Travel Tuesday

In spite of the aforementioned tummy bug I had this weekend I sucked it up so Steve & I went to Oxford for the day. It's only about 20 minutes by train from Reading and it was like a whole new world.

Reading is a very modern town. Its got 2 malls, a big John Lewis & M&S. There are old buildings everywhere but there are also six Starbucks! Yes - six! Why we need that many I will never know, but it's besides the point. The most exciting historical thing, the Abbey, has been closed to visitors since 2009 because the society for historical preservation isn't convinced its worthy enough of a grant (it was build in 1121AD). -_- that's my not impressed face. The city is far more focused on being a big hub for the train to Heathrow airport and an IT center then a quaint British town. Needless to say Oxford is the exact opposite. It's steeped in tradition, has only one Starbucks & lots of gorgeous architecture.

We started off the day with the bus tour - yes they seem lame and annoy the locals but since it provides hop on hop off access for the full day its pretty useful way of getting around. It covers the big sites and tells you stuff you wouldn't have known about.

Alice's Sweet Shop (Alice In Wonderland)

Unfortunately we didn't get a chance to go in, so we are adding it to our next time list.

Downtown Oxford - 99 steps for the best view in the city

Another site we are adding to our next time list!

Covered Market

Oxford University Graduate

It just happened to be graduation weekend so all these happy kids were walking around in their full Oxford dress.

Theater

One of the 38 colleges that make up Oxford University. The entire city looks a little like Hogwarts. Some of the buildings were used for scenes for the movies but they were closed (likely due to graduation)

Bridge & the alley to Turf Tavern

The sign to Turf Tavern (where we had lunch).

I read about it on LonelyPlanet.com - a site I highly recommend. You simply type in the city you are going to and it gives you top attractions, restaurants and a basic overview. Perfect when you don't have time to buy the guidebook. 

Down an alley we went

Signs of life? 

The famous Turf Tavern!

History of the oldest pub in Oxford

Our "favorite" president used to hang out here

Punting on the River Thames

After lunch we wondered down to the river to see about renting a boat. Unfortunately the line for punt boats was well over an hour (it was a beautiful Saturday afternoon) so Steve and I took the next best thing. 

Row row row my boat Steve!

Steve rowed me up and down the Thames for the better part of an hour. I just enjoyed the weather!

The post box for the editor of the Oxford English Dictionary. It was put in place just for him as he received so much mail!

The pub J RR Tolklien & C S Lewis used to frequent 

If you liked this post check out Across The Ponderings! It's an adorable blog written by Julie about her life living abroad in Oxford for a year. She gave me some great ideas of things to do while we were in Oxford.

When in Rome...

No, we're not going to Italy, not yet at least. Though I wish we were - I could use some sunshine!

Now that we live in England there are a few things I feel like I need to catch up on, or in this case return to. A few days ago I decided I needed to to up to date on Doctor Who.

 I watched 3 or 4 seasons a while back, before we moved. Not sure why I didn't watch all of the episodes on netflix but I didn't, but since now all I have is time on my hands I figured why not go ahead and watch all of them. I'll still be a season behind but I should be able to get it on DVD when it comes out here.

Right now I'm with this gorgeous man:

Gotta love a Doctor in glasses. 

The other thing that I need to do is finish a very important & famous English series. Maybe you've heard of it? 

Yes, I am one of the last people my age (mid 20s) who hasn't finished this series. I was a super fan in the early years and a purest - I only read the English prints, not the American ones. Unfortunately by the time the last book came out I was in college & I was so overwhelmed with transferring schools & making friends etc I just didn't get around to reading it. About a year ago I decided I would re-read the series and I found out Steve had never read it so I made him read it along with me. Guess who finished the series and guess who got too busy with changing jobs? I didn't finish again yet Steve did. So this week I am headed to some local used bookstores to try and find the books yet again. 

Platform 9 3/4

Friday night we arrived in London and needed a quick activity to fill some time before we went to dinner. One thing I had never done in London was anything Harry Potter related. When I left Europe in 2000, Harry Potter was big but not huge because the movies hadn't started (first one was in the summer of 2001). So there was little to no hype about it in the city. Obviously things have changed drastically since then, there are studio tours and walking tours and of course, platform 9 3/4.

Since it was pouring rain we grabbed a cab to Kings Cross station, about a 10 minute drive from the hotel. After walking around for about 10 minutes we found the short line where a few other HP fans were lined up to take photos with the famed wall.

Here are some of the photos we took:

Steve rocking a Gryffindor scarf

Steve on his way to Hogwarts 

After doing our obligatory Harry Potter fan photos we went to The Parcel Yard - the British pub right there at Kings Crossing station. They had excellent food and and fun atmosphere. The service was a little slow but the food was outstanding. From the appetizer to the dessert to the beer, it was an all around excellent meal!