Christ Church College

You might recall this scene from my first entry in the blog. Yesterday, I saw it with my own eyes when I visited Christ Church, one of the largest of the 38 colleges at Oxford. Alumni include 13 British prime ministers, philosopher John Locke, Methodist leader John Wesley, Pennsylvania founder William Penn, and scientist Albert Einstein.

 

The college famously inspired Lewis Carroll to write Alice in Wonderland. The White Rabbit from the stories is based on the dean of the college. The father of the real-life Alice, he was always running late for dinner and disappeared afterwards down a spiral staircase that Carroll imagined as a rabbit hole. Right across from the college is the Alice Shop, where you can find all sorts of Alice in Wonderland-inspired mementos.

Here's the dining hall, where students of Christ Church eat under the watchful eyes of their predecessors. The Harry Potter movie makers had this particular dining hall in mind when they created Hogwarts. Some scenes from the first two films were actually shot at the college.

 

Here's a photo of me in front of the Tom Quad. It's named after the seven-ton bell, the Great Tom, which hangs in the tower and strikes 101 times at five-past-nine--once for each of the college's original 101 students, so they wouldn't miss their curfew. 

 

I'm amazed at how short and neat the gardeners keep the lawns here. They even create a checkered pattern on the grass--but they don't allow anyone to walk on the lawn as they do on Iowa's Pentacrest. 

 

 

Inside Christ Church Cathedral

  

One of Christ Church Cathedral's stunning stained glass windows

 

 

 

On the way back to our residence hall, we stopped by The Bear, one of Oxford's oldest pubs. It's so small that you walk in and practically run into the bar. Lots of men in business suits hang around here, but they better beware. The back of the pub features display cases with ties that have been cut from unsuspecting visitors.

 

Here's the group that joined me at the pub. All but one of them are Hawkeyes!