Oxford sightseeing

Today was warm and sunny so we did some hometown sightseeing in Oxford. David got an early start. While I was still snoozing, he went into town to get his hair cut - he was there when the doors opened at 7:30. Then he went for a stroll with his camera and captured some lovely glimpses of what Oxford looks like before everyone else wakes up and crowds the streets.


The New Walk in Christ Church Meadow, with a glimpse of Merton College's tower.


The Thames River near Christ Church Meadow.


Cornmarket, the main pedestrianized shopping street in the center of the city. It is always mobbed with people, so this is a really rare scene! At the end is Tom Tower of Christ Church College.

Later in the afternoon, we both headed out to see some sights we hadn't visited yet. Our walk took us through the University Parks, where there are some nice flowers blooming, then down St. Cross Road to the 12th-century St Cross Church. This has always been closed on previous visits, but this time we persevered and found the nearby lodge that holds the keys.



It's a little run-down inside but has some interesting features, and it was just nice to add it to my photo collection. It's my goal to photograph all of Oxford's churches and college chapels while we're here, and there are a surprising amount of them!



Behind St Cross Church is Holywell Cemetery, which has a lovely collection of cross tombstones and is the final resting place of several academic notables.



On the left is the tomb of Hugo Dyson, who was a member of the "Inklings" club that used to hang out with C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien at the Eagle and Child Pub. In the middle is the tomb of Max Müller (1823-1900) and his wife. He was a Sanskrit expert who translated all the Hindu sacred texts into English and is credited with "virtually creating the discipline of comparative religion." On the right is a tombstone with a remarkably large Celtic cross.

Then it was on to the Church of St Peter-in-the-East, which is now used as the library for St Edmunds Hall (one of the Oxford colleges) and you can't go inside. But it was lovely on the outside.




From there, it was a short stroll down the pleasingly quaint Queens Lane...



...to our last destination, New College. There was a friendly old man charging 2 for admission but we got in for free with my student card. The name of the college is misleading - it was founded in 1379 - and it's quite lovely.


The main quad. On the left is the outside of the chapel and in the corner are the stairs to the dining hall. The gate in the center leads to gardens.



New College Chapel. Impressive!


The cloisters behind New College Chapel.


New College dining hall.

Our sightseeing concluded, we grabbed a bite to eat at Pret, ate on a bench on the now-very-crowded Cornmarket, then did some shopping at Marks & Spencer and got a taxi home. Good stuff!