A trip on the river Thames

Day 16 – October 16  –Tour Guide Alyssa, Boat trip and afternoon tea on the Thames, walk around Magdalen College and Christchurch college, Sunday roast.

Weather – Wet in the morning, then Sunny, clear and warm.

I have to admit that I might not have been 100% when I woke up, but since it was our only full day in Oxford I managed to pull it together. We had planned to meet Alyssa for Breakfast in the town, before a full day that included a boat cruise with afternoon tea, behind the scenes tour of Magdalen college (Pronounced Maudlin), and Harry Potter spotting at Christchurch college, with a Home cooked Sunday roast to finish. Wow – what a day.

Alyssa picked a lovely spot for brunch, Quod restaurant, located at the Old bank Hotel. If it says old in Oxford, I assume it’s pretty old. I ordered a full English, which included black pudding, but no beans. Still, just what I needed after a late night.



After brunch it was a short stroll to Magdalen college, where Alyssa had previously been a student, and so we had the expert tour. I have to say, that Magdalen college is probably the most beautiful of the college’s that we toured. The grounds are amazing, and you can envision a young C.S Lewis, coming up with his idea for Narnia here (A past underachieving student… I think J.R.R Tolkien was also a student at this college). There’s a field full of deer, a canal you can punt on, it really is like stepping into Narnia or Middle Earth.








We did a fair walk around the gardens and then it was time to head back to the folly bridge to jump on a boat for afternoon tea. The tea rooms where you can dine are lovely, and we had a glass or bubbles before boarding our quite intimate boat – there were only 6 of us and the skipper. It was a glorious day – we’ve been so lucky with the weather on this trip. The tower of scones and clotted cream, jam, finger sandwiches and cakes was impressive. Paired with a nice rose and all the tea and coffee you could want. It was a fantastic way to spend an hour and a half, slowly cruising down the Thames, our skipper Paul was a laugh, and we all had a wonderful time. 






After our cruise were rolled off the boat – we didn’t even finish all the cakes – and Katie went back to the house while Lucy, Alyssa and I decided to push on and do a tour of Christchurch College. This is the most famous of the colleges and pulls in all the tourists. The Price for a tour is pretty steep – but free for a student and two guests - #winning. Christchurch was the setting for many of locations for the Harry Potter movies – including the dinning hall at Hogwarts. I think the portraits might not have been moving or talking as much as in the movies, but Lucy’s little mind was quite blown away. It was so much fun to walk the halls with here and Aunty Alyssa.






After a full day of touring, it was decided that a Sunday roast back at the house might be nice, and I wondered off in search of the necessary ingredients from Marks and Spencer, while Alyssa when back home to change. I really like M&S as it’s referred to around here. The food section was pretty up market, so I was able to find some quality ingredients. I didn’t want to have a lot of waste, so I had to buy only what I would use. Not the full roast with trimmings this time – Just a simple roast chicken, stuffed with lemon, garlic and onion. Roast potatoes in duck fat, store bought premade gravy, and broccoli. I picked up a bottle of the Furleigh Estate and a nice Cotes Du Rhone, along with the a roast Chicken. I was nice to actually cook a home style meal, the Kitchen at the place we were staying was good, and it was lovely to sit around the table with everyone and enjoy a meal. A great way to end a weekend in Oxford with Alyssa.



Comments

  1. Lady Penelope20 October 2022 at 13:40

    Sounds just delightful and certainly brats my memories of Oxford which was always cold and grey when we visited. We did have a memorable Christmas day lunch at the Randolph Hotel when Jo was about 9yrs old though. She came home to Ox with a Toque Blanc, from the head chef. LOL

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Andrew23 October 2022 at 07:29

      No cold grey days this time - it was wonderful. I think it would be a very different sort of place in the winter. But Autumn here was very lovely - Like Melbourne in April.

      Delete
  2. Graeme21 October 2022 at 22:49

    Enjoying all the food fotos here!

    ReplyDelete

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