Originally posted June 19, 2012, this blog post series is an undergraduate short-term study abroad trip in Oxford, UK in partnership with Salve Regina University and St. Clare’s Oxford. The blog post may have been edited for clarity and updated with relevant travel information and links.
The professor of the Shakespeare course took the class on a walking tour of Shakespeare’s influences and give further context to the plays by visiting sites downtown. We went to the Ashmolean Museum to look at Gothic and Renaissance art then visited other buildings downtown to observe their architecture. St. Michael’s chapel, right by the shiny commercial shopping centers, is estimated to be at least 1,000 years old.
The most interesting site was at one of the shops in the Covered Market. It is currently a Pizza Express restaurant, but it used to be an inn that was rumored to host Shakespeare during his travels from London to Stratford-upon-Avon. Fact: Shakespeare became the godfather to the son of the inn’s landlord. Some of the original support beams and doorways are preserved, as well as the fireplaces and some original wall frescoes. Christ Church Meadow was the main destination for today’s Literature of Oxford course. After stopping at Moo-Moo’s milkshakes in the Covered Market, we walked to Christ Church and walked towards the Meadow. We continued walking along the river and held class by the university boathouses. After sitting in the sun, watching ducks, and listening to lectures and the water, I went back to the dorm and cooked some stir fry ingredients from the store.
The back room of Pizza Express preserves some of the building’s old frescoes and fireplaces. Shakespeare supposedly stayed in this room.
Another old fireplace on the left
St. Michael’s. The common parish Shakespeare may have attended while staying in Oxford.
Old building that serves as a retail space
St. Mary the Virgin Cathedral. It is actually a very beautiful structure, but it is undergoing some preservation construction.
Another view of the Sheldonian Theatre, classical Renaissance architecture
The Bodleian Library, Gothic architecture
Wadham College
The professor of Literature of Oxford professor read an excerpt from Lion, Witch, and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis about little Lucy walking towards a lamp post and meeting Mr. Tumnus, the faun. Above is a lamp post…
And the we walked upon the faun decorating a doorway straight ahead!
Christ Church Meadow
Like how Magdalen College has deer, Christ Church College has cows
New England Parisienne 