Apr 24th, 2013 at 12:00PM: Behind an eighteenth-century facade in downtown Oxford, just above a clothing shop, is a bedroom that was once used by William Shakespeare.
It was part of the Crown Tavern, owned by Shakespeare's friend John Davenant. The Bard frequently stopped in Oxford on his trips between Stratford-upon-Avon and London. A nearby courtyard may have hosted his troupe's performances.
Known as the Painted ...Click on a label to read posts from that part of the world.
oxford posts
Shakespeare Slept Here: Hidden Old Room In Oxford Once Hosted The Bard
Apr 24th, 2013 at 12:00PM: Behind an eighteenth-century facade in downtown Oxford, just above a clothing shop, is a bedroom that was once used by William Shakespeare.
It was part of the Crown Tavern, owned by Shakespeare's friend John Davenant. The Bard frequently stopped in Oxford on his trips between Stratford-upon-Avon and London. A nearby courtyard may have hosted his troupe's performances.
Known as the Painted ...Bumping Into Queen Elizabeth II In Oxford
Mar 28th, 2013 at 3:00PM: It's not every day that you bump into Queen Elizabeth II on your way to work.
Walking from my house to the Bodleian Library in Oxford to research my next book, I noticed a large crowd and dozens of cops outside Christ Church College. It turned out the Queen was coming to take part in an old English tradition – giving away Maundy Money.
Today is Maundy Thursday, the day before Good ...Ashmolean Museum In Oxford Receives Major Gift Of Renaissance Art
Feb 4th, 2013 at 12:00PM:
Oxford's Ashmolean Museum has received a major bequest in the form of nearly 500 works of Renaissance gold and silver from the collection of Michael Wellby (1928–2012), the museum has announced.
Wellby was a well-known antiques dealer specializing in German and Flemish silver of the 16th and 17th centuries. He ran a shop in London for many years. As is typical with antiques dealers, he ...6-Year-Old Saves Manet Painting For UK (With A Little Help)
Aug 9th, 2012 at 3:00PM: Last weekend my family and I visited the Ashmolean Museum here in Oxford. My 6-year-old son loves this place because of all the headless statues, the bow you can use to shoot deer in the Prehistoric Europe room, and the gold coin of the Roman emperor Julian, who he's named after.
In the European art section we came across several paintings by Manet. One was "Portrait of Mademoiselle Claus," ...Bee Gees Getting Blue Plaque While Monty Python Passed Over
Aug 9th, 2012 at 1:00PM: Any traveler in the UK is familiar with the Blue Plaques. The plaques mark the spot of a famous event or building, or where a famous person has lived, worked, or died.
English Heritage has recently announced that due to government budget cuts, half of the shortlist for new plaques will be canceled, with such big names as Beatles manager Brian Epstein and Monty Python's Graham Chapman missing ...Potter Fans Want Quidditch To Be An Olympic Sport
Jul 10th, 2012 at 8:00AM: Harry Potter fans from around the globe have descended on Oxford, England, to take part in the first major international quidditch tournament and to promote the sport for possible inclusion in future Olympic Games. Players say that the real world version of the fictional sport, created by author J.K. Rowling, is as physically demanding and competitive as Rugby and less ridiculous than some of the ...New Ancient Egypt And Nubia Galleries At Ashmolean Museum, Oxford
Apr 14th, 2012 at 2:30PM:
The Ashmolean Museum in Oxford has always been famous for its collection of art from Ancient Egypt and Nubia (Sudan). It recently revamped these galleries as part of a major remodel.
While the new galleries reopened in November, I didn't want to write it up until I got to see it for myself. The old galleries were dark, cramped and had endless cases crammed with artifacts. In other words, they ...Travel Dilemma: Old Favorite Or Someplace New?
Apr 11th, 2012 at 10:00AM:
I've just spent four days in London, where I saw friends and did some work before heading up to Oxford for two weeks. My family and I do this every Easter and summer. It's good for my kid's English (we live most of the year in Spain) and my wife and I both have plenty of work to do up here.
While I love these regular trips, there's always a nagging pressure in the back of my head to travel to ...Britain's Heritage Cities are ready for visitors
Feb 11th, 2012 at 8:00AM:
Thanks to the London Olympics, which will open on July 27, and the Queen's Diamond Jubilee, 2012 is expected to be a boom year for tourism in Great Britain. In the hopes of capitalizing on this trend, six historic cities have teamed up to get noticed by travelers intent on venturing beyond the English capital.
Bath, Carlisle, Chester, Oxford, Stratford-Upon-Avon, and York, Britain's ...Is the British pub an endangered species?
