We arrived in the rain to a very unpromising weather forecast but vowed to make the best of it. Our hotel was probably the most unique of all of our stays so far - a former prison. Originally part of the Oxford Castle, which dates back to 1071, the facility was actually a working prison up until 1996. I read after the fact that executions did take place there in medieval times - kind of glad I didn't know that little snippet until after we were safely checked out. The developers used the old elements of the jail wherever they could, but they stopped short of locking us in our rooms at night. It was a rather cool place.
After checking in we ventured off in the rain to find our recommended lunch spot and had a nice meal overlooking the Oxford Canal. We decided to take our time eating as we started to catch some hints of the sky brightening, and sure enough, by the time we were through the sun was making a valiant effort to shine through the clouds, and eventually it won as you'll see in the pictures. We spent the rest of the afternoon strolling and just looking at all of the beautiful scenery around us. After unpacking at the hotel, we later walked to a nice little French bistro for dinner. On the walk back we encountered lots of students in sweatshirts and flip flops, drinking beer and having fun and it was clear that in the end, Oxford is after all very much a college town.
The next day we opted to stroll into town for breakfast at a cozy little cafe, then got down to some serious sightseeing. First stop was the Botanic Gardens and they were gorgeous. We got rained upon just a teensy bit a the start but were able to duck into the green houses; the rest of the visit was dry, and then the sun was back out (more or less) for the rest of the day. Story of my British life! Many - but not all - of the colleges in Oxford are open for touring so we picked just two to actually pay and go into. The first was Magdalen College (for obvious reasons) (although the correct pronunciation is "Maudlin" - hmph) and the second was Christ Church, being the most well known. Really, how could I visit Oxford and not take in the very sight of where scenes from the first few "Harry Potter" movies were filmed? Both campuses were beautiful and worth the few quid it cost us to get inside.
After some pub snacks we continued to walk around the city and literally happened into an alleyway that happened to hold The Chequers - a pub where Chris happened to discover his favorite English beer! What are the odds of that? (It's called Thornbridge Ashford, by the way.) So we were diverted for a bit. Then we set off for a river walk along the Thames and back to the hotel. Dinner was tapas at a chain Spanish restaurant, but it was right next to the hotel and we were tired. We had decided earlier in the day to poo-poo the dire weather forecast for Monday (we'd been happily misled so far) and booked a van tour of the Cotswolds which we looked forward to as we went to bed.
And of course we woke up to rain that didn't stop the entire day.
But it was OK, because the tour was still lovely, despite the miserable weather! I can only imagine how this "Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty" looks on a sunny day. An "AONB" as it's called is an actual designation by the British Government of "a precious landscape whose distinctive character and natural beauty are so outstanding that it is in the nation's interest to safeguard them." I just love how British that is! So anyway, the Cotswolds are a designated AONB. A well deserved designation for this region of southwest England, consisting of villages, hills and rolling pastures, a "cot" being a sheep enclosure, and a "wold" being a hill. This place is full of both.
We were in a van with a very informed guide, John, and 2 couples from France who spoke little English (which was nice as we were more in the mood to sight-see than chit-chat.) John drove us through picturesque villages with awesome names, like "Bourton-on-the-Water", "Stow-on-the-Wold", and "Moreton-in-Marsh"which coincidentally is the same village Dad & Darlene stayed in on their train tour. The scenery was amazing, especially when we stopped at a few of the mentioned villages and toured a church, ate lunch or just strolled along the High Street. I recently enrolled Chris & I in The National Trust, which has several properties in and around the Cotswolds. I hope to get the chance to go back, perhaps on our own, perhaps on a better day weather-wise as it really was outstanding.
Then it was back to Oxford, back on the train, and back to London. Another item crossed off the Ole' British Bucket List.
Pix in 2 separate albums:
https://picasaweb.google.com/swronsky/Oxford?feat=directlink
https://picasaweb.google.com/swronsky/Cotwolds?feat=directlink
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