Oxford, Day 24: Christ Church Meadow

The professor of the Shakespeare course took the class on a walking tour of Shakespeare's influences and give further context to the plays by visiting sites downtown. We went to the Ashmolean Museum to look at Gothic and Renaissance art then visited other buildings downtown to observe their architecture. St. Michael's chapel, right by the shiny commercial shopping centers, is estimated to be at least 1,000 years old.

The most interesting site was by the Covered Market. It is currently a Pizza Express restaurant, but it used to be an inn that rumoured to host Shakespeare during his travels from London to Stratford-upon-Avon. Fact: Shakespeare became the godfather to the son of the inn's landlord. Some of the original support beams and doorways are preserved, as well as the fireplaces and some original wall frescoes. 


Christ Church Meadow was the main destination for Literature of Oxford. After stopping at Moo-Moo's milkshakes in the Covered Market, we walked to Christ Church and walked towards the Meadow. We continued walking along the river and held class by the university boathouses. After sitting in the sun, watching ducks, and listening to lecture and the water, I went back to dorm and cooked some stir fry ingredients from the store. 

The back room of Pizza Express that preserves some of the building's old frescoes and fireplaces. Shakespeare supposedly stayed in this room.

Another old fireplace on the left 

St. Michael's. The common parish Shakespeare may have attended while staying in Oxford.

Old building that serves as a retail space

St. Mary the Virgin Cathedral. It is actually a very beautiful structure, but  it is undergoing some preservation construction. 

Another view of the Sheldonian Theatre, classical Renaissance architecture

The Bodleian Library, Gothic architecture

Wadham College

The professor of Literature of Oxford professor read an excerpt from Lion, Witch, and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis about little Lucy walking towards a lamp post and meeting Mr. Tumnus, the faun. Above is a lamp post...

And the we walked upon the faun decorating a doorway straight ahead!

Christ Church Meadow

Like how Magdalen College has deer, Christ Church  College has cows

Oxford University boat houses

Vegetable Stir Fry served with Pimms

Oxford, Day 4: Love's Labour's Lost

There was finally a 20-30 minute torrential downpour during the afternoon that took away the humidity. It made the walk to the Oxford University Museum of Natural History much more comfortable--although the double-decker buses did a great job ploughing through the puddles on the street.

The Oxford University of Natural History is home to the Dodo exhibit--Lewis Carroll's most beloved animal at the museum. He visited it quite often. There are also a wide variety of other animal exhibits showing drawings, skeletons, and stuffed animals. 

Down the road from the Museum is The Turf, a local pub tucked away in a side street a stone's throw away from Broad Street. 

The most exciting event of the day was watching one of Shakespeare's comedies, Love's Labour's Lost, in the Cathedral Gardens of Christ Church College performed by undergraduate students at the university. Since the university does not have events open to the public often, it was wonderful to have the opportunity to go behind the walls and enjoy Oxford at its finest--spending a summer night watching a Shakespearian play in one of the most prestigious colleges in the city.

Oxford University Museum of Natural History

The Oxford Dodo

White Rabbit

The Turf Tavern

Christ Church College

Love Labour's Lost in the Cathedral Gardens