(WARNING!! GRUESOME IMAGERY MAY BE PRESENT)
Unintentionally running away from the violence and unsettlement in London (see London Bridge stabbing incident), an early morning train from Marylebone brought me to Oxford. This night was one of the first nights that temperature dropped below freezing at night. Just an hour or so north of London, Oxford was surrounded by frost.
I decided to enjoy a few moments in the frosty white world before my tour through the University. Saturday morning is early for a University, and especially its students. I strolled past a few sleepy colleges and made my way towards the famous Corpus Christi(Christ Church) college.
Sitting quietly in the morning fog, Corpus Christi college was just waking up in all its morning glory, only gentling waking up its tired students. The door to the grand hall remained shut to visitors as the just woken students filed in for brunch.
Oxford is rich in culture and tale. As a former tour guide myself, I knew the depth of knowledge that a tour guide has. I elected to take a 2-hour walking tour through the Oxford city and colleges. Not every college was open to visitors, but some of the most famous ones certainly do not deprive visitors of the sights.
Nope 
No visitors in the morning
There are a few common themes you will see in most of the colleges. These include the college chapel(or cathedral in Christ Church’s case), a quad(the central yard), arched hallways, and some form of college personality displays.
The chapels and churches
Stained glass window depicting the patron saint of Oxford — St. Frithuswith 
Nave of the Christ Church Cathedral 
The immaculate wood work in the trinity chapel
The “quads”
Quad of Christ Church
Displays of personalities of the college
Christ Church students pained to protest again former prime minister Robert Peel. 
Winning Boat Race
On this two-hour walking tour, colleges aren’t the only sights you will see. Others included were, for example, the Bodleian Library, Radcliff Camera, the Sheldonian Theatre, and the Bridge of Sighs. Here are pictures of them some for the feast of the eyes!
Along the way, we also saw some of the sights that may have inspired the likes of J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis on their famous novels. Look at the pictures below carefully to see if you can spot these sights.
The tour ended in the University Church of St. Mary the Virgin. This gothic church boasted several famous spots to visit. The one I highly recommend is the tower whose view is one of the best in Oxford.
Such amazing views. Perhaps the only other sights that could match it would be the famous Christ Church Great Hall, which was cast as the main dining hall for the Harry Potter series. Just so, the students have finished their dining activities. I redeemed my ticket and headed right into where the magic happened.
It is said that this hall, which inspired the Harry Potter directors, also inspired Lewis Carrol in his famous tale of Alice in the Wonderland. Indeed, surrounded by the warm ambiance and the portrait of the greats, one can’t help but be both inspired and humbled.
Grand tales of others aren’t the only thing that humbles one, so are the forces of nature and the vastness of the diversity of our kind. Pitt-Rivers Museum had plenty of collection of both. Some said that the Pitt-Rivers museum is like a big exciting collection of antiques. I certainly couldn’t agree more. You can spend a whole day there constantly discovering corky human tools while been awestruck by the dinosaur fossils. (Attention! Gruesome images ahead in this section!)
Shield wall 
Helmet 
Brutal! 
Shrunken head! 
Finds from all over the world!
Perhaps not as antique as the collections of the Pitt-Rivers Museum, the Turf Tavern boasts some of its own grand tales. This is the pub in which the former Australian prime minister downed a yard of ale in a record-breaking fashion, and gave the rumor to smoking marijuana of a former president of the United States. This unassuming pub down the narrowest alley of Oxford is popular with the students as well as the tourists. I was unable to find any seats when I tried to end my epic day properly there, even though it was only 4:30pm. I highly recommend for all of you go earlier during the day to secure some seats.
Not finding seats did not damp my mood at all. I have had a magical day even as a muggle. (sorry I don’t have any magical power for those of you who wondered). The Christmas atmosphere outside on the main square certainly kept the sense of festiveness and hope. Even though I can’t be a wizard, I can still try to be a student. I walked through the night market toward the Waterstones, sipped on some tea, and started typing up this magical day.
