Oxford - St. Mary's - Saatchi - Blenheim

Oxford University
Wednesday, 11:00 am
The name Oxford breathes status. It's a beautiful city with historic architecture and culture. There are too many museums to visit in one week (one we'd recommend is the Bate Collection of musical instruments) and plenty of parks and gardens in which to relax. Big plus is that the city can be crossed by foot.

Wordlist:
crossed – doorkruist

St. Mary the virgin church & Sheldonian Theatre
Wednesday, noon
Officially called University Church of Saint Mary the Virgin this is the largest church in Oxford and the church from where the University grew.

In medieval times scholars lived in houses with their teachers. Since university had no buildings of its own back then, it took St Mary's as its centre. By the early 13th century the church was just as much a religious centre as it was the place where university government sat and lectures and graduation ceremonies were held.

As the university grew it needed more space, so college buildings were built around the church. However, in the 17th century university was separated from church for Christian reasons. As a result Sheldonian Theatre was built to hold graduation ceremonies, which were held in church before the separation.

Nowadays these ceremonies are still held in the Theatre, but around St Mary's you can still find a lot of college buildings.

Wordlist:
scholars – studenten aan de universiteit
government – directie, leiding
lectures – lezingen
graduation – diploma (uitreiking)

Blenheim Palace
Wednesday, 14:00 pm


Saatchi Gallery – contemporary art in London
Thursday, 10:00 am
We all know what a stillife looks like. We all know what a portrait of a wealthy young woman looks like. So why don't we make this required arttrip more fun and see something completely new?

Saatchi Gallery is the place to be for the famous and unfamous young artists. Situated on the legendary King's Road it hosts work of Marlene Dumas and Terence Koh among many others. Lots of Dutch and Belgian creatives can be found here as well. Last but not least: Saatchi has one room exhibiting work made by underage artists. All these teenagers compete in the annual Sunday Telegraph Art Prize. Who said high schoolers suck at art?

Wordlist:
Contemporary – modern
situated – gelegen
exhibit – tentoon stellen
underage – minderjarig
annual – jaarlijks