The next part of our stay in London was not in London at all. Instead we were borrowing a car for a two-day trip into the countryside to visit the Cotswolds and Oxford.
Our morning started with a 1km walk from our apartment to the hotel where our car was stored. Instead of a traditional car hire, we used a new(ish) type of care rental where everything is booked online and where we pick up a car from a carpark, unlocking the car with our mobile phone.
Arriving at the hotel where the car was stored we were at first a little confused about where to find the car. After a bit of searching we found the car in the underground carpark … and this is where the fun began.
It was quickly apparent that our car had been wedged between two others with VERY little space on either side. Opening the front drivers side door left no room to get in and a check on the passenger side showed little improvement.
After smashing my head on the door jamb (and uttering a few choice words) I managed to contort myself into the rear drivers side door – well mostly … I soon discovered that there was no way I was getting my trailing leg into the car. While I had a mini-freakout as I worried that I might be stuck forever, Megan and the kids could barely stifle their laughs.
Regrouping, I realised that there was slightly more room on the passenger side. Trying again, I managed to get into the backseat. From there I climbed into the front passenger seat and then onto the driver’s seat which was all the way forward. Pushing the seat back I took a few breaths, looking up to see that Megan and the kids could no longer contain themselves.
In hindsight, we all had a laugh but while I was trying to get in I’m pretty sure I cursed the previous driver and every member of their family. What a way to start our trip.
I had been slack when registering myself as a driver with the rental company so this meant that Megan had to drive. This was a pretty nerve-wracking concept, not because of Megan’s driving ability, but because we were heading out into peak hour traffic in London. What were we thinking?
Excellent navigation from me combined with a trance-like state from Megan soon had us through the worst of the traffic and on to the highways.
Driving for about 2.5 hours we soon arrived at our first destination, Bibury. A quaint little village with a river running through town, we marvelled at our first close look at the old houses, buildings and even a water-mill. The town is known for its Trout Farm but it was a little early for fish so instead we took a 10-15 minute loop walk around the heath. Being winter, most of the grasses and flowering plants we not their best, but it was still pretty amazing to see the crystal clear water running through town.
Parking behind the main street and church we took the opportunity to stretch our legs with a wander up and down the shopping strip. Megan would normally enjoy checking out the many shops but was instead quite unsettled. Unusually, it was the kids that took us into a few stores – a book shop for Amelia and a Sweets Shop for Hamish.
As we walked back towards the car park we commented on the watery sun peeking through the cloud. For the most part on this trip we have been very lucky with the weather and so it was today. Although overcast, cool and damp we did not have any rain.
Stopping to checkout the church, we once again headed to the car for our next leg.
When travelling with Hamish, food is never far from his mind. Having sampled some fudge bought in Burford, Hamish reminded us that lunchtime was approaching.
We set off for Bourton-on-the-water as our next stop. Driving in to town we passed a car parking area but, of course, we drove straight past and into town in the hope of finding a park closer to the centre of town. Anyone who has driven here will be laughing at us now as before long we had done a u-turn and returned to the carpark.
As it turned out, this was a blessing in disguise because by walking in we could follow alongside the river. Checking out a few shops to visit on our way out we made a beeline for a pub we had seen on our initial drive in. A typical English pub, it even had the group of old blokes downing ales at the bar and recounting stories past.
The girls had fish and chips, Hamish had a curry and Anthony had a delicious homemade pie.
Full from lunch, we ambled about town and, with Megan now back in her groove, we visited a number of stores.
Bourton-on-the-water was our favourite town by far but, with time ticking and the winter daylight starting to wane, we reluctantly walked back to the car.
Our last village for the day was Stow-on-the-Wold. Megan had been keen to visit here again, recalling fond memories. Strangely, the town was not at all like she remembered. After doing a couple of loops of the central part of the village, we found a car park.
Our guide from the Bath visit had mentioned to us that the Stow-on-the-Wold church had a special door which was an inspiration for Tolkien when writing Lord of the Rings. We walked around the church noting that there continues to be burials in the churchyard.
With light fading fast though, we only did a brief exploration of the town before jumping the car once again to drive to Stratford-upon-Avon where we had accomodation for the night.
The next morning we got up after a good nights sleep and all took time to enjoy the shower (unlike the shower in our London apartment – look for a future blog on this). Hamish particularly enjoyed the shower wand, managing to wet almost every part of the bathroom!
After getting ready we headed out onto the foggy streets of Stratford heading for breakfast at BTP (Boston Tea Party). A hot breakfast for all of us set us up nicely for the day ahead.
To anyone interested in English Literature, Stratford-upon-Avon is well known as being the village where Shakespeare was born. Thankfully it was recognised more than 100 years ago, that the house in which Shakespeare was born should be preserved.
