Thursday 24 September 2015

Thames River Walk (Sep 24, 2015)

Well we made it and we are here in Oxford with our merry band of 5. We are staying at the Oxford Coach and Horses Boutique Bed & Breakfast and so far I am batting 1000...superb place to stay...everyone is happy including Dennis!

Dawn and I had a bit of fun in Heathrow airport going about 10 Km's (ok slight exaggeration) from Terminal 2 to Terminal 3 to catch our bus to Oxford...turns out Terminal 2 is closed for a week or so. Then due to my exceptional route finding skills (note I write the blog...not Dawn) we found our bus and voila...we were on our way.

Yesterday afternoon and today was spent touring around Oxford which is a really fascinating place...did you know that the inspiration for Alice and Wonderland came from this area? That Stephen Hawking was not allowed to study math at Oxford University so he switched to physics...without that the TV series Big Bang Theory would never have existed!

Yesterday afternoon I got my first taste of an English meal...falafel sandwich...have to tone down the eating otherwise I will have to walk in my underwear!

Falafel sandwich

Our Merry band...left to right... me (Guy...trip organizer...route directions leader), Dennis (in charge of nothing), Dawn (my lovely spouse and finder of cute shops), Elaine (lovely spouse of Dennis and also in charge of cute shops...and taking care of Dennis) and Dave (long time friend of Dennis 😂 and pub finder).

L to R - Guy, Dennis, Dawn, Elaine, Dave

So far today we have taken a 2 hour tour of Oxford University colleges, seen where Harry Potter scenes took their inspiration and tonight...to be described tomorrow we are going on an OXFORD GHOSTS TOUR tonight...that is if I live to tell the tale!

Oxford facts...38 colleges, 20,000 students, 1 in 10,000 chance of acceptance, can either apply to Oxford or Cambridge BUT NOT BOTH!, first purposed museum in the world...unbelievable library of books...every copyrighted book published in England (except maybe some kids books) ends up here!

I could go on and on but it's best to simply to describe the day through a few pictures.

Sample building architecture
Rugby fields - note photography technique through branches




Cool red ivy
Guy and Dawn in front of gardens

Christchurch College


Merry band - note shorts - either hardy or a fool?

Thames River where we will start tomorrow


I must have this hat!!!

Red wagon has not shown up - must improvise for Dennis

Bridge of Sighs - patterned after Venice bridges...1.5 ft longer than Cambridge's

Impossible! Impossible! What am I going to do?

Round Library housing 5 million books
Well Trinity college was a must see as a number of Harry Potter scenes were inspired...well in my books filmed here.


Famous staircase to Hogwarts Library with interesting person


Hogwarts hall where hat sorting took place! This is a real special place!
    

I was there!!! Not sure why my daughters comment on my teeth!

Where we had lunch - open since 1242!!!

A courtyard at Christchurch college


Finally for my little granddaughter Rose
Well off to get a good night's sleep. Pulling Dennis on that little bicycle tomorrow could be a challenge!

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