The best views of Oxford, England

by Sean McLachlan on


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 took this from the top of the spire of the University Church of St. Mary the Virgin. The tower and spire were built between 1280 and 1325 and are the oldest parts of the church. It’s covered in ornate Gothic carvings and leering gargoyles so don’t forget to take a photo of the exterior before entering the church gift shop and buying your ticket to go up!

The stairs are steep and the staircase is narrow. If you are not reasonably fit do not try to go up. Once you huff and puff your way to the top, you’ll be treated to a 360 degree view of Oxford–its churches, its famous colleges, and the green countryside beyond. You’ll also see the gargoyles up close and personal. The nice folks at the gift shop will give you a free map showing you where everything is. After five years living part time in Oxford I still can’t name all the colleges!

%Gallery-122796%Once you come back down be sure to visit the rest of the church, most of which dates to the 16th century and features some beautiful stained glass. There’s also a cafe serving tasty and reasonably priced food and coffee. There’s something soothing about sipping a mocha under medieval arches. If the weather is good, you can sit in the garden and enjoy views of the Radcliffe Camera and All Souls College.

An even more interesting and much easier climb is up the Old Saxon Tower of St. Michael at the North Gate. While it’s not as high as the spire of St. Mary’s, it’s the oldest building in Oxford. It dates to the late Saxon times and was built around 1040. This used to guard the city gate of Oxford, but all that’s left is the tower. Climbing up here you’ll see a little museum filled with medieval and renaissance bric-a-brac, including a raunchy church sculpture I’ll blog about later. On one landing is an old clockwork mechanism. If you put 20 pence in it, the gears grind to life and chimes start to play. The last time I climbed this tower with a kid I spent a whole pound on it!

Peering over the parapet you can watch shoppers stroll along Cornmarket St., Oxford’s busiest pedestrian road, and you can see birds wheel and soar amidst the spires of nearby colleges. The 13th century church downstairs is worth a look for its rare medieval stained glass and a font that William Shakespeare stood next to as his godchild was baptized. It was the kid of a local innkeeper, and I hope The Bard got a few free pints for his trouble!

If you know anyone who works at or graduated from Oxford, try to get into their college and climb up one of the towers. While most colleges are open to visitors for at least part of the year, the “dreaming spires” generally aren’t, so you need an insider to gain access.

The Visigoths: Spain’s forgotten conquerors

by Sean McLachlan on

When most people think of the fall of the Roman Empire, they think of hordes of howling barbarians swarming over the frontier and laying waste to civilization. That’s only partially true. In reality, many tribes were invited, and even those that weren’t came with their families not just to conquer, but to settle. This is why historians prefer the term “Migration Period”. And although these tribes conquered, the Romans ended up changing them more than they changed the Romans.

Take the gravestone pictured here, for instance. The product of “barbarians” who had taken Spain, it has Christian symbolism and is written in Latin. It reads, “Cantonus, servant of God, lived 87 years. He rested in peace on 22 December 517 AD.”

The Visigoths spread over much of the western Roman Empire in the fourth and fifth centuries. Their attacks prompted the emperor Honorius to withdraw his legions from Britain so he could get reinforcements, but this didn’t stop the Visigoths from sacking Rome itself in 410 AD. Like other Germanic tribes, they came to settle, and eventually moved as far as southern France and Spain. There they took over the government but left the society pretty much intact. Roman bureaucrats still ran day-to-day affairs. The Visigoths were already Christian like most Romans by this time, and since they lacked a written language they started using Latin.

Their kingdom lasted from 475 to 711, when they were defeated by the Umayyid Muslims. That’s a long time, but the Visigoths have basically become the Invisigoths, a forgotten people sandwiched in time between the Romans and the Moors. Why? Because they had little effect on the people they ruled. The Iberian Romans continued pretty much as they were, developing from the crumbling Classical era into the Early Middle Ages. These Ibero-Romans vastly outnumbered their Visigothic rulers. The only Visigothic word to make it into Spanish is verdugo, which means “executioner”.

If you look hard enough, you can still see traces of the Visigoths. Four of their churches still stand, two in Spain and two in Portugal. One of the best is San Pedro de la Nave near Campillo, Spain. Two shots of this church are in the gallery. Bits of other buildings have been incorporated into later structures. In Mérida, a Moorish fortress called the Alcazaba uses a bunch of pillars taken from a Visigothic hospital. They’re shown in the gallery too. The Visigoths had a distinct artistic style of carvings in low relief, showing plants or animals or people in Biblical or battle scenes. The Visigothic Museum in Mérida has an excellent collection of these.

