I Have Done It Again!

taken way too many photographs,

so today only one post split into three parts,

we were off,

glad rags on as we made our way through the park to Beckenham station, then to Victoria,

where we changed the train for a coach,

we are off to Oxford,

we were soon going towards Marble Arch,

the traffic thankfully light,

I am not sure what the horses head is doing here,

but  do know this art installation is being taken down,

the grassy mound was placed here at a cost of £6 million, 

it did not really catch on,

and down it comes,

we were soon passing the Imperial Collage,

one of a number of their buildings in the area,

2 hours later and we were here,

shopping in Oxford,

we passed a part of the Bodleian Library, the university library and the country's first public library, founded in 1598. A copy of every book published in Britain is deposited here, including some two million volumes and 40,000 manuscripts, the above building is the 16 sided reading room,

we started our walk through town,

everywhere we looked ancient buildings and gates,

looking back to the reading room,

Diana just had too!

we continued our walk,

past a few tempting archways,

but this was the one we were looking for,

Hertford Bridge, often called the Bridge of Sighs, is a skyway joining two parts of Hertford College over New College Lane,

we went past this building on our way to the, Sheldonian Theater,

constructed in 1664, the theatre was Sir Christopher Wren's second major building. Of special interest here is the historic venue's spectacular ceiling fresco. Restored in 2008, the fresco – which depicts "Truth" removing "Ignorance" from the University – consists of 32 panels originally painted in the 1600,

well I just had to!

we walked to the front of the building,

on Broad Street,

a quick look into one of the many souvenir shops,

all manner of items for sale,

looking back at the theater,

we passed these magnificent buildings unfortunately they were behind locked gates,

in a few weeks/months time, this plant on the building behind Diana will look so nice,

it covers the front of the building,

and is just starting to bud,

we were blessed with mainly blue skies,

with occasional cloud, but it was bitterly cold,

one of the many attractions,

of course with so many colleges,

Harry Potters college might just be nearby,

and there are plenty of reminders in shop windows,

you can even buy your own broomstick!

we continued walking towards one of the rivers,

that run through Oxford,

there are 2 rivers, 

but they share 3 names,

Oxford grew up at the conjunction of two rivers, the Thames and the Cherwell (pronounced Char-well)f for the very reason for Oxford's existence was the presence of a ford for oxen crossing the Thames (that ford was located near the present Folly Bridge), but confusing the issue of two rivers is the fact that the Thames is also called the Isis within Oxford's boundaries,

we walked a little along the river,

and then retraced our steps,

up to the roadway,

as we made our way into the Fort and the Prison,

Oxford Castle has been a place of incarceration since 1071, 

continuing until the closure of Her Majesty's Prison Oxford in 1996,

a quick pose from Diana,

a last look,

as we turned with the hill of the fort on our left,

a part of the prison,

we walked back to the road,

like the vines we saw before, the ones behind Diana will look so nice in a few weeks/months,

we walked past a huge department store, Diana went inside, I took a few photographs outside,

I am afraid I am not much into window shopping for clothes, shoes and handbags,

but Diana is!

passing the Carfax Tower,

the tower dates back to the 14th century,

some of these buildings,

a tad later,

we walked towards some of the restaurants and pubs in town,

like this one,

across the road a shop for the kids,

the one this side a favorite of Diana's, time for lunch! I am stopping this post now, if you want to see more of our day in Oxford please click the 'Older Posts' button at the bottom right of the page.