Helen and Robert decided the task of packing up again could be left for tomorrow and stumbled into bed.