We continued our food research with the breakfast included in our daily cost at this small hotel. I had noticed the day before what looked like a typical US motel breakfast of some coffee, rolls, cereal, and suchlike. Wrong, here is what we got:
Inviting spot at Victoria Hotel for included breakfast
So we all start from a level playing field, and also so I can sort through things I found out today, in my own head, here is some basic stuff about Oxford University.
(p.s. I would say Dodie already knew every last thing I will mention, and more.)
The University is comprised of Colleges, lots of them. Each is quasi independent, but many facilities are shared and when you graduate, you graduate from Oxford, with a sub designation of which college.
Most colleges are designed in quadrangles, with enclosed gardens. This is a defensive posture, because centuries ago the villagers and students were at odds.
The buildings are mostly Cotswold limestone. They are, of course, elaborately carved.
The Christian religion drove the colleges for much of their history. Students were required to attend chapel daily, lest they be thrown out. Most colleges have integral churches. In the case of Christ Church Cathedral, the cathedral is huge.
Formality plays a big part, and this is integrated with the behaviours of the British aristocracy and the clergy. Students sit exams in full cap and gown, and they dine the same way on many occasions.
Sports play a big role in college morale (as in the US, I guess) But the sports are rowing and cricket.
Students used to entirely live in the college for the duration of their education, which could extend up to twelve years. Now, they are permitted to live anywhere, so long as it is not beyond a mile from the central church!
Lectures, laboratories, computer power, etc. is located away from the main campuses. In the picturesque core, the students and their tutors live and consult.
You first graduate with a bachelor's degree. A master's is awarded automatically four years later.
Tuition is about 3000 pounds, but it is now tripling to 9000 pounds, per year. How about that, protesting students of Quebec?
INSIDE OXFORD
Yesterday we walked around and shot some exterior views of the buildings and town. Today we are still doing that, but add the picture from inside some of the colleges.
After a quick round on the bus tour (ok, but not a live guide) we began our inside look with a museum, the Ashmolean. We of course had never heard of it, but a man from whom we asked directions in Horley turned out to be from Oxford and recommended we do tea on the roof.
The museum is named for its founder, someone named Ashmole. That founding was in 1683! Ashmole chipped in a collection of miscellaneous weird antiquities, and they were off. Now the museum covers archeology and art, and has a mind boggling number of rooms and displays (ok, 67 in total) within those broad categories.
Like an attic on steroids, this place has things of indescribable value, from stashes of Roman gold coins to painting by Michaelangelo. It is of course impeccably presented and logically laid out, but our minds boggled fairly quickly. You minds are protected by internet limitations, so here are only a few items from the attic:
Ashmolean museum - stash of gold Roman coins. The whole room had many such stashes and rare coins
The Messiah Stradivarius. Pegs and soundboard are not the originals - what a ripoff. You just don't get much for (the estimated value of) 10,000,000 pounds these days!
Leaving the Ashmolean, we hooked up with a walking tour of the Colleges. There were only four others along, and we got to ask lots of questions of the guide, William. He was well spoken and dumped a ton of info on our heads in short order. Only the smallest fraction is here below, and no doubt Oxford fans will spot where I have misidentified something.
Lincoln College - typical gothic chapel interior of Oxford buildings
This door and a set of others around a quad, I think at Bodleian Library show that people were not so tall several hundred years ago. Above each door is the name of one of the major subject areas taught at the University. Originally you had to pass in each of them to graduate.
This cross in the middle of Broad Street shows where the Cambridge martyrs were burned at the stake. The three, Latimer, Cranmer, and Ridley were protestant supporters (bishops/archbishops) of Henry VIII. When his daughter Mary (bloody Mary)=a Catholic - took over, she had them put to death.
Gold eagles like these at chapel lecterns symbolize the eagle`s unique ability to look into the sun. It is perched on a globe representing the earth and is bringing the light (Of God) to the world.
Somebody walked by with two interesting looking drinks containing fruits and ice and a brown colour like iced tea. He said they were Pimms and that they contained alcohol. So I sidled up to the bar and asked for two like that, but hold the alcohol. The barman was confounded. How dumb was it to ask for 15 pounds of alcoholic drink, without the alcohol? The rest of the liquid was carbonated lemonade, so we said "hold the fruit too". So, he said, you want a lemonade? Err, yes. You know, it was great - not nearly as sweet as what we are used to!
