Odyssey to Oxford 2009

Magdalen College

2009-09-13T01:41:00.000+01:00

Now we come to one of my favorite places in all of Oxford--Magdalen College (pronounced Maudlin). Founded in 1458, alumni include Oscar Wilde, Wesley Clark, Lawrence of Arabia, and Dudley Moore. But what made me most excited about visiting this college was seeing where my favorite author, C.S. Lewis, once taught.

This inviting gate took me into a world as beautiful and magical as Narnia.

Hello, English rose!

The gate led to Addison's Walk, a picturesque path along the River Cherwell. The walk was named after Joseph Addison, a British poet, essayist, and politician who was once a fellow at Magdalen. Notice Magdalen Tower peeking out from behind the college buildings.

I wanted to take punts, the River Cherwell, and Addison's Walk home with me after seeing gorgeous scenes like this one! Addison's Walk was a relaxing, peaceful place to reflect and count your blessings--such as the fact that you could come upon such a beautiful place!

The Grove, where the deer graze.

J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis once walked this path, carrying on a deep theological discussion that changed Lewis's life. You can read about it here. I know this place also inspired Lewis in his writing, as this tablet testifies. This particular poem is entitled, "What the Bird Said Early in the Year."

Look at those deep purples!

I think I could sit here and read a book all day.

Fellows' Garden.

After sharing all of these photos, I bet you can now understand why this was one of the greatest highlights of my trip.

Keep Reading

2009-09-09T02:28:00.001+01:00

I've now returned home from my trip to Oxford, but I have plenty more stories and photos to share. Please stay tuned to this blog for the second half of my overseas adventures.

Botanic Garden

2009-09-03T18:31:00.002+01:00

Magdalen Tower peeks out from behind the Botanic Garden greenhouse

Following our punting expedition, we walked through the University of Oxford Botanic Garden. The oldest botanic garden in Great Britain, it contains more than 8,000 different plant species used for the university's research.

Dahlias

Cactus garden

Authors such as Lewis Carroll, J.R.R. Tolkien, and Philip Pullman found inspiration for their stories in this peaceful place. Here are a couple of photos of Tolkien's favorite tree. When I saw this Austrian pine, I couldn't help but think of the Ents--the animated trees of Middle Earth.

Herky Goes Punting

2009-09-02T22:30:00.001+01:00

We had the whole day free on Sunday, so Louise and I decided to go punting. In England, this has nothing to do with football. Punting means boating on a shallow river using a pole to propel forward.

We hired someone to do the punting for us. We started near Magdalen College and took the River Cherwell around the playing fields by Christ Church. The Iowa and Michigan State mascots (Herky and Sparty) came along for the ride.

Here's Herky and Sparty enjoying the ride in true Big Ten fellowship.

Herky and Sparty pass the Botanic Garden.

This swan flew ahead of us at first, but then swam up to the punt to see if we had any food. Traditionally, people pack a picnic basket of strawberries and Pimm's for the punt ride. We were the first customers our punter had that day, so I think it was a little too early for such a picnic!

Our strong and courageous punter. He asked us to put these pictures on Flickr. Guess he doesn't get too many American university mascots for customers!

Punting was one of the greatest highlights of my trip. It's a distinctly English tradition that you have to experience for yourself to truly appreciate. It's SOOOOO relaxing. There's nothing like it back home--which is why I want to bring all of my family and friends over to Oxford to partake in the fun!

Arundel Castle

2009-09-01T22:06:00.002+01:00

It may look like a fairy tale castle, but mainly soap operas took place there. On Saturday, we visited Arundel Castle, home of the Dukes of Norfolk.

The Duke of Norfolk is considered the premier duke in a peerage system that also includes barons, viscounts, earls, and marquees. The castle dates back to the 11th century and the same family has lived there ever since.

The family has traditionally been Roman Catholic in a Protestant England. Philip Howard, the 20th Earl of Arundel (during the time when the family lost its duke title), was beheaded by Queen Elizabeth I because of his faith. One of the most interesting pieces in the castle were some gold rosary beads that the Catholic Mary Queen of Scots carried to her execution. Today, the family often represents England in Catholic affairs.

