Journeys for Knowledge

Despite all the time I have spent in Cambridge, I have failed to make the time to go over the visit our archrival Oxford, until now. Luckily I was not alone, for the rainy 3-4 hour bus ride there and back can get quite boring by myself. Upon arrival in Oxford my friend Suzan and I proceeded to get some quick Thai food for lunch, not unlike the cheap Thai food I would frequently eat in Berkeley. Fueled for the day, we set out into town to find the rains had parted and the sun had broke through.

Walking through downtown Oxford was a bit surreal, not because it was Oxford, but because it resembled the King’s Parade in Cambridge so well. There was even the same fudge shop at the center! At the end of this road was the Bodleian Library, an unassuming building from the outside, but with a beautiful courtyard inside. Each of the doors leading from the courtyard into the library list a classical subject in Latin, such as Geometry, Astronomy, Medicine, and Moral Philosophy.

Oxford is overall more urban than Cambridge, and many of its old buildings have featured in the Harry Potter films. Chief among these was Christchurch College, whose dining hall featured Hogwarts’ Grand Hall. The courtyard in the center was not in any film, but it was inspiration for the Quidditch pitch. In that same vein, the novel Alice in Wonderland was composed within these walls, as Lewis Caroll was a fellow at Christchurch, and based his characters after people around him, including the college master’s daughter Alice.

Moving west, the next stop was the Oxford Botanical Gardens. Although the garden was laid out nicely alone the river, it paled in comparison to Cambridge’s in terms of size and variety of plants. Walking around the gardens used up the last bits of sunlight before the rains came back, forcing us to seek shelter inside. Since the museums were all closed by that point, it seemed prudent to have an early dinner so as not to miss the last bus home. To this end we ate the Opium Den, enjoying some classic chinese green beans and an interesting dish known as Eight Treasures Bird’s Nest. Having satiated both hunger and curiosity in Oxford, it was time to return home to the familiar open space of Churchill College.

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