Oxford and Christ Church Collage

Our Saturday was filled with birthday parties so we had to wait until Sunday to hit the road and venture out again. It also happened to be Jude's birthday. Thankfully he's three and willing to spend his birthday exploring instead of insisting on a party, presents and cake. We did do all of those things (minus the party) after getting home and in pajamas.

Being Sunday, most places open later than normal and only stay open for a few hours. We had a quick visit at home from Brian's co-worker, Cam, and his wife Jackie before grabbing lunch at the Carvery. Then we hit the road again, with Jackie along for the ride (Cam had to work and Jackie was eager to get out and about). The drive up wasn't too bad, maybe an hour or so. Finding parking in a new city is tough, even with a Sat Nav. Garages are randomly closed or the directions provided don't actually get you to the garage entrance.

Once we got the car parked, we were off to find the university and more specifically Christ Church Collage. This is were several scenes from the first Harry Potter movie were filmed as well as inspiration for the Great Hall at Hogwarts. Walking around the collage, I definitely felt as though we were in certain parts of Hogwarts and couldn't wait to get home to watch the movie again hoping to identity some of the places we had been that day.

After leaving the collage, we hopped on a bus tour of Oxford which took us all around the town and included several interesting facts about the history of the university. One interesting thing I learned was that Oxford is made up of several collages and that you have to apply not only to the university but also a specific collage. I thought the collages were organized by field of study as they are at home but the collage is actually like a dorm. It's the place a student lives while attending the university.

Once we finished the bus tour, it was getting close to dinner time so we found one of the few places the boys are guaranteed to eat - Pizza Hut. They actually have decent priced kids meals which include unlimited salad bar (which ironically has tortilla chips), an entree (pizza or pasta) and a drink. Then for a small charge, they can get a dessert. The boys really enjoy it and we can't complain. They have good pizza. Once we finished eating, we did a small bit of shopping and then headed back to the car for the drive home.

All in all, it was a very good outing!