One week in England
 

I was looking over my past posts and realized I'd never posted a trip report of my England trip in May of 2014! I'm so sorry for the delay, especially to those of you who helped me plan. I took my sixteen-year-old daughter to London, Oxford and the Cotswolds and we had a wonderful time.

I had heard England has come into its own in the cuisine department, and I was not disappointed. We had fresh, delicious meals (almost) everywhere we went.

I never did write up a "proper" report—this is just notes. But hopefully it will help someone else in planning a trip.

May 7

Arrive Heathrow 4:00, no problem or much wait going through Border Control, driver ready and waiting (justairports.com), one hour to Chesterfield Hotel
Check-in, freshen up, go back out
Walk by Buckingham Palace
Dinner at Beiteddine (Lebanese, $, yummy)

May 8

Quick breakfast at Benuto—banana, muffin, tea (decaf Eng. Brkfst!), $, yummy
Tube to Westminster Abbey
Trafalgar Square (bought a sweatshirt)
Churchill War Rooms (very interesting)
St. Martin’s for free afternoon concert (small choral ensemble, beautiful sacred music)
National Gallery (Michelangelo, Van Gogh, Monet…)
Lunch at Pret a Manger—chicken broccoli wild rice soup (delicious!), ham and cheese croissant, Earl Grey—$, yummy
Back to hotel to rest for an hour, then tube to Maxwell’s for pre-theatre dinner (American-style food: steak for me, salmon for Anna. I had a “no-jito”: all the flavors but no rum)
Walked from dinner to Lyceum Theatre to see Lion King (spectacular!), then hailed a cab (my first time! ☺) to take us back to hotel. I was hungry so ventured out to the little Lebanese place for take-away.

May 9

Quick breakfast at Crussh
Tower of London (Yeoman tour)
Globe Theatre
Walk along Thames, cross over on bridge
Tate Modern (walk by)
Golden Hinde (Francis Drake ship)
St. Paul’s
Lunch at Paul (shared a coppa ham and cheese on fresh-baked bread, choc. éclair—$$, excellent)
Borough Market just to browse
British Library (Magna Carta!)
Dinner at El Pirata (Spanish tapas, Sangría)

May 10

Check out
Quick breakfast (yogurt-muesli and tea) at Café Nero
Bus to Marble Arch (15 minutes)
Bus to Oxford (1.5 hrs.?)
Walk to Bell House B/B
Walk to Café Bonjour for lunch (breezy and rainy)
ciabatta sandwiches—mediocre food
Walk to Risinghurst (next borough) to see The Kilns (tour); walk to Holy Trinity Church, Jack Lewis’ parish church and gravesite—beautiful!
Rest in room
Walk ½ mile to Black Boy (upscale pub, expensive but really good)—Fish and chips, Chocolate ganache brownie with fresh mint chip ice cream; my drink: “English Garden” (mint, lime, elderflower, fresh-pressed apple juice and gin)
Back to B/B by 8:00 (Cold and windy but sunny)

Serendipitous event today: on our walk back to B/B after dinner we passed a home with a plaque that said “Former home of Joy Davidman” ☺. For those who don't know, she was the wife of author and professor C.S. Lewis, and an author and poet in her own right. We have loved reading his books over the years...I was surprised that most of the English people we chatted with had no idea who he was. A couple of them got him mixed up with Lewis Carroll (Alice in Wonderland), but most had no clue. I got the impression most of his fans are American.

May 11

Full English breakfast, chatted with an English couple on holiday from the coast.
Took bus to Oxford (city centre)
Attended Anglican service at Magdalen College
Walked around Oxford, ate at Pret a Manger (cold pea & mint soup, langostino salad, tea, $, yummy)—love this chain!
Strolled some more and stopped in at Waterstone’s, a huge multi-level bookstore—spent about 2 hours browsing and reading
Stopped at Café Nero for hot tea and chocolate cake before catching bus back to B/B around 5 p.m. We’re tired!
Hungry around 7:00 (not Anna) so I walked to town (5 minutes) to a small Turkish restaurant (tzaziki, falafel, kuskus, fresh pita—$$, very good)

May 12, Monday (Cotwolds)

Muesli and fruit for breakfast
Said good-bye to our hostess Sue, walked a few steps to the bus stop, caught bus to Hertz (30 min.)
Rented car (Nissan Note, stick shift); has GPS built-in
Drove to Chipping Campden in about an hour (Anna helped much with navigation)
Love our B/B (Taplins)
Walked a few minutes into town, had a mid-afternoon bowl of soup at Huxley’s (tomato-lentil, with artisan bread—absolutely delicious!)
Walked around the town—amazing, some buildings built in 14th century! Loved browsing in the used book shop (bought an early-edition Dickens, c. 1880), then sitting and reading for an hour in the little library
Dinner at Eight Bells, upscale and yummy! Me: Beef and olive salad, Anna: fish cakes and roasted root vegetables, dessert: sticky toffee pudding—yum!

