Awesome Oxford Authors

Our trip to Oxford this past weekend was a tour of the city, hunting down historical authors from our childhoods. J.R.R. Tolkien (Hobbit and Lord of the Rings), C.S. Lewis (Chronicles of Narnia), and Lewis Carroll A.K.A. Charles Dodgson (Alice in Wonderland). All were Oxford graduates and professors. We were exploring how they spent their lives.

First, we went to the pub where Tolkien and C.S. Lewis got together with other writers on a weekly basis. They would talk about their writing over a pint or two. They referred to themselves as the Inklings. This went on for almost 20 years, ending in 1949. In our visit to the Eagle and Child, we discovered it is the place to be if you are American.

We walked around Christ's Church College (below), where Lewis Carroll created Alice's Adventures in Wonderland when telling stories to Alice Liddell and her sisters in the gardens. The stories were also told when rowing down the River Thames near the college. We sat along the river for quite a while to absorb the sun, while watching the competing rowers. Alice's father was the Dean of Christ's Church at the time.

Christ's Church College is also where the dining hall for Harry Potter was filmed and based off.  

 This is the shop  where Alice would go and get sweets back in the 1860s. The shop was in Through the Looking Glass as The Old Sheep Shop.

Below is a picture Magdalen College. It was closed to visitors, but I snuck in to take a peek. Magdelen (pronounced something like Maudlen) was where C.S. Lewis was a member and fellow (so was Oscar Wilde, Andrew Lloyd Webber, Seamus Heaney). Didn't see much cause I was worried about getting caught. Kirby took his turn to sneak into Exeter College where J.R.R.Tolkien went to college. Kirby and I both walked into Merton College where Tolkien (and T.S. Eliot) taught. In order to "sneak in" at these colleges, you have to act as though you know where you are going, have an "air of confidence" like a student would, and walk right on past the Porter's Lodge. The Porter is similar to an information desk.

We had lunch twice at the University Church of St. Mary the Virgin. It was really neat inside and we loved the french food! Perfect for escaping the cold.

It's nice knowing that we can travel with the baby. We have to be careful and take it slow at times, but that can be nice. Our next big plans are for Amsterdam. I hope I have the energy- when we got home from Oxford I didn't want to anything the next day! It was nice doing some "tourist" stuff because I don't do a lot of that living in, but not "visiting," Cambridge. I think Juniper will be jealous that she got to do a lot of travelling but have no recollection of it. She will probably want to study abroad in 20 years!