Going on Holiday in Oxford and London
After a full month of traveling in non-English speaking countries, it was quite a pleasant surprise when the British Airways gate crew announced in English that boarding would soon be starting! And that is how we began our travels in the UK: with a quick flight from Venice to London-Gatwick airport. Being a late flight, we opted for a hotel that night with close proximity to the airport. We had some last-minute planning to do, as well, since we had just squeezed Oxford into our itinerary. In fact, Oxford ended up being the springboard for which we explored the surrounding area, commuted to London, and visited the Warner Bros. studio where Harry Potter was filmed.
Our primary goal the next day was to secure a rental car from the airport and make our way to Oxford. Quickly learning how to drive on the wrong side of the road with a left handed manual transmission was an adventure in itself but we made it safely without any lost paint! (We even sampled our first meat pie on the way). Our hotel, The Galaxie Hotel, was a charming converted B&B located in Summertown, which is just a few miles from the city center. We lucked out and were given a brand new room that they just opened. Our stay here was great and very comfortable. We also highly recommend their full English breakfast!
After getting situated, we made our way into town via one of the local busses to catch a bite to eat at 4,500 Miles From Delhi, an Indian restaurant (in case you are a little slow). This place was amazing! We finally got some new flavors after much of the same while in Italy. Indian food is definitely a must if traveling in England. You know what is also a must-do? Pubbing. After dinner we hunkered down in the White Horse Pub and quickly became friends with a group of middle-aged men who all served in the same army platoon. Apparently they all get together once a year and spend time drinking and [ragging on each other] catching up. It was pretty entertaining group to say the least.
The nice thing about basing ourselves out of Oxford was that it was very convenient to get where we needed to be. For example, we were able to get to London pretty easily by bus the following day. Unfortunately we only had one day here but we feel that we made the most of it. We concluded that it would be easy to stay here for a whole year and still not see everything!
Our first stop after collecting our London passes (worth every penny) was at the Tower of London. Here we participated in a very entertaining guided tour – lead by a Beefeater – before seeing the Crown Jewels. While we were not allowed to take photos, you’ll have to trust us that they were SPECTACULAR.
As if that wasn’t enough stimulation yet, the iconic Tower Bridge was just a few meters away. Here we climbed to the top and were able to see the view below us via some very thick plexiglass paneling.
Next we navigated through Borough Market and parts of the South Bridge neighborhood in order to get to the Globe Theater. Sadly it was closed for an event and we didn’t get a chance to go in. But no worry! We also had the Churchill War Rooms to explore where Winston Churchill directed the British war effort. This exhibit was pretty remarkable and another example of the key moments in history which we are getting to walk through on our trip.
Dusk was starting to set in as we emerged from the underground war room museum and we were able to get some great photos of Parliament, Big Ben, the London Eye, the outside of Westminster Abby (also closed that day), and finally Buckingham Palace. With empty bellies and tired feet, we settled in for a pint and some delicious fish and chips at Sherlock’s pub where we also promptly saw two people get arrested right outside. Hence, we got dinner AND a show before hopping back on the bus to Oxford.
Juliette was in a deep sleep the next morning but only a little coaxing was needed: “JULES. BUTTERBEER. TODAY” were the three magic words that woke her up (pun intended). Our adventure today involved a very fun trip to the Warner Bros. studio at Leavensden where they filmed many of the scenes for Harry Potter. We got a behind-the-scenes look at the sets, props, and costumes they used- personally, I find the making of movies to be fascinating and this was no exception!
However, the coup-de-grace came at the end when we walked into a room containing the scale model of Hogwarts! We both geeked out about this quite a bit!
Full of butterbeer (this studio is one of four places on earth you can find the properly licensed recipe) and nostalgia (does not quite taste the same as butterbeer), we departed back for Oxford that afternoon.
We dined to our heart’s content at a delicious buffet restaurant, Cosmo, which was one of the nicest buffets we have ever been to. It included Asian, Indian, and western fare which was all executed pretty well! Then we rolled on over to the main square for the start of our walking ghost tour. While it was neat to walk around more remote places in Oxford at night, I think Juliette and I agree that this tour was pretty cheesy. But you know what goes well with cheese?? BEER! We finished off a great day at Turf Tavern with a pint.
While technically a travel day, we got an early start the next day and spent our remaining time in Oxford exploring Trinity College, New College, Christ Church, and St. Mary’s. This included seeing even more Harry Potter film locations and inspirations, which was fun!
It felt like our time here just flew by! Oxford was a great introduction to the UK and we got to see the cosmopolitan side of London and get our first taste of the smaller village life. We wish we had had a few more days here before we headed to the Lake District!
GP