Oxford

Two nights in Oxford is not enough.  We arrived ravenous in the late afternoon and didn't manage to  complete the 30 minute walk into the city as we discovered, just next door to the hotel, the Prince of Wales Pub.  There we enjoyed a feast and the most delightful company of locals, who welcomed us with open arms the minute we stepped through the door.  And, much to Emily's delight, there were a couple of dogs and a tiny little pup in the pub.  They too are made welcome and we've all noticed how dog-friendly it is over here.

After lunch we did complete our walk into the city and here are just a few pictures of what we saw on the way.  A couple of things to note

• the weather - the top left picture is of our hotel bathed in glorious sunshine with bright blue skies, the bottom right shows the torrential rain we got caught in on the way home!

• the narrow boat - we met the two owners of the boat through Scruffy, their aptly named pup.  We got chatting and they explained they were stuck, the river had a status of Code Red due to all of the recent rain and they were unable to pass through the locks.  They very kindly invited us to tour their boat and it was surprisingly roomy inside.  It was a real treat and a big thanks to Scruffy for the introduction.

The sights on our walk into town

A good part of our full day in Oxford was taken up with a 2 hour walking tour, with the exuberant, proud, recent Oxford law-graduate Fred. Despite completing his degree Fred has started his own tour company in Oxford. The walks are free, but participants are encouraged to leave a tip if they feel it is worth it. Fred was worth it! He was born and bred in Oxford and being a graduate had first hand experience of college and university life. He was obviously (and very rightly) proud of his beautiful city and his passion and enthusiasm were infectious. I think we all fell in love with Oxford that day.

Beautiful Oxford