The 18th Duke of Norfolk and his family presently live in this castle, although in a wing that's closed off to visitors. They maintain the castle by opening their family history to tourists and holding events on their grounds throughout the year. The British Shakespeare Company was rehearsing for A Midnight Summer's Dream in the Collector Earl's Garden while we were there.

Queen Victoria and Prince Albert once stayed at the castle, and the staff had to be alerted to their visit two years in advance! They have a special Victoria bedroom there that features a rare portrait of Victoria as a young woman. Like at Hughenden Manor, Arundel Castle has a shovel that the Queen used to plant a tree on the property. Bet you didn't know one of the Queen's duties is to save the world...one tree at a time!

My favorite part of Arundel Castle was the library. I liked it better than the one at the Bodleian. Look it up and you'll see what I mean!

I got a kick out of these three! They were roaming the castle grounds, and a guy in a suit was chasing them around and trying to herd them to no avail.

Here are some of the beautiful gardens on the premises. They own an awful lot of land!

Some flowers growing out of the castle walls.

New College and the Bodleian Library

2009-08-30T23:09:00.002+01:00

Bridge of Sighs over New College Lane

My class watched Kingdom of Heaven on Friday, and I'm looking forward to seeing what our tutor says about how the movie compares to real life. The film, which stars Orlando Bloom, includes historical figures such as Balian of Ibelin, Guy de Lusignan, Sibylla, Reynald de Chatillon, Baldwin IV (the leper king of Jerusalem), and Saladin, but obviously takes great liberties in the storyline. Only Hollywood would think the Crusades needed Balian not only to have a long-lost father, but also an affair with the Queen of Jerusalem to sell movie tickets.

After class, several travelers and I visited New College, which is actually one of the older colleges in Oxford. Founded in 1379, its graduates include Virginia Woolf, Kate Beckinsale, and Hugh Grant. The college was also featured in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire and Tomorrow Never Dies.

One of the most impressive features of New College is its gardens. When the college's founder purchased the land, he had to promise to maintain his section of Oxford's medieval city wall. New College is now one of the only places in Oxford where you can still see the city wall.

One of Oxford's many perfect places to read a book

The college's garden area also includes a mound that was once a burial ground for victims of the Black Death. Supposedly, if you stand in front of the mound and clap your hands, the souls of the dead squeal at you. Here are some of our Iowa and Michigan State travelers trying to wake up the dead. The dead stayed asleep.

Sir Thomas Bodley reminds everyone of his great contribution to the university with this statue and plaque.

An American showed us around the Bodleian Library. We saw Duke Humfrey's Library, which was built in 1489 above the Divinity School. Back in those days, books were uber-expensive, since you had to use the skin of an animal just to make one. The library's modest collection suffered greatly when Edward VI tried to get rid of any traces of Roman Catholicism in England, including what he termed "superstitious books and images." Although the library didn't contain many religious books, it was ransacked. Some of the books were burnt, others stolen, and a few were used to make gloves.

Thankfully, Thomas Bodley had some money to spare to spruce up the poor library. He even signed an agreement in 1610 with presses across England, so that a copy of every book published in the country would be housed in the library (the world's first Library of Congress). The agreement is still honored today. To accommodate just the books published last year, the library used two miles of shelf space. That's why so many books are housed underneath the city.

Nobody can check anything out of the library. In fact, some of the books are chained to the shelf. Most of the books we saw were in Latin, and they were so old, the place smelt like it was burning.

The Bodleian has been featured in the Harry Potter movies as the Hogwarts Library, and I was surprised by how much our guide talked about it on the tour. The guide also showed us the alternate parliament and the place where students would take grueling oral exams--complete with a heckling audience.

The Sheldonian Theatre, where Oxford University students graduate

After the Bodleian, we visited the famous Blackwell's Bookstore, which has just about every book you can imagine in a multi-floor site. I thought it was neat that Iowa Writers' Workshop professor Marilynne Robinson's book was prominently featured in a window display. Of course, you can't escape the bookstore without purchasing something: I bought Oxford: Gargoyles, Grotesques and Architectural Detail and Watching the English: The Hidden Rules of English Behaviour.

We are well-fed here, but decided to skip dinner at the Rewley House to eat at the Head of the River (near Folly Bridge). The pub has both indoor and outdoor seating by the River Isis (Thames). To get fed, you must go up to the bar and order, but they bring out your food.

