Trip to my second home England vol.3

Yorkshire to Oxford.

We left Harrogate at 8:30 a.m. and arrived in Oxford at 1:00 p.m. It was a long drive of 320 kilometers. We were stuck in traffic jams due to road construction several times on the way.

Unlike our previous drives in nature, the narrow city was full of cars. When we asked the receptionist where to park at the hotel, we were told they had valet parking. I left my key with them and they took my car to the parking lot and parked it. I thought that was convenient. Moreover, I was grateful to be able to check in even though it was so early in the day.

After that, we took a tour of Christ Church College and Oxford University led by an Oxford music student. In the past, we could get in here and there without reservations, but now everything needs booking. The streets of Oxford were packed with people taking the tour.

Christ Church is beautiful no matter how many times I see it. The Great Hall reminded me of a scene from Harry Potter. In Oxford, there were flowers blooming all over town, and all the buildings were in the style of medieval architecture. It was as if we had stepped back in time to the Middle Ages. After the tour, we took a break for a beer and shandy at Turf Tavern, Oxford’s most famous pub. It was my biggest blunder that I did not eat Eton Mess here. I could not find it anywhere after this and could not eat it. Eton ess is a summer dessert in England. They said, it from Eaton public school. It was made meringue, whipped cream and fruits. Mess means mix so they eat it mix all of them. It is deconstructed dessert.

After the pub, we went to the fish restaurant, called No. 1 Ship Street. We ate a plate of mussels, asparagus and hot biscuit dessert. It was very tasty and satisfying!

The hotel was the historic Randolph Hotel Oxford, located in front of the museum. The rooms were lovely and the restaurant had a good atmosphere and the food was delicious so we were satisfied.

The next day I bought tea leaves of Whittard’s Rose Tea, which is no longer available in Japan, and left Oxford.

After that, we drove about an hour to Winchester. This is another old town. We took our time looking around the cathedral and then went on a tour of Winchester College, the oldest boarding school in England. The names of the scholarship students were posted on the wall. They are very privileged and are treated very differently from other students. They have a different place to eat in the dining room every day and a different menu than the other students. They also have private rooms. I thought I would be punished if I did not study hard with such preferential treatment.

We stayed at a very new hotel, Hilton Southampton. This is the entrance to the Cornwall area. What a surprise, there was a heat pump. (It’s the same kind of machine we have in Japan that can both heat and cool in a room.) Of course, there was no radiator. There was a cricket ground next to the Hilton Southampton, and there was a match on that day, so the pub was full of spectators. We relaxed with beer and hummus while listening to the cheers. The breakfast buffet the next day had crumpets, which are great with honey!

We drove to Exeter. Here we took a walking tour of the underground passageways. Exeter Cathedral was also quite impressive. We stayed at the Exeter Marriott which also had a heat pump. Dinner was a healthy tofu poke. Very easy to eat and easy on the stomach. The idea of tofu poke is wonderful!

Now, Land’s End is just around the corner.