Pictures!

Since the only request I've received from my readers has been "Ooh. More library photos, please!", I've decided to oblige. For those of you curious as to what Oxford (or at least some of it) looks like, here are a number of photos:

We'll start with Jesus College:

The front entrance of Jesus College from within

Although you may have a mental image of Jesus as being quite large and expansive from this photo, it's actually one of the smaller Oxford colleges in terms of both physical size and population.

The front entrance from Turl Street

For comparison: the front of Balliol, a neighboring college

Like every college, Jesus College obviously has its own on-site library, open for its students 24/7:

A very limited view of the Upper Gallery as seen from above

Jesus' library features many snug alcoves where people can literally bury themselves in work.

Also of note though before we continue: Jesus College has a rather nice dining hall:

Moving on from Jesus College though, we exit out the side entrance onto Ship Street:

Possibly so named because they once sold sheep here.

There's not too much excitement on Ship Street, but if you look way to the back of that last picture:

Zoom!

That road all the way back there on the right behind the cyclist and with the white van is the path to the Oxford Union. All in all, it's pretty much just three minutes away from college, which is rather convenient. Also down that way, we have the much busier Cornmarket Street:

Possibly so named because they once sold corn here.

On this street, you can find pretty much anything, including sushi and fast food, Starbucks, British chains like Boots and WH Smith, as well as the local department store, Boswells of Oxford. You can even find a nearly thousand-year-old building:

Saxon Tower of St. Michael at the North Gate, built in 1040

 Cut across Cornmarket Street from Ship Street, and you'll end up at the Union.

The Union

Which has a very nice courtyard:

The Courtyard

And a rather respectable library of its own:

The Library - The Goodman Library to be precise

Hang on, make that two libraries:

The Old Library

Gotta love those Pre-Raphaelite murals

Next stop, we're turning around and heading back the other way, past Jesus College and to Radcliffe Square, where you can find the University Church of St. Mary the Virgin:

There are even more spires on the front of the church

Notably, C.S. Lewis - author of The Chronicles of Narnia - attended services and gave at least one sermon at this church. In fact, from what I've heard - although this is unconfirmed - C.S. Lewis would always exit the church from this side door:

Whereupon he would see this door right in front of him across St. Mary's Passage:

Which if you look closely...

Has a lion's face on it

And is flanked by...

A faun on either side

And then you turn down the passage and see...

A lamppost

A lion, two fauns, and a lamppost, right outside of C.S. Lewis' church in Oxford. Pretty interesting coincidence! If you see that large domed building behind the lamppost though, that's the next stop on our little tour here.

That is a nice dome.

Earlier I mentioned that we're in Radcliffe Square here, so predictably that building is the Radcliffe Camera. Inside, there are quite a lot of books on English, history, and theology as well as a number of private study areas.

And some fancy arches

And of course the nice dome

Lastly, I ventured through the underground passageway known as the Gladstone Link from the Radcliffe Camera to the Bodleian Library, the central research library in Oxford. Most of the Bodleian is actually surprisingly modern looking, but after a bit of exploration I located Duke Humphrey's Library.

Duke Humphrey's Library is the oldest reading room in the Bodleian Library, dating back to around 1450, and it houses mostly maps, music, and rare books from before 1641, including numerous medieval texts.

You may know it better as the library from Harry Potter. No, actually.

Anyway, that concludes my brief, photo-tour of the interesting bits of Oxford that happen to be really close to me. If anyone has any questions or wants any further information about anything seen here, feel free to post a comment or send me a message via Facebook or e-mail. To my fellow Oxford students: if you have not checked out the Radcliffe Camera or the Bodleian Library yet, I would highly recommend that you do so before the end of term, they are something magnificent.

Oh, but lastly, yet another shout-out to the sweetest girl in the world, Rachel, for keeping me well-supplied with Goldfish during my time here abroad.

For the Brits: not actual goldfish, they're just cheesy crackers