A weekend in Oxford (Saturday)

Such a nice weekend in Oxford. Couldn't have been better really. Stayed with friends who have two utterly adorable little children. More of them  later.

But first, the city. It was open doors weekend in Oxford, so may places not normally open to the public, or that are open but at a charge, were open for free. So we went out on a mission. Starting with Christ Church. Undoubtedly a wonderful piece of architecture, and a lovely setting with delightful grounds.

But now the most famous part of "the House" is what the kids call the Harry Potter Hall, ie the dining hall used in the films.

But one of the nicest parts I thought, and which I had never before seen, is the library. A very pleasing classical edifice.

But before the Harry Potter series the most famous part was the vast Tom Quad...

Then we progressed to the Ashmolean Museum, now refurbished and re-opened.  So much better than the the old building in my day. The kids were surprisingly interested, but even so I could have done with some more time to explore. It does have a magnificent collection, including a great plaster cast gallery of Greek statues.

The refurbished interior structure is worth visiting on its own

We rounded off the Saturday by a visit to the new graduate building at the back of my old college St John's, the Kendrew Quadrangle. As the college has plenty of money this is a decent bit of architecture, is very ecologically sound and no doubt cost a disproportionately large sum.