The Germanic tribes were also good at making jewelry, and the Visigoths were no exception. They liked huge, intricately carved pins called fibulae to hold their cloaks, and wore bejeweled belt buckles big enough to make any Texan proud. Several of their chunky gold crowns also survive, with the names of their kings spelled out in gold letters hanging like a fringe around the edge.

So when visiting Spain’s many museums and historic sights, keep an eye out for remnants of Spain’s underrated rulers!

Don’t miss the rest of my series: Exploring Extremadura, Spain’s historic southwest

Coming up next: The wine and cuisine of Extremadura!

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Get weird at Obscura Day this weekend

by Jeremy Kressmann on

We spend our travel lives hunting down the world’s most famous sights like the Eiffel Tower and Machu Picchu. But did you ever consider the amazing sights right in your own backyard? That’s the idea behind Obscura Day, an international event taking place in 80 cities worldwide on March 20th.

Obscura Day is dedicated to celebrating the strange and interesting sights found in our hometowns. In San Francisco, a tour will be visiting the Musee Mecanique, a museum devoted to antique coin operated carnival games. In Detroit, the tour will bring visitors to the Heidelberg Project, and “outsider art” project made from found objects. Meanwhile, in Brooklyn, the tour will bring visitors inside the Atlantic Avenue Tunnel, a 170-year-old subway tunnel Gadling visited last year. Those living outside the U.S. will find plenty to do as well, with events taking place from Canada to Iceland to Japan.

Want to investigate the weirder side of your own home town? Head over to the Obscura Day event page and see if there’s a tour near you. Hurry though, tours are filling up quick!%Gallery-72634%

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Be sure to check out Episode 5 of Travel Talk TV, which features a Santa Cruz beach adventure; explains why Scottish money is no good; shows how to cook brats the German way; and offers international dating tips!

Lon-done? Visit Bath

by Sean McLachlan on

London’s pollution and stress getting to you? Take the waters in Bath! Just ninety minutes away by train, this well-preserved Georgian-era resort makes for a relaxing day trip or, even better, a weekend getaway.

Bath is famous for its natural hot springs that supposedly have medicinal qualities. The Thermae Bath Spa offers you a chance to soak, but for old-school elegance you’ll want to visit The Roman Baths Museum and Pump Room. Here you’ll see where the ancients came to get healed by the hot mineral springs. The lower parts of the once-giant complex are still remarkably preserved. As you walk around the dim halls and central pool you’ll feel like the Romans left 15 years ago, not 1,500.

After the Romans abandoned their province of Britannia in 410 A.D. the baths fell into disuse. They didn’t come into national prominence again until Queen Anne stopped by in 1702 to cure her gout. The British love of imitating royalty kicked in and Bath was on the map again. An entire city appeared in the 18th century to take care of wealthy visitors, who often stayed an entire year or more. The Pump Room was the central meeting place, an elegant hall where you can still drink some of the healing water. It tastes very heavy in minerals and is served warm.

Bath’s most famous resident was Jane Austen, who penned sharp-witted novels about its residents and their pretensions. Fans won’t want to miss the Jane Austen Centre. Guides in period costume explain what it was like to live here in Austen’s day and trace the history of high society in this first of English resorts. A Regency-style tea room offers refreshment.

There’s lots of period architecture in Bath, but the two jewels that shine the brightest are No. 1 Royal Crescent and the Bath Abbey and Heritage Vaults. Restored and furnished as it was in Georgian times, the Crescent is part of a great sweep of townhouses that are collectively a World Heritage Building. When completed in 1774 they became the swankiest address in the city. In fact, it still is. In 2006 a house in the Crescent sold for £4.5 million, or $7.3 million. The elegant interior of No. 1 is faithfully restored with period furnishings and conveys an excellent idea of what it was like to be ridiculously wealthy more than 200 years ago.

%Gallery-83685%Bath Abbey’s Gothic spires loom over the city’s skyline. Begun in 1499, this is the last of the great Gothic cathedrals built in England and in many ways a culmination of the style. Its great clear windows on the north and south soak the interior with light, while the intricate stained glass on the west and east are breathtakingly beautiful. When lit up at night it looks like a glowing tiara, and locals have dubbed it “The Lantern”. The Heritage Vaults in the cellar trace the history of Christian worship on this site from the 7th century to the present.

