Berlin, France, England & Scotland blog

Great nights sleep last night and didn't have to blow my nose once. Sadly that all changed when I got up and started walking around!! 😷 Late and slow start today - washing completed and just fluffed around until we headed out about 10 to find the meeting point for our Oxford Walking tour at 11am - Martyr's Memorial. Nice small group of 10 people, 4 x Canadian, 4 x Chinese and us. We visited a few of the places we saw yesterday and were provided with some interesting facts about Oxford. Here's some: it developed rapidly from 1167 when Henry II banned English students from attending the University of Paris after an argument with Thomas Becket during the 13th century, rioting between town and gown (townspeople and students) hastened the establishment of primitive halls of residence less than a century later, Oxford had achieved eminence above every other seat of learning and won praises of popes and kings by virtue of it's curriculum, doctrine and privileges. between the ...

Today we leave our Surrey abode and head for Oxford. Another easy walk to the station, purchase our tickets and we board the first of 2 trains for our 70 min train rides. Weather in Oxford is not great with 70% chance of rain - how highest thus far. We want to arrive around 12pm to give us time to leave our suitcases to their Nanny minder and grab some lunch before heading off to our 90 min Harry Potter Walking Tour! Unfortunately our Nanny minder was on the 2nd floor but helped with carrying up Sue's heavy case & then Sue helped me. Once we caught our breath 😬 we headed off to a pub to have some lunch - steak sandwich with hot english mustard. I may have thrown in a glass of red cos they didn't know what lemon, lime & bitters was!! Rain started coming down quite heavily, so we stayed as long as we could in the warmth and dry before heading off to the starting point of the tour, which was within a 5 min walk. Our guide (an Oxford student of Politics, Economics & Ph...

Today I ventured back to a place I first visited 10 yrs ago, but didn't spend enough time there to see everything cos my friend Mel surprised me with a Tour of Wimbledon!! So whilst she stayed at Hampton Court, after 2hrs I high tailed it out of there to visit Wimbledon. Our weather was very overcast and a bit chilly this morning so we rugged up and headed off a bit before 8.30am to catch our first of three trains. It sounds complicated, but it wasn't. All the trains were part of the same rail network so after less than an hour we'd disembarked and were walking the 5 mins to Hampton Court. It doesn't look like a traditional Palace - it has a mismatch of bricks and styles due to different Monarchs wanting to stamp their ideas on it. We visited; the baroque place built for William III and Mary II; Henry VIII's Great Hall and Tudor Kitchens; and some of the 60 acres of gardens. Here's the front of Hampton Court and part of a tulip display that runs for most of Apri...

I've been waiting 5 years for this day - redemption day!! I won't bore myself reliving an awful navigational error that had myself and Sue visiting the Windsor Castle Pub, instead of Windsor Castle because today I GOT IT RIGHT!! Popped onto our bus and 30 mins later we were within spitting distance of the Castle and our 9.30am - 10am entry time. The sun even poked it's head through for most of our visit. I love the Castle, but had forgotten how big it was. We saw state rooms that I hadn't seen before viewed Queen Mary's 100 year old Doll House (King George V's wife) visited a lovely new cafe met an Australian Windsor Castle employee saw the Queen's (and Prince Phillips) final resting place in St George's Chapel - built from 1475 to 1511. As some may be aware, you are not allowed to take photos inside the Castle, so here are my money shots from outside: Below are my photos of St George's Chapel where Her Majesty is laid to rest along with the likes of...