Oxford

After arriving in Oxford via bus from Portsmouth we checked in and took a wander around the University city of Oxford otherwise known as the Dreaming Spires due to so many churches with tall spires.
Our first stop at Oxford was The Bear Inn- oldest pub in Oxford and also the pub where my brother Anthony worked when he was 23years old! It had the biggest collection of college half ties. There were hundreds of them representing all the colleges. We had a very traditional lunch of chicken & leek pie washed down with an ale.
At the turn of every corner was a surprise of incredible architecture and design as we discovered the many colleges, university halls, libraries and churches. I didn’t even realise this is where Harry Potter was filmed!!
One of the highlights for us was a beautiful afternoon walk around the oldest Botanic Gardens in UK 🇬🇧 The greenhouses were so cool as they had speciality plants such as carnivorous plants and arid plants.
The following day we took a tour of some of the Oxford University historic buildings.
Did you know there are 26000 university students study here! There are 38 colleges in total. Students get allocated to any college.
Here are a few facts from our walking tour!
* Divinity school - old university hall which was used in the Harry Potter film
* Sheldonian Theatre
Where students matriculate & graduate
* Bridge of Sighs 1914
Bridge that took you to prison (Venice)
The reason Oxford has a bridge is simply because Cambridge has one!
* Bodleiana Library - built in 1602
It’s a copyright library meaning it has a copy of everything ever printed !!
There are 13million books total.
* All Souls College - most prestigious one
16th century. You can apply directly however you
need to be an Oxford graduate to have any chance at all of studying here. Only accepts between zero and two students a year
Most clever students would go here
Everything paid for next seven years of their study. Basically only 30 people study here!
* University Church of St Mary has a tower with spiral stairs that you can climb up to the top of the tower and this provides the best views over Oxford.
The final thing I will mention is that the prestigious Oxford University has the following statistics on their enrolments-
60 % state. 40% private school enrolment which maybe is a testament to the free education system that the UK has developed.Read more