We finally had a rainy day. Actually it rained enough for me to justify wearing my rain shoes, but not enough to spoil the day. However, Oxford was covered in puddles and clouds.
Our drive from the Cotswolds was less than an hour even with detours to see an extra pretty village and to avoid roadwork. The owner of the company was our driver. He is also a farmer. He must be a pretty good farmer because he rides in the same eventing group as Princess Anne and knows the Queen and Prince Charles from the Hedge Laying competitions. He is a huge Top Gear fan, as is Evans, so he showed us Jeremy Clarkson’s farm. Even people who are not farmers make sure their land in the Cotswolds is farmed for tax advantages.
We arrived in Oxford too early to check into our rooms so we had tea in the Morse Bar at the MacDonald Randolph Hotel. Morse is a British tv show that was on for years that we loved. The actor who played Morse found out he was dying so the writer made the character die too because he didn’t ever want anyone else to play Morse. There are wonderful photos in the bar and it was often used in filming.
Oxford is a busy college town that happens to be centuries old. It is also finals week. However, instead of students in sweats and looking sleep deprived, the students are formally dressed to take their exams. As in, white tie and their academic gowns. There also seems to be an abundance of pink carnations. I don’t know what that means, but they look great.
We toured Christ Church College and Cathedral. St. Frideswide is the patron saint of Oxford. For years I read the Dame Frevisse books by Margaret Fraser which are about a medieval nun who lived at St. Frideswide Priory. I loved learning more about the real St. Frideswide and that she is the patron saint of, not just Christ Church College, but all of Oxford. That is not a bad legacy for a girl who just did not want to get married.
We also toured parts of the college that we have seen on television shows and in the Harry Potter movies. The Great Hall was a lot greater after CGI, but still it is not too shabby for a school cafeteria.
Our only “planned activity” today was punting on the River Cherwell. The sky cleared up and the sun came out just in time. It was incredibly quiet and peaceful and gave us a completely different view of several of the colleges from the water. Several of the colleges that have river access have their own docks and punts. On hot summer days, I expect there is a serious traffic jam, but we were practically alone on the water. We had a “punter” who handled the boat and told us about the sites. Another family (Parents about our age and a teenage daughter) decided to do it themselves. I think they were rethinking that decision just a few minutes into their time out.
We are headed out to dinner in a few minutes after returning to the hotel and checking into our room. I am not sure how old this hotel is, but it is beautiful and has been flawlessly updated. We had an elevator to our floor, but still had to navigate steps to get to our room. Evans’ knee should be fully healed by the time we get back to Nashville.
We leave fairly early tomorrow for York, but hope to enjoy more of Oxford tonight.