Jan 19th, 2012 at 4:00PM: The figures are in for 2011 and it's more bad news for the British pub. An average of 14 a week shut down, and Oxfordshire alone lost 35 this past year.
The pub is an institution. More than just a place to drink real ale, it's a place to see friends, get out of the house, do the pub quiz, and watch football.
My family and I spend every Easter and summer in Oxford, and while we aren't big ...Queens Lane, Oxford: a thousand years of history in a single street
Aug 31st, 2011 at 3:30PM:
Most of the time when we travel (or write about travel) we look at the big picture, yet sometimes a single place can sum up the history and character of a city. Queens Lane in Oxford is one of those places. A quiet backstreet linking the two more popular thoroughfares of High Street and Catte Street, it's overlooked by most visitors. I use it when walking to work at the Bodleian library as a way ...The coolest museum in the world
Aug 30th, 2011 at 2:00PM:
Oxford is full of things to see such as medieval colleges and a lovely stretch of the Thames. Of course, you can find similar sights in other parts of England, although not in such a dense concentration that makes Oxford a perfect day trip from London. The one thing Oxford has that is truly unique is the Pitt Rivers Museum.
The Pitt Rivers is laid out the way museums used to be: cabinets ...The five most beautiful colleges of Oxford
Aug 29th, 2011 at 11:00AM:
Oxford is the most beautiful city in England and makes a great day trip from London. What makes Oxford unique is its famous university with more than two dozen colleges. While each has its own distinct character, they tend to all be similarly laid out with one or more quads and a chapel. Here are five of the best.
Magdalen College
Founded in 1456, this college's soaring Gothic tower on High ...London day trip: Oxford
Aug 27th, 2011 at 12:00PM:
London is one of the most popular destinations in Europe because of its eclectic shopping, crazy nightlife, and world-class museums and galleries. It can get a bit tiring and stressful, though. For those who want to get out of the Smoke and see a bit more of England, Oxford makes an easy and enjoyable day trip.
Getting there
The best way to get to Oxford from London is the Oxford Tube, which ...A rural ride through Oxfordshire
Aug 17th, 2011 at 1:00PM:
Yesterday was my birthday, and now that I'm halfway to 84 I figured the best way to spend it was with other decaying leftovers from ages past. I mean medieval buildings, not my travel companions.
Oxfordshire offers plenty of hikes, historic buildings, and good restaurants. To celebrate my increasing decrepitude, some friends drove my wife and I from Oxford to the nearby village of Great ...Hiking in Oxfordshire: follies and fields near Faringdon
Aug 15th, 2011 at 12:00PM: I'm spending the summer in Oxford, and so far the English weather has been pretty disappointing with rain, clouds, and cool temperatures that are already making the leaves change color.
Whenever the weather is good here I'm out in the countryside hiking. The weather hasn't been cooperating, so I and a friend went anyway. We chose a hike from Faringdon to Buckland. Faringdon is an old ...England riots: watching Basket Case 2 and waiting for Oxford to burn
Aug 11th, 2011 at 11:30AM: The night before last, I walked into my local convenience store here in Oxford and the pothead manager told me, "Be glad you don't have to stay here all night."
"Expecting trouble?" I asked.
"You haven't heard the news? It's all over Twitter. They're going to gather in five different locations and then attack the city center."
I considered for a moment. The store, and my house, are on the ...Five places to see shrunken heads
Jun 17th, 2011 at 12:00PM:
Call me sick, but I've always been fascinated with shrunken heads.
"OK, you're sick!"
Fine, but you're still reading this, aren't you?
Throughout history many cultures took heads as trophies, including the ancestors of many Gadling readers--the Celts. Celtic warriors used to cut the heads off of enemies and attach them to their chariots to look extra intimidating in battle. Japanese ...The best views of Oxford, England
May 4th, 2011 at 1:00PM:
Oxford is the most beautiful city in England. Its famous "dreaming spires" have inspired generations of writers, poets, and scholars. The problem is, there are only two easily accessible spots to get appreciate Oxford's skyline at its best.
This photo shows the Radcliffe Camera, part of Oxford University's Bodleian Library and where I work when I'm not feeding hyenas in Harar, Ethiopia. I ...From myth to Empire: Heracles to Alexander the Great
Apr 29th, 2011 at 9:30AM:
Today's royals have nothing on the ancients.
Alexander the Great and his predecessors enjoyed a sumptuous lifestyle that beats anything William and Kate will ever enjoy, not to mention real power as opposed to lots of TV time. Now an amazing new exhibition at the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford, England, gives an insight into the life of the royal family of Macedon.
Alexander the Great ...
