Ethan Gaines
Virginia Program at Oxford
Oxford, England
Summer 2019

On our first weekend at Oxford, the program director, Dr. Ken Fincham, led the group on a tour all around the city of Oxford. We were able to see the majority of the colleges that make up Oxford University, and learned a little history about each. We ended our tour at the world-renowned Bodleian Library, seeing the famous Radcliffe Camera, Sheldonian Theatre, and Divinity School, which were all absolutely fascinating. Over the duration of the program we were able to use the Bodleian Library and its vast resources to help with our intense studies.

Over the next few weeks the program went on multiple excursions to Stratford-upon-Avon, the birthplace of William Shakespeare. Here, we watched live performances of Shakespeare’s Measure for Measure and Taming of the Shrew at the Royal Shakespeare Company. Also, while we were there mainly for those plays, we were able to enjoy the Stratford River Festival, which is a free festival located along the canals of Stratford that offers live music and great food.

At about halfway through our time in Oxford, the program provides a long weekend of about four days, encouraging to students to travel all over Europe and experience new and exciting cultures. Taking advantage of this opportunity, three other Hampden-Sydney students and I traveled to the wonderful city of Amsterdam in the Netherlands. Amsterdam was absolutely gorgeous and on our canal tour we were able see much of the city and learn about its rich history. One of the more exciting things we did while there was visit the Rijks Museum, which is undoubtedly the largest and most intriguing museum I had ever been to. Overall, the long weekend vacation was a good change of pace from our strenuous studies at Oxford.

Now on our fifth week of the program, we traveled to Hampton Court Palace and the Globe Theatre in London to see our last Shakespeare play, Henry IV Part 1. Hampton Court Palace was equally gorgeous as it was enormous, consisting of absolutely stunning gardens that surrounded the grounds, and magnificent art galleries which resided within its walls. On our way to the Globe Theatre, we were able to briefly travel around London, allowing me to see St Paul’s Cathedral and the Millennium Bridge on the Thames River. The play itself was wonderful and the ambience of the Globe theatre was like no other.