2011 travels begin with Oxford

In discussing English universities, many people seem to be in one of two camps: Oxford and Cambridge. Which one is better? Which one is prettier? As I visited Cambridge (albeit spending most of it after dark), I decided I had to stop into Oxford as well.

I was partial to Oxford because of its filming locations for the Harry Potter movies. The Bodleian Library was used for the Hogwarts library scenes, and Church Christ College's dining hall was the inspiration for the movies' Great Hall. Additionally, many of Hogwarts' corridors were filmed inside this college.

We took the Oxford Express coach into the town. Definitely a great, cheaper alternative to the train, and it didn't take much longer to arrive.

We began with a walking tour, which took us through a few of the older colleges and their cathedrals. Our guide, Stuart, explained the collegiate system used at both Oxford and Cambridge. From my understanding, it works like this: Students decide they want to go to the university. Then, when they apply, they consider the different colleges. Some of them have some sort of distinguishing characteristic, for example, sports or music, or they might be for mature students or have some sort of religious affiliation. A student would live in their college and eat there, but their classes would be spent with people from all over the university. Although the guide said Oxford and Cambridge are the only universities with this kind of system, there are some more around the world, including many in Canada, such as the University of Toronto.

Some of the colleges even have pets, such as this beautiful cat.

I thought our tour was quite informative, although the guide was a bit pretentious. He was an Oxford graduate, having studied metallurgy. When he told us his degree, he followed it up telling us that most people don't understand it, so they've changed the name to material sciences. Perhaps going to Oxford gives one the right to be pretentious—although one might imagine a fancy degree is unneeded to become a tour guide.

After the tour, we stopped in Christ Church College, and I got my photos in Hogwarts.

This one is in the beautifully lit Hogwarts corridor.

I followed the path McGonagall took the first-year students in the first movie up to the Great Hall.

And finally, we made it to the hall. Sure, the ceiling didn't show the sky, but it was as real as it gets. While it was much smaller than I had imagined, it was surreal seeing this scene in person.

Finally, we crawled up the narrow stairs of the University Church tower, where we got some breathtaking views of the city.

It was extremely narrow on the balcony. There was barely room for more than 10 people, so I can't imagine what it would be like to visit during the high season, rather than on a cold winter's day.

The verdict: Oxford is my favourite. It's very grand throughout the city, as opposed to Cambridge, which seemed to be very generic in the city centre (although the university itself was beautiful). I may be biased—the Harry Potter locations may have raised my opinion of Oxford—but I would definitely recommend a visit to this beautiful city.

London Day 3: Diagon Alley, Canadian pub, and more touring.

Today was another day of using the hop-on, hop-off bus tour. This time, I had already been on the whole route, so it didn't feel like buildings and monuments were jumping out of nowhere like they did yesterday.

I started the day with a trip to Diagon Alley, which in the muggle world is actually Leadenhall Market. It was interesting that no one seemed to know where it was. I asked my cousin and her husband, but they had never heard of it. None of the tour guides I spoke to knew anything of it. I ended up using a map and making my own way there. Once I got closer, I found signs pointing me right to it.

It was quite a beautiful little area, and I wish I had time to sit and have a cup of tea, but alas, I had a full day of touring ahead of me.

There were tables set up where vendors were selling various treats and foods. There were some meringue sweets that looked delicious, and little tarts and chocolates. There was a huge table full of cashews, peanuts, hazelnuts, and almonds, all in a huge variety of flavours. I ended up buying a bag of mixed nuts cooked with honey. They are super sweet but still delicious.

Yes, I finally worked up the nerve to ask a stranger to take my picture. I have this fear that they'll dash away with my camera, but I've determined that other tourists with big fancy DSLR cameras probably don't want my camera and are quite happy to take photos. I've also approached families and people who are waiting around in one spot for a while.

They had this beautiful pen shop where each pen was super fancy with intricate designs that cost at least about £75. Lots of fun to browse through bit slightly out of my budget, considering I tend to lose pens within days of buying them. I do think someone should open a magic shop there. It would do quite well!

The tour guide said this is the spot where Sweeney Todd is supposed to have had his barbershop. 186 Fleet Street. As far as I know–and I'm not going to research scary things to double-check facts right before bed–the musical has some truth to it, or at least is loosely based on a true story. It is a strange thing, to look at this place and know it is where it may have happened. This is the thought that kept going through my mind as I toured all over London. These are the places where the things I've read in history books actually happened; things that date back centuries and centuries.

Next, I headed down the Covent Garden Market, where I visited some little shops, including this sweet shop. But my favourite was...

Yes, I found a Canadian pub in London.

What made it Canadian? It had hockey jerseys on the walls (Edmonton Oilers–no Sens or Leafs), served poutine, Sleeman, and Moosehead, and had some Canadian employees. Apparently the cheese on the poutine is grated cheddar, not cheese curds, so I'm not sure it counts as poutine, but the menu swears it's an age-old recipe from Quebec. There was also a bear and a TV that supposedly shows hockey games.

More than anything else, this pub reminded me of a British pub that you'd find in Canada. However, I will make sure I remember it for when the homesickness kicks in.

Next, I took a boat cruise down the River Thames. The guide was really funny, and he shared some interesting facts about some of the buildings we passed.

This building is along the river. Technically, no buildings are allowed to advertise along the river, so OXO hid it in their stained glass windows. Apparently, someone took them to court, where they argued that they didn't realize that the windows spelled the name of the company and that it was simply a coincidence. The judge believed them, and they have had free advertising where there should be no advertising for many decades.

I just liked this photo because the glass building really stands out among the older style structures around it. The guide joked that inside was a university for glass cleaners. I can't quite remember what is actually inside, so a glass cleaner university is how I shall remember it.

This is the Tower of London. Its purpose has changed over the years, but it is famously known as an execution centre. In a 400 year span, over 100 people were beheaded here, including two of King Henry VIII's wives. Apparently, if the executed person was important, their head would be preserved in tar, put on a spike, and placed along the river to warn others. According to the guide, William Wallace, Mel Gibson's character in Braveheart, was one of the last people to be executed here.

This was the end of the boat cruise, so I headed back onto land for some food.

And what do I eat for my first meal out in the UK?

Fish and chips of course!

A creepy bird decided to perch down beside me while I ate.

It was nice to have some company while I ate my deliciously greasy meal. Lucky he wasn't a mooch.

And that's marks the end of my London adventure! My conclusion: London is very pretty and there was so much history in every spot. I didn't fall in love with it like I thought I would, but I did have a lot of fun. I'd like to see the museums and perhaps the Changing of the Guard but I figured I'd save some things since I am sure I will be back.

I will be heading to Scotland tomorrow, so I'm sure there will be more blogging from there. I'm really looking forward to meeting students, as it gets quite lonely touring alone. But for now, my job is to figure out how I can possibly repack everything in that luggage bag. Goodnight readers!