Blogs from Oxfordshire, England, United Kingdom, Europe - page 4

Moving on to Oxford today, we decided that we would spend the day at Bletchley Park, as it was close to Oxford. We knew that because it is the weekend that many people would be out and about, and the other place we really want to visit, Blenheim Palace, would be better after the weekend. Bletchley Park was a secret base during WWII. It decoded messages, troup movements and orders from the German enigma machines. We arrived about 11.30 after a two hour drive through some lovely autumn colours. It has taken until the last week or so for the trees to really change into the autumn colours. We began with an introductory short film, then picked up our audio guides and started to wander around the property. To keep the work really secret, the team ... read more

The drive up to Chipping Norton campsite was fairly uneventful, though the sat nav originally wanted me to go via Oxford, which would add 20 miles, but as I couldn't see the point of the extra mileage, I opted for the direct route. As Swindon was the half way point, I asked the sat nav to find a Tesco for food and fuel, but rather than send me to a supermarket, it took me to a tiny Tesco metro! The site is fairly quiet, and I was given full reign to choose my spot, but as the weather was so cloudy I couldn't see where the sun was, and I didn't trust my iPhone compass, so parked it along a hedge. It wasn't till the next day I realised I was pointing the wrong way round,( ... read more

Day 2 started off really early for me. I woke up around 6am from my "Privileged Room". No joke, my luck this trip was amazing. Andrew and I had lucked out and got an upgraded room that was way too fancy for two college students, but I was not complaining. I decided to do some exploring. It was nice to see the Oxford streets so empty. The masses of people often time detracted my view from the beauty of the city. I had grabbed an English breakfast, which I later found was not authentic after further exploring. Then I went to go get a haircut. The barber unfortunately was not able to cut my hair, but I appreciated his honesty. For Lunch we went to a place called Nandos. I was honestly disappointed by the meal ... read more

Today, Tuesday 24th January, is my last day in England. Ben is back at work and Florence is in nursery school, so Petra and I are packing up Sam and heading to Oxford for the day. Ben dropped us at the Bristol Railway Station on his way to work for our 90 minute trip. Thankfully, it was a bright, sunny, but very cold day. We had no real plans except for a two hour walking tour of Oxford University, starting at 2.00pm. Oxford, one of the world's best known university cities, is called 'The City of Dreaming Spires'. It's home to 38 colleges and the prestigious Oxford University, all of which are positioned around the medieval town centre. It has been home to royalty and scholars for the past 800 years, though people have been known ... read more

Ahh . . the joys of long distance air travel. We cannot really complain but we were ready to drop by the time we reached Helsinki. The Finnair A340 from Singapore onwards was just that bit more cramped and was significantly noisier than the previous A330. We found it difficult to snooze. Thankfully, the leg from Helsinki was short and in a brand new A350; perhaps the most technically sophisticated plane around. It still had that “brand new plane” smell. Note to Qantas: buy some A350s. Sunday morning and Heathrow welcomed us efficiently and we were soon at our Kensington hotel; only three and a half hours before we could check in. After twenty-eight hours of air travel, we felt badly in need of a shower; not to mention cleaning of teeth. Trying not to stand ... read more