Gioia Travels: Settled in Oxford

Friday, July 30th found us traveling again, in a reverse order of what we had done on 7/24 (which was a Cab, then BART, then plane, then bus) - we checked out of the hotel and took the bus to the Dublin airport. RyanAir was efficient, completely no frills (seat backs don't even tilt), but quick and ontime to the Birmingham airport. From there it was a one hour train ride to Oxford, where we caught a cab for the short drive to our new "home".

We easily recognized the house from the pictures the owners had sent - so that was good news - the house really did exist!

We followed the directions to contact the next door neighbor, who works from home, to pick up the key. We knocked - no answer; we called- no answer and no machine; we called the # for owner's sister who had back-up key - no answer (but at least could leave a message). At this point I think that we both had a brief moment of panic and doubt. There we were with our suitcases and nowhere to go.

Fortunately, after about 20 minutes, the neighbor arrived, having walked to the store to pick up a few things, and all doubt dissolved. We unlocked the door to our "virgin" home exchange (we are hoping these opportunities will continue!) to find a charming 1924 rowhouse, perfect for our needs. Here you can see the front of the house.

Big kitchen by European standards. One thing I am realizing about home exchange is that is very easy to grab something in the kitchen, and then completely forget where you grabbed it from when it is time to put it away. Their kitchen will be completely rearranged by the time we turn it back to them - but I imagine ours will be the same. You can see the chalkboard drawing on the side of the cabinet, drawn by their 8 year old son that reads "Welcome to Oxford" and he has drawn (and labeled) the church, the libery (sic) and the tower.

This is the add-on "Conservatory" leading to a nice back yard deck, lawn and fruit trees.

Jim is happily discovered that they have satellite TV with tons of choice (quite different than the limited but unique - ask us about the sex education show - on the Dublin hotel TV)

Here is the master bedroom (there are two other bedrooms upstairs, and then an office downstairs with the other rooms in the photos)

After settling in, we journeyed off to a dinner spot the owners had recommended. They had advised it was only accessible by foot - a perfect option for us since we were without a car. It was a beautiful walk along the Thames (which has many tributaries running through Oxford). There were long, narrow houseboats along the way

as well as the standard university town crew club women taking an evening practice.

We also passed a field of cows that look like they would produce chocolate/vanilla swirl ice cream - we googled them when we got back and they are Belted Galloway cows.

We couldn't have asked for a more classic English countryside setting than that of the Isis Farmhouse pub -operated by a psychiatrist who is a professor at Oxford and staffed by his students. In addition to beer and wine and a few baked goods, there are two just two items on the menu each night - one vegetarian selection and one meat selection. Great food and wonderful to sit outside looking out on the river.

No more beer for Jim - back to drinking wine in spite of being in the land of pubs and ale.

On Saturday we went off to explore Oxford. The owners left us their bikes to use. I should first explain that this whole "driving on the opposite side of the road" in Ireland as well as here, is all quite disorienting even though we haven't been driving. It means having to think about which way to look before you cross the street (at least in Dublin the pavement is marked "look left" or "look right"). Even when we have been passengers we feel like we are headed in to an accident because it seems like you are heading the wrong way down a one-way street. So, off we peddled on the bikes realizing we had to ride on the "opposite" side as well. Such concentration! But we managed on our way without crashing into anything or causing any accidents and arrived in bike-friendly Oxford (brought back memories of UC Davis)

We had lunch in this lovely grave-side cafe in the front of one of the old churches (St Mary's).

Tons of tourists and tour groups - we were shocked. Apparently tourism has always been big here, but grew by 40% after the Harry Potter movies (which were partially filmed here) and a British TV show (Inspector Moss, filmed entirely in Oxford). The campus, adjacent to a bustling retail area, is beautiful. There were some graduations going on and we encountered a few graduates in full regalia as we strolled through one of the college gardens.

Each college is self-enclosed behind stone walls and iron gates or doors - some accessible and others by tour only. They each have a center courtyard garden.

As we walked through I pointed out the flower boxes on the windows and told Jim that maybe he could suggest a similar feature for the new LPC Student Services building that is being constructed!

The bikeride took us back over the Thames to our South Oxford digs.

On Sunday my cousin Janet and husband Gilles arrived from Paris. They had taken their car through the Chunnel with an overnight stop in Dover. We took advantage of their car to find a grocery store (there is a small convenience store at end of block where we had picked up a few items) then we headed back on a walk into Oxford (no cars allowed in the city centre). The walk (and yesterday's bikeride) go alongside Hinskey park and lake.

First stop - what we do so well when we travel as a foursome - was to stop at a cafe.

Also at the same cafe, was this dog-stroller

Yesterday (Monday) we took a car-trip to Blenheim Palace (about 30 minutes from Oxford) which was where Winston Churchill grew up. Inside, several rooms were devoted to Churchill's life story, including letters, paintings done by him, his art on Hallmark cards, etc. Then a tour through the various reception rooms, dining room, and library, all with more history about the generations of the family.

Outside were vast parkgrounds and gardens. Easy to understand how Churchill was inspired as an artist and a great thinker/writer - wouldn't be hard to be relaxed and inspired in these surroundings!

Which we could do a "scratch 'n sniff" so you could also smell this fragrant rose garden.

The water's edge was filled with water lillies and I don't ever recall seeing so many in bloom in any other location - maybe it was just our good timing.