Sunday 20 February 2011

Re-visiting Oxford

Took a drive to Oxford yesterday with my brother and sister-in-law. It was a chilly overcast and drizzly day, very typical UK weather. It was a nostalgic trip for me as it has been 11 years since I was last at my alma mater. Below is Carfax Tower in the centre of the city.

Being Oxford, all the grand landmarks and buildings are still the same with just some of the shops having changed.


High Street which leads up to the city centre.

A college on High Street.

Trudged past Oriel College (below) countless times laden with bags of groceries but I don't think I've actually been inside more than once.

My college was Corpus Christi, one of the smallest colleges, situated next to Christchurch (where parts of the Harry Potter movies were filmed).

The college square.


The cobbled lane of Merton Street. My favourite memory here was of celebrating the end of finals with my friends in a shower of champagne, dressed in our Oxford gowns.

Merton College Chapel.

Gateway to Christchurch Meadows.

Magpie Lane where I lived for three years as all my dorms were located here.

View from the other end. The off-white building on the left was the house that I lived in during my third year. I had a lovely bright airy room on the corner of the second floor so my friends used to just call out to me from the street. The next building down the road was my second year dorm. Called "New Building", it was anything but new and just horribly dreary.

The house that I lived in during my first year. It was a quaint, cosy old house with just 9 or 10 rooms.

Another view of High Street.

University Church of St. Mary the Virgin

View of University Church from Radcliffe Square.

Radcliffe Camera (housing the Science Library)

Sheldonian Theatre where my graduation ceremony was held.

Hertford Bridge, also popularly known as the Bridge of Sighs due to the similarity to the one in Venice.


Broad Street with the Blackwell where I bought and re-sold most of my textbooks.

Hope you've enjoyed this virtual walk through Oxford with me! There is of course a lot more to this beautiful city but these areas were where I spent most of my three years here.

6 comments:

Tiptoe21 said...

I've been to the UK but never to Oxford! It looks nice! Thanks for the virtual tour. I hope to see it in person one day!

Ahcapp said...

Hi Iris

thank you so much for sharing with us your trip :) I can't believe that it has also been 11 years since I graduated from UK. :) how time flew!

I really hate the cold and wet weather in UK. Alll I wished for every morning was a bit of sun or for the temperature to raise above 5 degree C.

Your UK trip really bring back lots of memories. I hope you had great time re-visiting Oxford. :))

Rachel said...

Oxford is lovely, I was there last summer and the weather was amazing - incredibly sunny with the clearest blue skies. How lucky to study there for 3 years! :)

Minoueel said...

woah... Hertford Bridge's similarity is so uncannily like the Bridge of Sighs.

BTW thanks for sharing and I'm always looking forward to read your posts. :)

Anonymous said...

i loved your pictures!

rene said...

Wow.... Breathtaking! I can imagine myself studying there. It is like a scene from some English movies, like Harry Potter. Haha!

I'm sure the school fees cost a bomb.