Okay maybe not exactly Hogwarts but pretty close. Before I get ahead, just a warning, all the non-Harry Potter fans out there might find this slightly boring lol.
I took a day trip to Oxford on Wednesday with friends and it was amazing. People who know me know that I’m a massive Harry Potter fan…massive. I’ve read and watched the books & movies more times than I can count. So, when I got invited to a tour of Oxford, where a lot of the shooting happened, by a local (a friend living there lol) I definitely couldn’t resist. This was two days after I finished my exams so I was still running on a very twisted sleeping pattern, and I was still in pain from my visit to the dentist just the day before. You know those mornings when it’s raining and all you want to do is stay in bed and the only thing that can get you moving is the promise of food? That was Wednesday morning. As much as I want to say that I was so excited I was awake super early just to get ready, I can’t. Although I was awake 3 hours early…but not because of excitement, oh I wish. I was awake because I’d been dreaming of Heat Exchanger Networks and woke up startled because I thought I’d missed my exam. ChemEng struggles lol. It seems like you can take the girl out of exam season but it’s pretty difficult to take exam stress out of the girl. So anyway, I ended up with a total of 3 hours of sleep. Fun times.
Anyway, I digress. On getting to Oxford, the city was exactly as I’d imagined it (except the train station…that was smaller than I expected lol). It looked like something straight out of the medieval times with the gothic style architecture and all. It’s a really beautiful city. I’d taken my camera with me in hopes of getting good shots. One thing I didn’t factor into my trip was the weather…which is so not the smartest thing to do when in England. I mean, I knew it was going to rain, so I had my umbrella with me, but I left behind my thick coat thinking the light jacket I had with me would be enough. HA! I regretted it soon enough. I was only able to use my camera at intervals when the sun decided to grace us with its presence.
Out first stop was the Christ’s Church College, some of its corridors were featured in the movies, (anyone remember where the trio first meet Minerva McGonagall? Yup that was there. You can imagine my excitement)
And of course, that leads up to the Great Hall. Fun fact, the scenes weren’t actually shot in the hall, the movie only used a replica of the hall. I think they were pretty accurate, don’t you?
Literally every five minutes down the road in the City Center was a Harry Potter shop. I can imagine the number of tourists the city sees daily. It’s the home to the oldest University in the English world. That’s pretty fascinating isn’t it. Do you guys think the people behind famous landmarks/buildings expected them to last as long as they have?
Here’s a picture taken on the Tom Quad.
Sunset in Oxford City Center
The Radcliffe Camera
Unfortunately, we didn’t get to visit any of the other colleges as we were out of time. But I’d say I was still a pretty good day. Ended the day with a game of mini-golf (which I badly suck at) at the Westgate mall. I didn’t take any pictures there though. I was too busy trying to save the rest of my dignity lol. But hey it was my first time playing it so I think I can be excused. All in all, it was an amazing way to blow off some exam steam. I think Oxford will be seeing me again in the very near future.
If I have any fellow Harry Potter fans out there, make yourselves known in the comments! Surrey Uni has a Harry Potter Society just in case you didn’t know. If that isn’t enough motivation then I don’t know what is lol.
Till next time everyone! Drop me a comment and let me know what you think.
Fawziyyah
