Oxford

Hello everyone!

Woke up at 7am and rang the teaching agencies, and no luck again. But once again, I made sure I had plans and made use of the day so as not to waste the day and/or get bored!

The brilliant thing about living here is how close everything is. Apart from Liverpool which I'm going to on October 17, Oxford was the last place on my UK list I was yet to tick off after my summer travels. So I got the tube to Paddington and got the 9.50am train to Oxford for a day trip! It wasn't even too expensive - because I left outside peak times it was only £16 return :) Only problem was I left my camera at home by accident, but I had my phone. The photos aren't as good but they'll do the job!

On the train I got some exciting news! Dad's friend who is a Chelsea member has got two tickets next week to a champions league match again Tel Aviv at Stamford Bridge next Wednesday. I went to a CL match in Portugal in 2013 and the atmosphere was FAB! Stephen couldn't come but Jess who I met up with yesterday is going to come! So next week is a big sporty one: West Ham vs Newcastle on Monday, Chelsea vs Tel Aviv on Wednesday and the Rugby World Cup begins on Friday. Excitinggggg! I also bought my AFL grand final (party) ticket yesterday! The pub at 4.30am here we come!!

The train only took an hour and before I knew it I was in Oxford. Anyone from Cambridge or Oxford would hate me comparing the two, but those of you who've been reading a while will remember my friend James took me around Cambridge in March. As a former student he took me into all colleges for free, even sections the public can't normally go to. So I came to Oxford thinking it'd be good, but thinking I couldn't really top my Cambridge experience. 

But Oxford does have something very special that Cambridge does not - 'Harry Potter'! A lot of filming for the movies was done in Oxford and I was extremely excited to visit for this reason!!! So I made a beeline for Christ Church College and bought myself a ticket, the only college I told myself I was allowed to pay to go into. 

Christ Church has had a religious community on its premises since the 8th century BC, and 13 British prime ministers, CS Lewis, Lewis Caroll and many others attended here. It was founded by Thomas Wolsey in 1524 and has the largest quadrangle of all Oxford's colleges (used for HP!) and the Tom Tower built by Christopher Wren, housing a 6.5 tonne bell. Every evening at 9.05pm the bell tolls 101 times. This is because originally the college had 101 students and they had to be inside the grounds after all the bells rang to meet curfew!

I was extremely lucky because as I arrived the man on the desk, upon asking if I was a 'Harry Potter' fan (is that even a question?!) chaperoned me directly to the Great Hall, telling me I was the last person going to be allowed in before lunch. The Great Hall is very reminiscent of the one in HP, but contrary to popular belief it was not actually filmed in here. This great hall has three long tables, however HP requires four, one to seat each house (Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff and Slytherin). So the hall was used as inspiration for a set that they built (get to see it at the studios sooooon!). The hall was beautiful and though it wasn't filmed there, you definitely got the HP vibe. 

The staircase leading to the hall was used in HP and I recognised it immediately as the staircase that Professor McGonagall takes the first years up - "welcome to Hogwarts!", and the one that Tom Riddle (Voldemort) runs down during the diary memory in the second movie. I got my picture here, eeeee!

I then walked through the Tom Quad to Christ Church Cathedral. My timing was once again lucky. I arrived for 12 noon prayers followed by a free tour at 12.05pm. I'm not religious in the slightest, but today's prayers were dedicated to the Syrian refugees. So I joined in, and I hope somehow it helps someone out there. These poor people are living in hell, and we are so very lucky to live in such a lovely country, as am I lucky to temporarily live over here.

The free tour was fantastic and our guide was really nice. She took us around the cathedral, showing us features I probably wouldn't have noticed otherwise and explaining the stories behind the stained glass windows. CCC is the smallest medieval cathedral in GB, and I found it really interesting learning about the story of St Frideswide, the patron saint of Oxford whilst viewing it on the window. 

I walked through the cloisters (more HP warm and fuzzy feelings!) and then headed out, walking north towards the walking tour meeting point. Here I joined a 2pm free walking tour of the city which was great! I learned quite a bit and saw parts of the city I otherwise wouldn't have known about. 

We walked around the Sheldonian Theatre and Boldeian Library, admiring the outside. The theatre is used for matriculation and graduation ceremonies for students, while the library houses 11 million books. If you stood all of these on one ginormous bookshelf they would stretch 120 miles, the equivalent of my train journey to Oxford plus from Oxford! Outside the library are statues called the 'Emperors Heads'. Apparently sometimes students decorate them by colouring their lips pink with chalk and placing traffic cones on their heads!

We passed the outside of a lecture theatre which we peered into. Turns out they used it as the hospital wing in HP when Harry sustains numerous quidditch injuries, and for Yule ball dancing practice in the fourth film. It was also where King Charles had his parliament for a period of time during the English civil war. 

As in Cambridge, 'Oxford University' isn't one particular Uni, but all the colleges in the town make up the university. Some of them even share names across the two cities but they aren't affiliated - such as Corpus Christi, Jesus, Trinity. We walked past numerous colleges on the tour. We also walked past the Radcliffe Camera (disappointingly not named after Daniel who plays HP hahaha). It is a reading room and apparently is connected to various libraries across the city via underground conveyor belts!

Apparently the reason both cities have their train station a 15 minute walk from town was to discourage tourists from distracting the academics. Oops! You can only put either Cambridge or Oxford in your preferences for Uni. Each doesn't want to accept the "rejects" of the other, talk about egos! Apparently Cambridge has more money though due to it overtaking Oxford in science which is funded more. 

The tour came to a close, but during it I chatted to two really nice ladies in their 50s. One was from Brisbane and the other from the US, and they had met three years ago in London when working as nurses. We had a good talk about Australia and London. 

I then had a quick look in the free 'Museum of the History of Science'. I had a bit of spare time and I went in to see a blackboard with writing on it by Albert Einstein setting out his theory of relativity. Cooooool! :)

Now I'm on the train back and I'm heading to Jamie's for a bit. Later on Cecilie (my former Danish housemate) is crashing in my room as she's come back to London and has found a job but hasn't found anywhere to live yet. I know how she feels, I remember that awful sinking feeling trying to sort everything out at the start!

Keep your fingers crossed for work tmro - though apparently you all didn't cross them enough today hey!!! I kid, I kid. The plan tmro if no work is to either do a free walking tour of London or plonk myself in a park and read my book. It's meant to be 22 and sunny all day. Then at 6.30pm I'm going to meet one of my oldest friends Bradley at Heathrow who's currently on a plane from Aus!

Love to all

Claire

Xoxox