The one off note with Bath is the number of visitors. It’s far more crowded than St. Albans or even Canterbury, so you might want to consider visiting outside of the tourist season. Since most of the visitors are day trippers, staying overnight will give you a chance to walk the historic streets in relative peace and see the Abey lit up. There are no shortage of hotel options. If you want to splash out try the Royal Crescent Hotel and live like you’re in a Jane Austen novel. To save your budget after all those spa treatments, eat at Yak Yeti Yak, a cheap and filling Nepali restaurant.

Edgar Allan Poe travel for Halloween weekend

by Jamie Rhein on

Even though Edgar Allan Poe’s funeral do-over in Baltimore was a couple weeks ago, there are several locations where it’s not too late to pay tribute to this literary master of horror. Poe, a traveler himself, moved between Boston, Charlottesville and Richmond, Virginia and Baltimore, plus a few towns in between. Because several of the Poe-related landmarks still exist, it’s possible to follow his trail from his birth to his death.

Given that this is the 200th year of his birth, why not pay Poe tribute by heading to one of these locations for a Halloween weekend remembrance?

Bring a copy of his short stories or poems with you to add to the ambiance. Make sure “The Raven” and “The Fall of the House of Usher” are among them: some of the stops are where they were written.

First stop, Boston:

  • Poe was born on Carver Street where an historical marker denotes the location of his birthplace. Poe was born to actor parents January 19, 1809
  • Fort Independence at Boston Harbor, now a state park, is where Poe enlisted as a private at age 18 in order to support himself. This was after he dropped out of the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, the next stop on this Poe tour.

Virginia was an important state at various points in Poe’s life.

In Charlottesville:

  • At the University of Virginia, you can visit Poe’s dormitory room at 13 West Range. It holds artifacts like the quill pen Poe might have used. His top hat and green coat are part of the Poe legacy the university has maintained.

In Richmond:

  • St. John’s Church, 2401 East Broad St., Richmond. The church graveyard is where Poe’s mother, Elizabeth Arnold Poe is buried, as well as Thomas Willis White, his boss when Poe worked at the Southern Literary Messenger.
  • Elmira Shelton House, 2407 East Grace Street, Richmond. Even though Poe courted Shelton for several years until and she agreed to marry him, they never did have the wedding. He died in Baltimore 10 days before the ceremony was to take place. This was where Shelton lived when Poe came back to Richmond.
  • Talavera, 2315 West Grace St., Richmond. Once the home of writer Susan Talley, a friend of Poe’s sister, this is where Poe gave a reading a few weeks before his death. He and his sister Rosalie visited this house often.
  • Poe Statue on the grounds of Virginia’s state capitol building in Richmond.

In Petersburg:

  • The Hiram Haines House at 12 Bank St. in Petersburg is where Poe spent his honeymoon. Back then the building was a coffee house

Other Virginia locations are covered in Poe Revealed where I found the above information. This site is an unusual glance into American history, as well as, an interesting round-up of Poe inspired places.

Next stop, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania:

  • Head to Edgar Allan Poe National Historic Site. This house is where Poe lived and wrote for part of the seven years he lived in Philadelphia. While he was in Philadelphia, Poe penned: “The Pit and the Pendulum,” “The Cask of Amontillado” and “The Fall of the House of Usher” among others.

Last stop, Baltimore, Maryland.

  • To orient yourself to Poe’s life in Baltimore–and elsewhere, start off at the Edgar Allan Poe House and Museum. He lived in the house from 1883 to 1885 before he moved to Richmond. One of the more unusual displays at this museum are several of the bottles of cognac that have been left on Poe’s grave over the years. This mysterious “Poe Toaster” started paying respect in 1949. Three red roses are always included in the offering.
  • For a real creep-out part of the tour, stop by Church Hospital, formerly Washington College Hospital. This hospital is where Poe died after possibly being drugged and beaten. His death wasn’t easy. According to the description of physician’s notes, he wandered in and out of consciousness making morbid outbursts each time he was conscious.
  • At the Enoch Pratt Free Library, you’ll find several Poe artifacts, letters, poetry and photographs. The collection also includes a lock of Poe’s hair and a piece of his coffin.
  • As an end point of this Poe tour, linger at Poe’s grave in the graveyard at Westminster Hall. The hall is a converted Gothic style church. Of course Poe would be buried next to a Gothic church. The gravestone is not the original and its location is approximate to where it is thought he was buried. When Poe died, he didn’t get much of a send off. Only 10 people (or less) attended his funeral.

Baltimore has been making up to Poe by throwing Nevermore 2009, a year-long, city-wide festival of events for the 200th year of his birth.