Easter Weekend
Firstly, it was so nice to get out of London! After spending faaaaaaaaar too much money on Saturday, I packed a few things Sunday morning and hopped on a train for Banbury ... or so I thought. I kind of sort of got on the wrong train and ended up in Swindon. So after a few public transport trips later I ended up in Oxford and met up with Alice, her mum, her stepdad and stepbrother, David, who lives in a village called Blakesly outside of Banbury. We walked around Oxford for a bit which was really awesome - some parts of it are incredibly old. I'm definitely going back when things are actually open and doing a tour of the university.
From there we headed back to Dave's house in Blakesley. It's this beautiful old vicarage, over 150 years old, and he lives in the top third of it and pays dirt cheap rent. It's all furnished by the landlord with beautiful antique furniture, and has a master bedroom, spare single bedroom, guest bedroom complete with ensuite, living room and kitchen - he pays half of what I pay per month for a tiny little room in Wimbledon!
Anywho, this is the house and gardens:
This morning we went for a drive to Henley-on-Thames which is a beautiful little village which is apparently famous for its regattas. It was really cute, and again parts of it were really really old.
Lots of swans there too which, incidentally, are really ugly creatures when they're not swimming...
From there we drove to Windsor. The castle wasn't open but we had a quick drive around it - it is absolutely MASSIVE. Buckingham Palace has nothing on this piece of brickwork. I'm going to have to go back and do a tour, I'm so intrigued now. These are some pics Alice took out the window as we drove past the castle. It was far too busy to park anywhere, even with the castle not being open.
David was nice enough to drive us back to Wimbledon, so the chances of my getting lost were not quite as high as they might have been if I'd taken a train:D.
All-in-all, a great couple of days and I got to see a bit of the countryside ... and lots of sheep.:)
From there we headed back to Dave's house in Blakesley. It's this beautiful old vicarage, over 150 years old, and he lives in the top third of it and pays dirt cheap rent. It's all furnished by the landlord with beautiful antique furniture, and has a master bedroom, spare single bedroom, guest bedroom complete with ensuite, living room and kitchen - he pays half of what I pay per month for a tiny little room in Wimbledon!
Anywho, this is the house and gardens:
This morning we went for a drive to Henley-on-Thames which is a beautiful little village which is apparently famous for its regattas. It was really cute, and again parts of it were really really old.
Lots of swans there too which, incidentally, are really ugly creatures when they're not swimming...
From there we drove to Windsor. The castle wasn't open but we had a quick drive around it - it is absolutely MASSIVE. Buckingham Palace has nothing on this piece of brickwork. I'm going to have to go back and do a tour, I'm so intrigued now. These are some pics Alice took out the window as we drove past the castle. It was far too busy to park anywhere, even with the castle not being open.
David was nice enough to drive us back to Wimbledon, so the chances of my getting lost were not quite as high as they might have been if I'd taken a train:D.
All-in-all, a great couple of days and I got to see a bit of the countryside ... and lots of sheep.:)
posted by Melanie at
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