Narnia’s in the Back 7/3/13 Part Two

We did some shopping around Oxford, before stopping for lunch at the Eagle and Child, the pub where C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien used to meet to go over their writing. It was really nice place, and we had a lot of fun with the décor. For example, we found the door to Narnia in the back garden. There was some trouble with the credit card machine, and the bartender commented that it was because the pub was older than my country. The British are so snarky, it’s wonderful.

There is an amazing little shop across from Christ Church, where Alice Liddell used to buy her sweets. Now, it’s a shop dedicated to Lewis Carroll’s books. There were pictures, jewelry, teacups, books… Everything Alice you could imagine.

Our tour guide at Christ Church, James, was absolutely AMAZING. He is the head custodian, and super knowledgeable. Plus, he took us through all of these normally off-limits ways, and we got to bypass the crowds, which was awesome. A lot of what we heard about involved Lewis Carroll. We saw the location of his offices, and also got to hear about the basis for several of his characters and stories, like the tree where Alice Liddell’s cat Dinah would always get stuck.

James also told us about Christ Church traditions. For example, the bell over the gate is rung 101 times each night at nine, before the doors are shut on the students. The student’s still call getting late somewhere, “being gated.” The students also always manage to get a Santa hat on the statue of Mercury, which is impressive, because he’s surrounded by a pond 11 ft. deep.

We walked up the main staircase from Harry Potter, past the crowds, and up onto the high table in the Great Hall (Did I mention all Oxford is Harry Potter?). We could hear the people in the regular line making comments about how jealous they were. It was pretty great. From there, we talked about the room, and then examined the Alice Window. The stained-glass window blends in with the rest, unless you know what you’re looking for. Then, you can see the characters from Alice in Wonderland located in the glass.

Walking back to the train from Christ Church, I stopped in a covered market, where I found this cake shop with the most randomly inscribed cakes, like, “Thanks for delivering the post!” It was the one that read, “Sorry,” that was most English to me, though. It’s the one word I’ve taken to saying in a British accent, because everyone utters it so much.

On the Tube home from Paddington Station, I heard this voice that I thought was a bit familiar. When I managed to grab a seat, I realized I was sitting across from Dr. Clarkson from Downton Abbey. Celebrities: They’re just like us! Somehow, it’s fitting that a day so filled with narrative and the past should end with an actor from a period piece.