May 13, Tuesday

Full English breakfast, stopped in at Tourist Office for walking map and advice—very helpful
Walked up to Dover’s Hill, about 4 miles round-trip, slight incline so we were tired. Alternately drizzly, sunny—perfect! The views were magnificent. We walked among the sheep with their lambs on rolling green hills. Loved it!
Walked to St. James church for 1-hour concert: young German baritone w/ pianist: sang Shubert’s “The Wandering Miller”. He was very good and the venue was gorgeous.
Stopped at grocer for an apple for dinner later (along with the scones and cake we brought back from Tea). We don’t plan on going out again tonight.
Full English Tea at Badger’s Hall—lovely and yummy. Back at B/B around 4:30, tired and happy.

May 14, Wednesday

Today we started off right after a full breakfast for Cardiff (2 hours each way) to see The Doctor Who Experience. I was a bit nervous driving through the towns, but the motorways (freeways) and empty country roads were very pleasant. We parked in a parking garage and wandered around lost for a minute before a nice man stopped to help us. We walked about 15 minutes to the Experience. I enjoyed seeing Anna enjoy the Experience!

After a couple of hours we found a nice café and had a light lunch (fresh goat cheese on toast)

May 15, Thursday

Traveling Day: checked out of Taplins around 10:30, drove to Hertz in Oxford (1 hour) to turn in car. Taxi to bus station. Bus to London Heathrow (1 hour). Another (local) bus to Premier Inn, walking two blocks or so with our luggage. We were tired and I was ready to not be “in charge” any more!

The hotel is great: clean, friendly, a nice coffee bar and a restaurant—everything we need for a good night’s stay. (There’s not much within walking distance, but that was no problem—we just wanted to rest). I would definitely stay here again. And it’s affordable!

We settled into our room (after dinner in the hotel restaurant: chicken-bacon salad, served by a friendly young waiter from…Australia?). Watched a little TV, then went to bed and slept well.

May 16, 2014

Late check-out was lovely. Full breakfast in the hotel restaurant, then relaxed in the room until about noon. Caught a bus to Terminal 5 and headed home!

Thanks for posting your report!

Lee Ann

".I was surprised that most of the English people we chatted with had no idea who he was."

He's simply not read any more. 'The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe' and the Tales of Narnia are still given to children in a particular sort of bookish family, so those hyperliterate Britons who are disproportionately influential in English-language writing think those two books are popular. I doubt they've reached 1% of the population.

Otherwise: Britain famously doesn't do religion, and Lewis does little else. Worse: though Christianity's power has collapsed here in the past century, it's fallen fastest among groups that haven't been refreshed by mass immigration. The Catholicism and charismatics that discomfited Lewis have been boosted by new arrivals: Lewis' kind of core Anglicanism hasn't.

The overwhelming majority of his contemporary writers still followed today were either more or less atheists or Catholics. Sadly: advocating Anglicanism just doesn't sell.

Nice examples of eating affordeably but well - you picked some of the best and most reliable chains. I love Pret, and whilst I prefer independant cafes for a bit of different/quirky feel, Caffe Nero is my favourite of the big hitters. Then a good mix of upmarket pub grub and ethnic places. The only thing I think you are missing is some seafood from a quayside stall (say some oysters or potted shrimps or across the border cullen skink, langoustines and squat lobsters). This is how to eat in the UK :-)

RM67: Thanks for the seafood tip! Will add it to my notes for my next trip. :)

flanneruk: That explains a lot—thanks for the insight. He did write a popular (in America, anyway) science fiction trilogy that I don't think has anything to do with Christianity (haven't read it), but yes, I guess he's most known for his theological writings...

Thanks for posting - did you just stumble across St James and its concert or had you planned it in advance - how did you hear about it?

Nice report

Cafe Nero is a famous tax dodger (the profits hide on the Isle of Man in this case) so probably best not to use them as they don't pay for the police who kept you safe, or the roads you drove down etc etc. End of rant.

C S Lewis, I always took the Narnia stories to be science fiction ;-)

I suspect it is a generational thing. Someone recently began talking to me about Kate Middleton and it dawned on me that I didn't have clue who she was. But then I stopped worrying because I don't believe she has done anything important.

stevelyon: We were having tea (or dinner, I can't remember which) and the couple at the table next to us were talking about the concert they were headed to at St. James, so I asked them about it. They said we happened to be there during the town's music festival and there were concerts every day! The evening ones were sold out but the daytime concerts still had seats. We thanked them and enjoyed it very much. :) Serendipitous!