Monday, August 18, 2008

UK adventure, Part 2

Our first day officially back in England was pretty tame. It involved a walk with the dog to rent movies, and a lot of lying on the couch. We were tired! But the rest was well-earned, and it set us up for the next week.

Monday Richard had to work, so Mer and I wandered Oxford. We hit the covered market, a walking tour of the colleges, and a tour of OUP (don’t let the people I work with know that)! It poured rain on the way back, but that doesn’t matter because we stopped for chocolate.

The next day we went to London. London is amazing- so busy, but there’s stuff to see everywhere, literally! Toronto is very spread out, compared to London. In London there is something to see every ten feet! We took a bus tour cause I wanted to see as much as possible, in passing. We drove past Big Ben, the parliament, tower bridge, The London Eye, The Tower of London, the queen’s house…
Then we walked through Covent Garden, ate Cornish pasties, went to a stinky cheese shop…it was a good day! We even went on the London Eye, and saw everything from above.


Wednesday and Thursday I was on my own, cause both Mer and Richard had to work. I spent one day in Oxford (it rained…a lot). And one day in London (it rained, a little). Oxford was cool, even in the rain. The architecture was amazing, and there are gargoyles everywhere. London on my own was crazy- I went north to Camden market (nuts), east to Brick lane (bought baigles), south to the Globe theatre (saw the lobby), and the Tate Modern (saw one FABULOUS exhibition), and west to Harrods (shopping!). At the end of the day I was weary and footsore and felt so accomplished. It was a great day. And my trip wasn’t even over!

It was over the next day. Mer and I discussed going on a day trip again, but instead we toured Oxford one last time. We bought cakes (not for us this time, I brought them home for various birthday celebrants), visited the Bodlean giftshop, and wandered a bit more. Then we rushed back to their place, changed at record speed, left for Stratford on Avon, and went to see A Midsummer Night’s Dream. The play was hilarious- a little over the top, in parts, but definitely the funniest version I’ve ever seen (and at this point, I’ve seen a lot of those). We splashed out at the giftshop and loaded up on last-minute souveniers. It was a great end to a great trip.

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