England...April 25th, 2011 Part 1

In the morning we woke up, dressed and walked across the backyard to the dining room.  There was a sumptuous English buffet for breakfast.  My children couldn't get enough.  We packed up the car with our bags and checked out.  We left the car parked in the backyard of the hotel so the employees could keep an eye on it. 

We took the bus to Oxford.  The bus cost 6GBP for the 4 of us for a day pass.  We were advised by a hotel guest not to drive and park in the town because it was nearly impossible.  The bus worked out well and we met a couple from Wales.  The gentleman had attended Oxford in his youth and now their daughter was studying there and they were visiting her.  We rode the bus with them and they gave us a mini tour and took us to some points of interest as long as they could. 

We continued walking to the river.  We finally arrived at our destination, it was a quaint little area by the river where you could rent boats or go out with a guide punting on the river.  Punting is similar to rowing but with a long, long pole that you use to touch the ground to propel the boat forward.  Steering is done by moving it in the direction you want through the water.  This boat ride was one of the highlights of the trip.  I enjoyed it very much.  It was different, serene and the views from the river were beautiful.

After punting we headed back to town to Christ Church where parts of the Harry Potter movies were filmed.  It was pretty and we took magnificent pictures along our walk, in the gardens and by the building.

Next we went to the Carfax Tower and climbed to the top.  Although there are several towers you can climb in town, this one is the only one where you can get a panoramic view of the whole area.

After the tower we had lunch at Starbucks (at my children's request) and Alex and I got some super, yummy hot pockets/pies from a neighboring window (it wasn't a full restaurant, they just sold the pockets from a window). 

We left there and walked around the shops a bit.  Then we went back to the hotel to get the car and continue the journey.

I tried my luck at driving the manual transmission on the opposite side of the road and my family made it clear that I must not do it ever again.  Kudos to Alex...he did great!!!  Although many times I though I was going to have sap as an apperitif (because he veered way too much to the left) he drove very well and we made it safely to all our destinations.

Ana