01 - 07 November
I took an early train down to Oxford from Liverpool and met my old school friend Max, who I hadn't seen for some seven years. He showed me around town for a bit and then we had lunch at his college, Balliol, before he went off to class and I toured around Christ Church - of course where the city I lived in for six years is named after.
It must be said that the majesty of some of these places is quite incredible. I felt almost insufficient having "only" a Bachelor's degree...
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| The Radcliffe Camera |
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| Oxford University's Bodleian Library |
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| Some curious faces at the Bodlian Library |
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| Christ Church |
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| The grounds at Christ Church |
Some of the interior of Christ Church is quite famous for several different reasons (apart from being an incredible college of Oxford in it's own right!)...
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| Stained glass in the dining hall that was part of the inspiration for Alice in Wonderland, whose author (Lewis Carroll) was living there when the book was written |
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| Christ Church dining hall, the inspiration for filming of the "Great Hall" for Harry Potter scenes |
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| The stairs where Harry Potter first meets Draco Malfoy in the first Harry Potter movie, which is actually the entrance to the dining hall |
After enjoying dinner and some drinks with Max's girlfriend Julia and some of their friends, the next morning I headed for a day trip to Stratford-upon-Avon, famously known as the birthplace of William Shakespeare. Among other places, I visited the church where he is buried and his family's house where he is believed to have been born. It was hard to imagine this was where the world's most famous ever playwright was born and raised, but it did seem a very true-blue English town.
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Shakespeare's grave in the Holy Trinity Church
1564-1616
"Good friend, for Jesus' sake forebeare
To digg the dust enclosed heare;
Bleste be the man that spares thes stones,
And curst be he that moves my bones" |
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Boats on the River Avon in Stratford-upon-Avon, named after some of Shakespeare's most famous female characters:
Virgilia (Coriolanus), Maria (Twelfth Night), Cordelia (King Lear), Portia (The Merchant of Venice), Helena (A Midsummer Night's Dream), Viola (Twelfth Night), Ophelia (Hamlet) |
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| Random very English-looking house |
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| The house widely believed to be Shakespeare's birthplace |
I spent several more nights in Oxford, thanks to the very good hospitality of Max and Julia, and managed to meet two other people from New Zealand life - Peter Clark, who I'd also been to school with, and James Horrocks, who was at College House with me. The true kiwi spirit was pretty evident at a New Zealanders dinner that Max and Julia took me along to - there's something about Kiwis on the other side of the world that is kind of refreshing to catch up with every now and then, and I must admit to feeling just a touch nostalgic!
However it was back to London for a couple more nights. I managed to fit in an excellent showing of
A Midsummer Night's Dream on West End and snap a photo at the imaginary Platform 9¾ in Kings Cross in between the drizzling English November rain.
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| Kings Cross, where Harry and Ron fly the car in the second movie |
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The imaginary platform 9¾ in Kings Cross.
Funnily enough, the actual filming for the movie was taken between Platforms 4 and 5 |
And then it was off to Heathrow, after five months in Europe/Ireland/England, on the first leg back home - but only half way: I had six weeks in Sri Lanka, Thailand and Cambodia first...
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| Goodbye London... |
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