Key Buildings
As we walked around the university's most well known sites - Bridge of Sighs, Bodleian Library and the one-time residence of Edmond Halley (of Halley's Comet fame), we noted that bicycles out-numbered cars and the students participating in drinking games on the lawns and wearing garlands of flowers in a very boho 1970's look; outnumber the tourists taking advantage of the free walking tours on campus.
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| Bodleian Library compound |
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| Edmond Halley residence |
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| Memorial to Anglican bishops burned for supporting the wrong religion |
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| The sign reads 'An education in intoxication' |
We spent a good 1.5 hours in the Ashmolean museum (yes, another one) but with a more concise collection, we managed to span the entire length of human history from Paleolithic man with his flint tools, through to the Crusades, European Renaissance and ended up finishing with an eccentric bequeathed collection of antique pocket watches - a gadget that became obsolete with the rise of the wrist watch.
One thing of the history lessons learnt from the Ashmolean museum trip was an understanding of the extent that Buddhism has spread from its origins in India to Afghanistan and south east Asia (Thailand, Burma, Indonesia).
And whilst eating a very recommendable plate of Pad Thai noodles at a Thai restaurant, it was very evident to see how devoted the Thai people are to Buddhism, but the Afghanistan link was a surprise. That said, we then remembered the footage of giant statues being blown up by bazookas as one reason why the Western world cared about the Afghanistan conflict and it all made sense. Treasures lost as a result of war is a tragedy. Treasures recovered just in time is almost a miracle and we are spending yet another day tomorrow at the British Museum to see the 'Afghanistan - Crossroads of the ancient world, surviving treasures from the National Museum of Afghanistan'.
And on a last note, an unfortunate outcome of war (in particular the Afghanistan conflict) is always the impact on the innocent civilians who become refugees seeking shelter and a better life. But then there are the opinions and concerns of the citizens in countries where the refugees seek to go. We watched a very poignant documentary recently on BBC "The Invasion of Lampedusa", that showed both sides of the story about how a small Italian tourist island found itself outnumbered by Tunisian and Libyan refugees. It was a very eye-opening history lesson. As was documentary "Immigration Nation" (Australian TV channel, SBS) that we had watched just before leaving Melbourne for London. A couple of days ago, we heard that SBS had shown a further documentary "Go Back to Where You Came From" that put a very different spin on public perception of the refugee issue.
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| Ashmolean museum |
One thing of the history lessons learnt from the Ashmolean museum trip was an understanding of the extent that Buddhism has spread from its origins in India to Afghanistan and south east Asia (Thailand, Burma, Indonesia).
And whilst eating a very recommendable plate of Pad Thai noodles at a Thai restaurant, it was very evident to see how devoted the Thai people are to Buddhism, but the Afghanistan link was a surprise. That said, we then remembered the footage of giant statues being blown up by bazookas as one reason why the Western world cared about the Afghanistan conflict and it all made sense. Treasures lost as a result of war is a tragedy. Treasures recovered just in time is almost a miracle and we are spending yet another day tomorrow at the British Museum to see the 'Afghanistan - Crossroads of the ancient world, surviving treasures from the National Museum of Afghanistan'.
 |
| A very yummy Pad Thai dish |
And on a last note, an unfortunate outcome of war (in particular the Afghanistan conflict) is always the impact on the innocent civilians who become refugees seeking shelter and a better life. But then there are the opinions and concerns of the citizens in countries where the refugees seek to go. We watched a very poignant documentary recently on BBC "The Invasion of Lampedusa", that showed both sides of the story about how a small Italian tourist island found itself outnumbered by Tunisian and Libyan refugees. It was a very eye-opening history lesson. As was documentary "Immigration Nation" (Australian TV channel, SBS) that we had watched just before leaving Melbourne for London. A couple of days ago, we heard that SBS had shown a further documentary "Go Back to Where You Came From" that put a very different spin on public perception of the refugee issue.
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