Oxfordtripafterchristmas

Let it rain, let it wind, we can work together to make progress. My tour will continue to go broader and deeper in the upcoming new year, for reimagining the future of global advanced Education courageously.

The day after Christmas I planned another trip to Oxford as last month I only spent one day there, not going deep enough. Fortunately the transport system went back to normal. It only took less than two hours to arrive in Oxford downtown. However because it’s the box day, and also the winter break time, the Oxford colleges are closed and not allowed to go inside, It seems I still cannot go deeper enough.

There are quite many tourists gathering in downtown West Gate shopping center and a few hot spots of tourists. So I walked through queen street, strolling across a few main streets and shopping center. Many scenery and shops were not open; the train station was also closed. It might still be the official holiday here. It was raining in mid afternoon, like the last time I visited here, So I decided to come back to Oxford downtown again the next morning to visit museums and libraries.

Like London, Oxford rain a lot in the winter time In the early morning of the second day it was chilly, windy, and rainy so I bought a daily tickets and planned to go-broader, visiting a few more small towns nearby, so I jumped on the bus, went to the nearby small town -Headington for a short visit. There are small shopping street with a few charity stores opening, restaurants, cafes, gifts and grocery stores there. Now I remember the long distance buses between London and Oxford passed through here, there is the Headington college ]and a green, spacious Bury Knowly park nearby. 

And then, I headed back to the city center, went through the high street, passed by the gate of theQueen College and walked through the alley-the Queen lane and came to the square with quite a few colleges, libraries and museums. I walked through St Mary church tower which was not open. The colleges I passed through perhaps included All Souls College, New College, Hertford College, Lincoln College, Jesus College, Exeter College, Trinity College, and I also walked through Oxford business school and brook college, St. Peter college etc.

At about noon time, I booked the guided trip to visit Bodleian library and divinity school as they start opening. The division college was like the church hall building. We listened to the female tour guide’s introduction there. Then start visiting the old Bodleian library. This old library was opened in the year of 1602. The tour guide asked us to guess how many books they had at that time. I guess it was fifty, but she said it was only a 20 book collection; but right now, as one of the oldest libraries in Europe, it is one of the largest libraries in Britain with more than 17 million printed items. I also visited history of science museum and museum of Oxford, both had very limited art collection, compared to the museum Ashmolean with very large-scale enriched art gallery, I visited in Oxford last month. 

The wind was gusty and the rain became heavy, so I went to lunch on the roof terrace in the west gate center. It was a beautiful environment and full of the holiday theme. When I headed back to the city center again, I entered the covered market- going to the deep alley decorated with Christmas lights and decorations. There are many shops and stalls which sell gifts, decorations, foods or drinks. I also walked across the logic street there, but disappointed, not very logical, with a locked gate and cobblestone little street. I tried to take more buses to go broader, but for some reason, I couldn’t find my big daily tickets. So I changed my mind, and went to the local library in the shopping center and read a few books instead. The communication library has a great collection of books, quite many people study inside even though it is the holiday season.

Perhaps the tourists ' voices woke up this ivy town almost everyday. River Isis - the stretch of the river Thames and the river Cherwell are the mother rivers of Oxford, they flow forward quietly and clean up this academic city diligently. Because of the winter break I can’t get into the college campuses this time, I am pondering: are those ivy colleges with deep Christianity root open-minded enough to drive the world of innovation collaboratively? My tour will continue to go broader and deeper in the upcoming new year, for reimagining the future of global advanced Education courageously ... .Let it rain, let it wind, we can work together to make progress.

Posted in: Education,Global Trips