Thursday 2 October 2008

Not sure what else to call today. Did a general tour of Oxford in one of the tour buses. Sat on the top deck which was fine for most of the morning but started to get cold as the morning wore on. It's alternating between being sunny and overcast today and one of the things I am finding is that the sunlight is totally different here and many of my photos are turning out a bit dark so I am having to lighten them up a bit. Thanks Picasa for their very easy program which makes it quite easy.

This is the map of where the bus tour went today. All those numbers and red spots were places the guide told us things about.

This was the tour bus. They just go around Oxford, with a guy who sits at the front and gives you all these details about the colleges of Oxford and other stuff. Most of which you don't remember cause there is just too much information at one time. For me, it's giving me a bit of an overview and I've marked on the map a couple of places I want to go back to. And I did pick up a bit of information.

 

There seem to be several going around all the time. You hop on and hop off any time you want and your ticket is good for 24 hours. So I could go out again later today and get on another one if I wanted. I don't want to, but I could. That's the nice bit. I can if I choose !!

I discovered the ubiquitous CCTV cameras today. It's rather interesting to see the really old buildings with the modern cameras attached.

They just sit up there and watch the world go by. Heard all about them on English police shows, now I've seen them. Big Brother is watching !!

This photo I took and then had to find out who/what they were.

Apparently a famous ice cream shop. This is right next door to Alice's shop. Not a great photo, but the bus took off while I was trying to get the picture.

Opposite Christ Church, Oxford, England, is Alice's Shop on St Aldate's. It was formerly frequented in Victorian times by Alice Liddell, the inspiration for Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass and What Alice Saw There, who used to buy sweets there. She lived at Christ Church with her father Henry Liddell, who was Dean of the College and Cathedral.

Alice's Shop is now a gift shop for tourists selling souvenirs, especially based on Alice.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alice%27s_Shop

From my book on the Colleges of Oxford

Tale Telling Tutor

The shy young maths tutor at Christ Church during the latter half of the 19th Century was Charles Dodgson, better know as Lewis Carroll, the pen name he adopted to write the "Alice in Wonderland" stories. These grew out of his friendship with Alice and Edith Liddell, the daughters of Henry Liddell, Dean of Christ Church.

Remember I was sitting on the top of a bus looking down. But it does look a bit like Alice in Wonderland with the size of the door. I can just imagine a big Alice trying to squish her way into the door.

One of the interesting bits of information the guide gave was about gargoyles. I wasn't quite sure I had heard him properly and didn't quite remember what he said so I looked it up on the net when I got back. And this is interesting.

In architecture, a gargoyle is a carved stone grotesque with a spout designed to convey water from a roof and away from the side of a building.

The term originates from the French gargouille, originally "throat" or "gullet"; cf. Latin gurgulio, gula, and similar words derived from the root gar, "to swallow", which represented the gurgling sound of water (e.g., Spanish garganta, "throat"; Spanish gárgola, "gargoyle").

A chimera, or a grotesque figure, is a sculpture that does not work as a waterspout and serves only an ornamental or artistic function. These are also usually called gargoyles in laypersons' terminology, although the field of architecture usually preserves the distinction between gargoyles (functional waterspouts) and non-waterspout grotesques.

So whether these are gargoyles or chimera, I don't know cause I couldn't get close enough for long enough to make sure. But they are rather kewl whatever they happen to be.

In amongst all the grey, stone buildings, this tree stood out. Again, I have no idea what it is, just that it is bright and cheerful. At one stage me and another man on the top almost got taken out by a tree branch. I felt it hit the side of the bus, the guy in front of me ducked and moved out of the way, and so did I. Then the guide warned us about the problem of overhanging trees. Lucky or I might have ended up in another hospital in another country.

Even in Oxford there are the standard chain take away food places. Although I must admit, I have yet to see a McDonalds, or KFC.

And none of the Nando's shops in Perth would be in a kewl building like this.

And this is an interesting corner - the old and the new side by side.

I have lots more photos, but there are too many.I must admit, these guys intrigued me. They were outside the Museum of the History of Science, but I have no idea who they are or why they are there. I might keep researching or go back and check them out face to face (so to speak).

There were more of them. The bus moved off before I could get more photos. Again, possibly another day. Today was an overall view of some of Oxford.

Stopped for lunch at a place called Morton's. I ordered a bacon, lettuce and tomato baguette expecting something hot. The woman at the counter went and picked up an already made one and when I was eating I read the menu and realised that all their stuff if pre-made for quick service. So instead of a hot meal, I had cold bacon. It was quite okay, but I  still reckon bacon should be hot.

This was the place.

On the way home I spotted this little fellow.

And then there were the buses with the funny mirrors. Looks like something from outer space.

Tomorrow, K and I are going Op Shopping. K always manages to find THE BEST op shops, no matter where she is living. Then we are organising for our weekend trip to Birmingham and Miniatura - the miniature show, for those of you who are interested. No idea how many photos I will be allowed to take. For now, that's all folks. Time for my afternoon rest.

Cheers

Madeleine

Thursday, 2 October 2008