Oxford: Part One

Well - a week or so ago I mentioned D and I had booked a few days away in Oxford - just to get away from it all.  We have been, and now we are back and I can't believe its all over. And now I want to log all the things we did - we did sooo much - so I can look back and remember the great time we had!

Arrived late Thursday afternoon (after a flying visit to check progress on BH) - Hotel was lovely .... www.royaloxfordhotel.co.uk ...... just a few minutes walk from the train station. 

There wasn't much left of the evening by the time we unpacked and organised ourselves - just enough time to have a very quick explore and find somewhere for a drink and something to eat.  Both very tired from the days travelling, an early night was required.  Although the room was very nice - it was also very, very noisy - looking out onto a main road with very heavy traffic - very little sleep that night -  a quick room change required after breakfast!!

D and I are both fans of the Inspector Morse series, perhaps one of the reasons for wanting to visit Oxford.  I had booked an 'Inspector Morse Tour' for lunch time, to visit on foot, some of the places where the show was filmed.  I also thought this would be a great way to explore the city - without getting lost!!!

We started at Board Street - the only street which can be shut completely to traffic - hence when you see Morse travelling (in Oxford) in the famous Jag - it will almost always be along this street (but from different angles!). 

St John's College - only a very short distance away, was our next stop. 

Amazing from the outside.....

and even more so on the inside....

Martyrs' Memorial...

You can just about see The Randolph Hotel in the back ground on the picture below.  (We headed back there after the tour ended for a quick drink - in the Morse Bar - D had made it his mission to try and visit each bar that had appeared in the shows!!!

The Oxford Union ....

And then the tour guide started to give all the secrets away... such as - although Morse lived in a shared house on the Banbury Road the scenes of Morse at home were actually filmed in a house in Ealing, London!  St Michaels Church - was shown in one scene but when 'the body' fell from the top of the tower, the distance it fell and ground below was of another building altogether..... ah the art of film making!

St Michaels Church...

The great thing about a guided tour is that you cut through streets you would not perhaps go down....



Exeter College....

Oriel College....

Gate into Christ Church...

Radcliff Square...

All Souls...

Bodleian Library.....

Bridge of Sighs

Sheldonian Theatre .....

Two hours later, and much better informed about 'a few' of the buildings in Oxford. The afternoon was rounded off with a bit more exploring and a quick drink in the Morse Bar'.