24 Hours in Oxford

(Day 1; day 2; day 3; day 4 of our Wiltshire walking trip.)From Bishopstone, we caught a local bus to Swindon and then a double-decker to Oxford, where (first things first!) we had a buffet lunch at an Indian restaurant called 4500 miles from Delhi--which was kind of funny seeing as I was going to make that trip (albeit not to Delhi) just a few weeks later. It was a drizzly day and Kate's foot was kind of bothering her, but we really wanted to do a walking tour around some of the different colleges, and we were really glad we did. There was so much to see: the ornate chapels at each college, stained glass and tapestries and royal portraits, the perfectly manicured greens, stunning architecture and sculpture everywhere you looked. And the gargoyles!The cloisters at New College, which appears in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.Our guide told us the Harry Potter dining hall scenes were filmed here at Christ Church (and then CGI'd up the wazoo; my words, not his), but according to one student's blog the movie people only modeled the set after this room, which makes more sense I suppose.Hertford Bridge. The sun came out right after we finished the tour.University Church of St. Mary the Virgin.We'd heard from several people that we had to check out the Turf Tavern, so we went there for dinner. It was so crowded we couldn't find a table inside, but it was a mild night so we were perfectly happy eating in the beer garden. Gosh, I love these creaky old English pubs!The next morning we took a bus back to London, where we met up with Seanan at Foyle's at lunchtime and passed the rest of the afternoon at the National Gallery. We had one full day in London before we had to go home, which we spent at the Tower of London. Those pics coming soon.