The building itself is now accompanied by a small exhibition/museum telling the story of Shakespeare. We enjoyed a slow wander through this display before entering the house. It was really interesting to walk through the house, with eager (too eager at times) volunteers in every room ready for a chat and to share information.
It is hard to explain but we all found interest in different ways, spending more than an hour checking it all out.
We walked back to the car to set off for Oxford. As we progressed towards Oxford, the fog gave way to rain making the drive a little more challenging. During the drive, Megan and Anthony were discussing the parking situation in Oxford. Megan recalled from her previous visit that parking in town was quite limited. Anthony jumped on the phone to search for parking options, finding that Oxford has an excellent series of “Park and Ride” locations. Changing the navigation system to point to our chosen location we soon arrived, finding a carpark quite close to the ticketing and bus pickup point which was very welcome given the continuing rain. $6.80 bought us parking and our bus tickets in and out. Judging by the number of cars in the carpark this is a very popular option. A short 10-minute bus ride delivered us right in to the centre of OXford.
Arriving in Oxford, we first headed through the Christmas Market to find where our 2pm walking tour was starting. As it turned out, the tour was to begin in front of perhaps the most well known of Oxford Colleges, Trinity.
Satisfied that we knew where to go, we headed back into town in search of lunch. We ended up at a 2-storey Pret housed in an original (and rambling) Tudor building. As with the colleges later in the day, it is fun to see the mix of modern technology and conveniences inside buildings that are hundreds of years old.
Heading back to Trinity College, we were excited to begin our exploration, Anthony thinking aloud what might have been and Amelia thinking aloud what might be to come.
Our guide for the tour was a former student at Oxford having completed his studies in English Literature last year. He was a Chinese national (and dual Canadian Citizen) who was taking a year to work in Oxford before heading to Canada to study medicine.
As it happened, we were in Oxford during college Interview time. This is a break in academic semesters when future students were in town to interview for places at their chosen colleges. Although some universities in Australia have colleges, none are truly like Oxford where the college itself has such a pivotal role in education and learning and not just a place to stay.
Our timing meant that only 2 colleges were actually open to visitors. This was not really a problem though as we were able to visit St. Johns College where we could see the architecture, quad, gardens and chapel. The guide used this time to explain the Oxford College system and to share interesting facts such as the fact that every college has its own chapel, library and dining hall. Of particular interest to Megan and I was the fact that Oxford provides ALL text books free of charge to its students – even getting in additional books as needed. Ironically, Oxford has a major funding source in its textbook publishing business, and the irony was not lost on us that we have almost certainly had to buy a textbook or two in the past that was published by Oxford.
We continued our exploration, visiting the main library (one of 6 copyright libraries in Britain – they hold a copy of every book published), seeing the graduation hall from the outside (where graduation ceremonies are still conducted in Latin) and the John Radcliffe Medical Library.
Being a family of avid readers and with Amelia having an interest in literature, we enjoyed finding references/inspirations for Tolkien, C.S. Lewis and Lewis Carroll.
After about 2 hours our tour came to an end and after a little shopping in the Christmas market and the purchase of Oxford jumpers by Amelia and Hamish we returned to the Park and Ride by bus, ready to tackle the peak hour run in to London in the dark.
Keen to have a drive of the car, Anthony took the driving seat for the trip back to London. Initially all was going well with the Mercedes A Class feeling very solid on the wet roads and Anthony settling into the groove of highway driving in England.
As we got closer we began to slow due to the inevitable traffic. On the way out to the Cotswolds yesterday, we had noted a BP service station which would be perfect for us to refill before returning the car. This was the same BP service station that Megan and Anthony both noted as we passed it in the centre lane with no possibility of moving across.
This was our first mistake but not the last we would make before the night was over. Continuing on in the hope that another petrol station would present itself, Megan tried in vain to search for petrol stations with her phone. We are both using SIM cards on the “3” network here in the UK. My firm recommendation to you if you are in the UK is to avoid this network. With seemingly dial-up speeds when it does work, there are far too many places (even in the inner-city) where is does not work at all.
Approaching a giant roundabout we managed to miss our turn. No problem we thought, we’ll just go around again. Exiting the roundabout on the second attempt though we both realised that Anthony had taken the wrong exit. There is no need to bore you with the detail but suffice to say that we got to see way more of London by road than we ever imagined and i’m pretty sure that there were times when Megan and Anthony did not breathe for minutes at a time as they battled the stress of unfamiliar roads in the dark and wet.
To our great surprise, not only did we find our way home but we did not manage to get killed by crazy London drivers and we even found a petrol station along the way.
Arriving at our destination, Anthony took great care to park the car properly, ensuring that the next driver could actually enter via the driver’s door.
A short walk home via a Tescos and our mini-holiday was complete.