Oxford, City of Spires

Saturday we took a day tour to Oxford - not an easy place to get to from York on public transportation, so I booked the trip through a bus tour (I think we were the youngest people on the bus by about 10 years).  It was a 4 1/2 hour ride, but that included a 30-minute 'comfort' break along the way.  They may call Oxford the city of spires, but I wasn't able to get very good pictures of them, since most of the university buildings are behind locked gates. I'll show a few I was able to get peaking through the doors. We took a walking tour, but didn't have time for a tour of one of the colleges that make up Oxford University - many of them were closed anyway because of graduation ceremonies.  It was still a great visit - I would love to go back.

The University of Oxford claims to be the second oldest surviving university in the world, and the oldest English-speaking university. There are 38 colleges in the University of Oxford, each contolling its own membership, admissions and activities. All resident students and most faculty must be members of both a college and the university.

Balliol College, which claims to be the oldest college in Oxford dating back to 1263. Merton College, however, also makes claim to being the oldest (it's located off Logic Lane....).  The picture below may or may not be Merton College....I lost track after a while.

All Souls is one of the wealthiest of Oxford's colleges and does not accept undergraduate students.  It's also 'newer', having been founded in 1438.

Christ Church, below, is the largest of the Oxford colleges and has produced 16 British prime ministers. (It's great hall was also used as the Hogwart's dining room in the Harry Potter films.) 

The huge Bodliean Library founded in 1320 is one of the oldest public libraries in the world. It holds over 7 million items on over 110 miles of shelving. The library quad, below, is considered an early masterpiece of 17th century Jacobean-Gothic architecture.

The nearby Radcliffe Cameria is an Oxford landmark. It was built as a library in the 1700s and has the third largest dome in England.  The day we were there it was being used for graduation ceremonies, and it was fun to see people all dressed up in academic regalia going in and out.

The "Bridge of Sighs" (a copy of the Venice bridge) leads to the 14th-century New College and the quirky old pub recommended by our tour guide.

It's a good thing there was a sign or we would never have found our way through the narrow, twisting and turning alleys.  The 'famous' Turf Tavern is a collection of very small indoor and outdoor rooms packed with students....some still in their graduation robes. (These were not particularly tall men...the ceilings were very low.)

By now I have completely lost track of what buildings I took pictures of, so I will just post some of my favorites. Perhaps if I get back to Oxford some day I can figure out which college they represent. But first: John at the Turk and me in front of one of the many wood doors of Oxford.