We breakfasted at the hotel and boarded our bus for the hour and a half trip to Oxford. As we traveled across London, Kevin described the different neighborhoods and architectures along the way. We eventually left the city and passed through rolling hills and pleasant country-side that reminds me of southern Tennessee. Kevin explained that Oxford is a fair-sized town in itself and not just a university town. Cambridge on the other hand is almost entirely a university town.

Our first stop in Oxford was the Ashmolean Museum of Art and Archaeology. This is another of England’s world-class museums with a wonderful collection of art works and artifacts. One of our favorites was the painting by Uccello, “The Hunt in the Forest” one of the earliest depictions of perspective and the vanishing point — this painting was prominently featured in one of the”Inspector Lewis” Masterpiece Mystery episodes.

Linda taking a break

The Hunt in the Forest by Uccello

Ashmolean Museum

Site where martyrs were burned at the stake.

Next we took a stroll through the main streets of Oxford, passing by a few of the 38 colleges. A marker in the middle of one of the principal streets showed where several martyrs were burned at the stake.

We took a very good lunch at a nice restaurant and then did more walking before getting to Christ Church, one of the most famous of the colleges and a beautiful cathedral. It consists of many lovely gardens and buildings. Among the many interesting things to see at Christ Church are the door where Alice peeked into the garden and became immortalized by Lewis Carroll, and the great dining hall, used as the model for the Harry Potter movies.

We then left on our journey back to London and a well-earned rest.

Meadows entrance to Christ Church

Alice’s garden door

Christ Church dining hall