time to bid farewell to cambridge after a great weekend
mission accomplished in a sense with the graduation celebrated
we also leave the uk tonight but first some more countryside
we head west under the direction of the smartphone gps app
she almost sounds like a stuck record as we pass by milton keynes
in a quarter of a mile at the next roundabout take the second exit
suggesting a large grid of north-south roads that we traverse
there's an urge to get into some small english villages
find a little cafe in a little town and enjoy the moment
a couple of gatherings of thatch-roofed homes passed by
and a few miles of narrow lanes also stumbled on
so a brief sense of an bygone era as is desired
but we are caught in a system designed for efficiency
a brief respite at a thrift farm for morning tea and cake
the farm clearly a charity operation for mental health patients
not quite the desired english country experience but enjoyable
oxford is our target destination so that becomes the focus
it takes a couple of hours to get there and into the centre
park the car, wander through a shopping centre and emerge streetside
a hop-on hop-off bus offers the best return on time to invest
we put ourselves on the exposed top deck and put on headphones
our very english guide also up top and providing the soundtrack
culture not high on the content scale - entertainment is
films (harry potter) and tv shows (inspector morse) mentioned
recommendations for pubs to visit and famous drinking holes
colleges passed most famous for residents before fame
margaret thatcher, bob hawke, ronnie barker, david cameron
it all feels a bit like lowest-common-denominator stuff
but as wanted within an hour we have covered a lot of ground
we were warned that oxford is much less about the university
that coming across loud and clear as we then move into lunch mode
trip advisor coming up with the best on offer in the vicinity
pieminister highly recommended and within a 50 metres walk
it's in the covered market - presumably an early shopping centre
many independent and specialist shops under a common roof
feeling very dated and quite under-patronised on this day
except for the pie shop - locals and tourists into it
a classic pie floater their specialty and some enticing pies
we pick one each and have it assembled into their signature dish
pie placed on mashed potatoes and peas, swimming in rich gravy
topped off with crunchy dried shallots - quite delicious
happy to have some classic english food and back to the car
heading south now and onto the motorway towards london
we have plenty of time in case there are any dramas
a tube strike likely to add to the normal congestion
as we get closer to gatwick we have a few worrying stops
any spare time gone by the time we get to easyjet checkin
condense 4 carry-on bags to 2 and head to the gate
a long queue to get on the plane (this is the uk)
and into the air heading to hamburg
farewell uk - we had fun - next...
