June Adeventures-Part 3

 

Day 5:  We left the beautiful area of Bath and headed to Oxford for our next grand adventure.  We arrived early, before we could check in, and checked our luggage at the hotel before exploring Oxford for a few hours on our own, where we explored Christ Church and witnessed many students in graduation cap & gown.  We made our way back to the hotel, and had a bit to eat and met our next guide, Iian, (an Oxford Alumni) in the lobby.  Iian took us all over Oxford University where we were able to tour 2 of the 39 colleges that are under the Oxford University system. We learned all about this system and the names of several of the colleges as well as history of the university itself.    As we were nearing the end of our tour, and Iian took a right turn down one of the many cobbled alleyways,  Leah turned the corner and had an outburst of such excitement, I think Iian was very shocked that somebody knew why he came down that alley way before he even got to tell the history of it!  Being a HUGE CS Lewis fan, Leah immediately saw the doorway that inspired The Chronicles of Narnia, and she began telling us all about it before Iian even had to and he admitted she knew more about it than he did.

After our Oxford tour, we had a brief rest before our walk to the evening Cruise and Dine excursion.  We would board a river boat that seats up to 12 people and take a tour of the River Thames before disembarking for dinner.  The four of us boarded the boat and were given Prosecco to enjoy as we cruised along the river.  However, about 15 minutes later, our river cruise ran into a bit of snafu when the engine gave out and our Captain had to call for a 2^nd boat to rescue us.  As we waited for the 2nd boat, the group of 12 of us, all from different countries, but all speaking English, joked about needing more provisions, that this would be a “3 hour tour”, instead of 45 minutes etc.  Everyone was in good spirits, our rescue ship arrived and we finished our cruise along the river Thames where we witnessed many of the crew teams and their boat houses from Oxford University.  When we arrived back to our Port and the restaurant, we were offered some more free Prosecco for our trouble and we all dined well the rest of the evening. 

After the scrumptious dinner, we took a leisurely stroll through Oxford looking for places where CS Lewis & JRR Tolkien may have shared a pint.  We found a pub and Leah ordered her first “drink” and after sitting down at our table, which appeared to be surrounded by students from Oxford, Leah noticed a portrait of none other than CS Lewis hanging on the wall.  So she can now say she had a glass of whiskey with CS Lewis.

Day 7:  We met our driver, Paul, in the lobby and he had the privilege of driving us to the lovely Northern Cotswold’s’.  Paul was very knowledgeable about the area as he and his family lived on the outskirts of the Cotswold’s for year, and after becoming empty nesters-he and his wife now live in the Cotswold’s.  This picturesque region of England was one of mine and Leah’s favorites.  The area was a portal back in time and Paul explained that a law came about that required any new building to be retrofitted using the exact stone used from the local quarry and that if the house or building has a thatched roof, it must be maintained and remain a thatched roof.  I think I let the pictures speak for themselves in describing this  area -the scenery was breathtaking and the villages were unique.  

After arriving back in Oxford, we began to do a bit of packing before venturing out again for the evening, as this was our last night in England.