I ate the ploughman's share lunch, which consisted of a ham and cheddar sandwich, pickle, salad (with no dressing), meat pie, mango chutney, onions, celery, and brie cheese. Let me say this again--we are not going hungry here!

Hughenden Manor

2009-08-28T22:43:00.004+01:00

I spent yesterday afternoon at Hughenden Manor in High Wycombe (pronounced Wick-um), Buckinghamshire. Hughenden was the former home of Benjamin Disraeli, the British prime minister under Queen Victoria.

Disraeli was the first (and only) person of Jewish descent to hold the office of British prime minister. Although Jews were excluded from Parliament until 1858, Disraeli's baptism into the Anglican Church at the age of 12 enabled him to pursue a political career.

As a young man, he was an admirer of Lord Byron and fancied himself a Romantic writer. He later became a Conservative politician best known for bringing India and the Suez Canal under British control.

Here's his Georgian house, which was later gothicized as was popular in Victorian England.

Queen Victoria adored Disraeli (unlike her other prime minister, William Gladstone) and actually came to visit his home a few times. On one occasion, he ordered his staff to shorten the legs of one of his chairs to accommodate the Queen's small size. If you ever visit Hughenden Manor, you will notice that Disraeli thought so highly of Victoria that he actually hung portraits of the Queen and her family in his bedroom.

Disraeli married a widow 12 years older than himself and they had no children. I got a kick out of this quote from his wife, Mary Anne, who said, "Dizzy married me for my money, but if he had the chance again, he would marry me for love."

Here are the gardens of Hughenden Manor. The property also includes a pasture for cows and sheep, woods, and a church where Disraeli and his wife are buried.

After Disraeli's death, the property was passed to his nephew and then to the National Trust. During World War II, Hughenden Manor was used as a secret intelligence base and a German bomb shattered one of the windows of the church. They had a new exhibit about this in the basement of the home.

Herky and Judith enjoying the gardens of Hughenden Manor.

Canterbury

2009-08-27T22:02:00.002+01:00

Yesterday, my Crusades class made the three-hour drive southeast to Canterbury. I didn't know much about Canterbury beforehand, except for what I'd heard of Geoffrey Chaucer's Canterbury Tales. The 14th century story collection tells of a group of pilgrims who make the journey to Canterbury.

The pilgrims were off to pay tribute to Thomas Becket, an Archbishop of Canterbury who was murdered in the cathedral in the 12th century by supporters of King Henry II.

Herky at Canterbury Cathedral in Kent

Today, the Roman Catholic and Anglican Churches recognize Becket as a saint and a martyr. Here's the Altar of the Sword's Point that marks where Becket was assassinated.

Although they have this memorial, nobody knows where Becket is buried today. In 1538, Henry VIII destroyed the original shrine.

A cathedral has stood on this spot since 602, but a Norman archbishop leveled the previous Saxon structure to build the current one in 1070. Seems like it's constantly under renovation--even on the day we visited, it was partly covered with scaffolding. Canterbury Cathedral is recognized as a World Heritage Site and also contains the tombs of Henry IV and Joan of Navarre and a memorial to the son of Edward III, known as the Black Prince.

After touring the cathedral, we walked on top of the old city walls and saw Dane John mound. A Roman burial mound, it was later used as the motte (hill) for a Norman castle.

The city wall walk eventually reaches Canterbury Castle, which was built soon after the Battle of Hastings in 1066 AD.

The castle was built of flint and sandstone rubble, as were the city walls. France is only about 30 miles away, so many of the materials were shipped from there.

I was surprised by how modern Canterbury was. You come to a medieval town like this one and expect it to be untouched by time--straight out of the history books--but that's not how it was. When you looked out from the top of the city walls, all you saw were modern shops, a bus station, and massive groups of Italian schoolchildren. I noticed one of the businesses in town was called the Chaucer Hotel--at least someone seems to be in touch with the town's history!

Christ Church College

2009-08-26T22:23:00.000+01:00

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!

