Easter long weekend 2009

Cotswold

The Cotswold is an area of little of England knows for its little villages and cottages. All very nice and pretty places. We visited a lot of these on our Monday as we had a full day and were in no rush. From the bnb we had a suggested rout to take and almost finished it except it was a long day out. Most of the villages had rivers or streams running through them which added to how beautiful they were. When we arrived at the larger/more popular ones it became much more crowded and harder to find a parking spot.

The best way to describe these villages is a cross between Berry (in NSW) and the set of post man pat. Then you have almost how the village is. Lots of antiques and cafes, why do they always do that have antiques and cafes in these places that are usually frequented by old people? Is it to remind them of their past and then make them eat?

We had lunch in pub garden soaking up the sun…first we had seen in a long time.

By the end of the day we had sit down have a coffee and some scones.

Oxford Castle

Saturday saw us leave the car at the BnB and head into Oxford for a day of

sightseeing. You can’t really park in oxford and was much easier to get the train than the park and ride. Plus a benefit of travelling by train allowed us to use a 2-4-1 offer when you travel by train. We had our ticket and our little book of offers, with these in hand we walked into town and headed straight for oxford castle, we got in for £7.50, score!

We had a tour of the castle which was ok, but there didn’t seem to be too much to look at there. Don’t get me wrong it was gr8 and to get the history is what I like too. It just didn’t feel like it was big enough I know it was a castle just thought it would have been bigger/ more to look at. The castle was always used to hold prisoners and part of the gaol had been transformed into a luxury hotel (http://www.malmaison-oxford.com/) we were not allowed to go and have a look at these cells/rooms and defiantly could not afford to stay there for £275 a night!

We really wanted to do a walking tour of the city as they are always a gr8 way to learn about a town and the history. We headed down to the local Information centre to find out that all the tours had been booked up until Monday! Disappointed we walked on and thought right we will go visit the Bodlien library (we had read it was a must see). Upon arrival there we found out their tours were also all full up! Fine then we will just go walking around ourselves…that was until

we stumbled up a sign that said for tours wait here and some one will come collect you. There was a time indicating only 10mins from when we read it so we waited and a few more people joined then along came the tour guide. He was, how do you say it ….slightly mental.

The walking tour went for a good 1.5 hrs and our crazy guide was getting a bit much, interesting to listen to but he did have his own way of explaining things in the hardest way to understand.. There were also obscure references to politics and then talk about Portsmouth (no where near oxford) and how that where they shipped people to the colonies, he never said it like that but just that from Portsmouth is where America and Australia began.

Dinner at Jamie’s

While in oxford we went to dinner at Jamie Oliver’s Italian Restaurant. It is very reasonably priced the expensive part was for the drinks. We had dinner nice an early 6pm as you could not book a table and we wanted to get in early so we didn’t have to wait too long. Was good and am happy to say we have eaten at one of his restaurants. Although there is no evidence yep no pictures were taken.

BnB –

The BnB was nice, the breakfast was awesome and Kieran loved the home made

Jams but it did feel a little bit like were staying with a Nan. Not a specific Nan but just the way the owner was with her guests. I think some people would like that though.

The car

Was a Vauxhall (holden) Corsa.We have both agreed that no one should buy one of these. I am not sure if it was because we were useless or what but it was a very annoying car. The lights were always on, the windscreen wipers had a stupid way to turn them on and off and the rear one was on the same leaver. I don’t recommend anyone buying this car.

Blenheim Palace

Blenheim Place – Home to the current 11^th Duke or Marlborough .

First off it wasn’t the best of days to go visit, raining grey and a public holiday meant lots of people. While there we totally felt out numbered by the sea of grey hair and walking sticks.

All that aside it was still good to go there and see the place where Churchill was born.

From the day before we found a 2-4-1 deal for Blenheim. So we bought a ticket on Saturday for the next day. When we arrived at the gate we showed our 1

ticket (£2.50) and the 2-4-1 coupon which gave us a saving of £17.50…what a bargain. As we saved so much money we decided to pay for an extra tour of the state

rooms (where the duke lives) as it was open due to the duke being away. Was good to see where/how they live along with all the extra rooms and even a whole room just for displaying some china plates..thats what I call toooo much room.

Throughout the palace we got to see the beginnings and when and why it was built along with a few of the stories around the people who were living in there over the years. Was all very interesting and full of history.

We ended the day with a run around the maze (sure glen cheated a little using his height to see over the hedges).