Oxford

September 11, 2025

It is our day in Oxford. Our original tour that I had booked months ago with Iain was cancelled, so I booked a tour through Get Your Guide. Apparently I had missed a few emails from him earlier in the week. We took 2 buses to the train station which were a bit slow with the Tube strike. The first bus that went by was full. And the one we got on terminated a stop before we were getting off so we walked the rest of the way. Coffee and bagels were purchased at the train station, and onto the train we went. When we got to Oxford, we split up. We wandered around, first stopping at Blackwells Bookseller. We found out later that they also went into Blackwells, but went downstairs into the huge bookstore area. Blackwells also has another shop across the street that we looked around in. Matriculation exercises were going on so parts of the college were closed to visitors.

Lunch was at The Ivy Oxford Brasserie which was lovely! And we dodged the rain. As it was getting close to our 2:00 tour, walked back to the meeting point and checked in. Our guide took us around as it rained for the first part of the tour. We could not get into the Divinity School. We did see New College and the beautiful chapel. And the court yard where more Harry Potter filming happened. There is a wire still in the tree that they used as a prop.

Eventually we headed to the Caffè Nero in Blackwells for some water and a chance to sit down. We headed back to the train station for our train, and then buses back to the Bermonds. Even with the bit of rain, it was a great day.