Walking Tour Highlights

2009-08-25T22:03:00.000+01:00

Here are some more photos from yesterday's walking tour:

The Oxford University Museum of Natural History

Bridge of Sighs, built in 1914

Grotesque (not to be confused with a gargoyle that spouts water) outside the Bodleian Library

Radcliffe Camera (camera means chamber in Latin)

One of the oldest buildings in Oxford houses a cell phone business

Getting to Know You, Oxford

2009-08-24T22:45:00.000+01:00

This morning, I felt like I was living in a fairy tale. For breakfast, I ate porridge--and it wasn't too hot or too cold--it was just right! It's fitting to start my day off like that, too, since the Odyssey to Oxford program is run through Kellogg College (yes, that Kellogg).

After breakfast, we met our tutors in the courtyard and I began my study of the Crusades. Today's lesson focused on the history of Jerusalem up to the Crusades. Though Jerusalem means "God of peace," the city has been completely destroyed twice, besieged 23 times, and attacked 52 times. The idea of a Christian pilgrimage to Jerusalem began with Constantine's mother, Helena, who claimed to have found the site of the crucifixion.

The weather is temperate here in Oxford. When the clouds rolled in while we were taking our group photograph, nobody worried about pulling out their umbrellas. It just dripped on us like a leaky faucet for a few minutes, and then the sun shone again.

After a guided walking tour of the city, a group of us checked out the gardens of St. John's College. Founded in 1555, alumni include Jane Austen's father and brothers and former British prime minister Tony Blair. I took my favorite photo of the day here:

Afterward, we headed to the Eagle and the Child, where the Chronicles of Narnia and the Lord of the Rings were born. The Eagle and the Child is actually owned by St. John's College, something I can't imagine happening in the United States. They have a few displays honoring C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien, including a letter of praise to the pub owners.

One of my favorite things about Oxford is its rich literary history. I love knowing that as I walk down the street, hundreds of books are stored below me underground. I look forward to seeing Christchurch next, where Lewis Carroll was inspired to write Alice in Wonderland for the dean's daughter.

First Day

2009-08-23T22:15:00.005+01:00

37 Wellington Square, minus the current scaffolding

I rounded up about 20 of my fellow Odyssey to Oxford travelers at Chicago O'Hare on Saturday afternoon. We shared stories of where we were from, what courses we planned on taking, and of our previous travel experiences. Many of the travelers come back year after year to take part in the popular program, but this year's trip has also attracted quite a few first-timers (18). Including program director Louise Cooley and I, we have 44 total participants.

Our flight to London left around 6:30 p.m. (Central) on Saturday and arrived at Heathrow Airport at 8:05 a.m. London time. Though it was a smooth flight, nobody got much sleep on the plane. We all made it through immigration, customs, and baggage claim with little trouble, and proceeded to board the bus for Oxford.

We noticed a few subtle differences between American and British roads on our one-hour drive to Oxford. For one thing, we were all required to buckle up on the bus. There are very few SUVs and trucks on the road, and billboard advertising isn't allowed in an effort to preserve the beauty of the lush English countryside.

Upon arrival at Oxford, we ate brunch in the dining hall and then checked into our dormitory rooms. I am staying at 37 Wellington Square, diagonal from the Rewley House, where all of our dining and seminars take place.

We had most of the afternoon free, which I spent trying to make up for lost sleep. Then at 5 p.m., I had the privilege to meet with this year's tutors. That was followed by an orientation meeting, an opening reception in the courtyard, and a salmon dinner.

I've truly enjoyed meeting everyone today, and I look forward to the Oxford walking tour and the start of classes tomorrow. Good night!

Off to Oxford

2009-08-21T21:48:00.000+01:00

Oxford, England, has been home to some of history's greatest minds, including countless religious leaders, politicians, writers, and scientists who have transformed the world. I have the privilege to participate in this rich educational tradition by studying under renowned Oxford professors for two weeks through the Iowa Voyagers' Odyssey to Oxford program. I look forward to this experience, along with strolling the gardens of Arundel Castle and Hughenden Manor, viewing the Rosetta Stone at London’s British Museum, and visiting the beautiful college town that inspired Alice in Wonderland, The Chronicles of Narnia, and The Lord of the Rings.

A few nights from now, I'll be dreaming in the city of dreaming spires. Watch out, Oxford...here I come!