Cruising the Thames: Day 2

We got up (too early for me after a poor night's sleep) and headed into Abingdon again. David had found out that there was an MG Club. He used to have an MGB when I first met him, and later had a different one. Even though we no longer have those cars, MGs still hold a place in his heart. He was so happy to be at the MG Club talking cars with the young man who worked there, and bought a few souvenirs.

Next we went to the local branch of our car rental so David could complain about the overcharging from yesterday. Finally we headed into the middle of Oxford where we had scheduled a free walking tour. I hadn't eaten yet, so on the way we stopped and I had the most delicious breakfast!

We met up with our tour guide (Footprints Oxford - free 2 hour tour!) who took us around Oxford, showing us the various colleges and telling us interesting information about everything we saw. There were only two other people on our tour so we got a really personalized version. When we finished, we were hungry again so we went to a very old pub that he recommended.

Christ Church College

Radcliffe Camera

It's a tradition to stand in this place and jump at graduation. Our tour guide took this picture of our "tour" jumping!

Our tour guide, Tom, with our small group

Bodeleian Library

Bridge of Sighs

Tom, the tour guide, telling us about Protestants being burned at the stake rather than converting to Catholicism

The pub we went to was the oldest in Oxford and it was in an alley just under the Bridge of Sighs. This pub has been visited by many famous folks and was used by the cast and crew of Harry Potter as well as featured in one of my mother in law's favorite shows, Inspector Morse. I had salad and David had a fish board, which included fried sardines!

Alley leading to the Turf Tavern

The Turf Tavern outside seating

Fried Sardines (blech!)

Then we hit a few souvenir shops and a fudge shop and headed back to our car. We then drove to Wallingford to the Brightwell Vineyard Winery. We had a private tour by the owner, learned all about his wines, (also his politics - he supports the UK leaving the EU - I asked), and bought some wine. Then back to our cottage for a quick nap.

Chatting with Bob, the owner of the winery

Winery tour

Friendly puppy at the winery

A pretty spot at the winery

We stopped off at the boat base where we'll be departing from tomorrow. We confirmed our departure time and David had a chance to take a quick peek at the boat. I chatted with a British guy also renting a boat for a few days.

We went out to dinner tonight at a lovely restaurant called Jacob's Inn. To get there we were on a narrow, winding road passing houses that were hundreds of years old. It was a charming restaurant and the food was terrific (yes, there is excellent food in England!) In the back there were little pens with goats, ducks and pigs. (Hoping they won't be eaten - luckily I had fish!)