We have already: visited Loch Ness, stayed in and visited some Castles, walked the streets of Manchester, and visited some random cathedrals along the way.
Look at the view that we woke up to (below). That is the coast right along the Castle. We walked along the grounds admiring how decked out everything was for Christmas. It just made things pop a little more than I think it normally would have.
Arabella posted for a photo (in Minnie and Cardinals swag) and Elijah was as happy as a clam (photo from the booth we ate at in the Castle).
Down we traveled to Oxford to take in what we could. Visited where C.S. Lewis lived and where the author wrote all of his Narnia books and other classics. The house itself was featured in the Narnia books too which is pretty cool.
For us, it was cool to walk the grounds where this author lived. Try to think what he was thinking, or at least imagine. To see the church that he worshiped at and to have a glimpse (even if in a small way) of what would have been normal for him.
Then we went to stay the night at Jurys Inn in Oxford. We got up the next morning (again, each morning was at like 4 am) and saw SNOW. Someone took the globe and shook it up, making it into a winter wonderland. Would this change our plans? Not at all.
Photos below of our car (when we woke up) starting to get covered in snow and then photos from when we walked around the University of Oxford.
We hadn’t eaten breakfast yet and weren’t sure if the snow was going to be melting off soon. Either way, as we were getting hungry with our walk we noticed a coffee shop that had just opened. Vaults & Garden is a little coffee shop built right into the University Church of St Mary the Virgin which dates back to around 1270.
Snow falling outside, warm food inside. What a picturesque time. The food was amazing and it allowed us to warm up before venturing out for more.
See Arabella with her hot chocolate to keep her warm? This random stop at that coffee house ended up being one of our best memories from our whole visit.
That part and also when we were walking around this local couple came over to us and talked to us a little. They gave us an umbrella to keep the snow off and help stay dry. We still have that umbrella.
We ventured on down to Windsor Castle (it ended up being closed due to the snow). I remember standing at the entrance gate with a crowd of others who were inquiring about visiting. They announced that it would remain closed for visits for at least the day. To this, a group of people from Norway said “this isn’t snow, this is hardly a dusting!” and all of their group laughed at the small snow amounts. The guard didn’t find it as funny.
So because this was closed, we found whatever buildings were open in the area to explore. We also did the very touristy photo booth photos. Why not?!
By the end of the day, we had driven down to the London Novotel hotel ready to put the day to bed. We ordered some take-out to be delivered which didn’t come until an hour or so after it was supposed to. The kids didn’t miss out – they passed out trying to wait up (picture above with Big Ben in the distance). We woke them up they ate some of their food and went back to sleep. Our days were enough to exhaust anyone. We would wake up at 3:30a or 4a and end the day at around 10pm.
What a trip.
just Pray
note: this post was published on 08/03/22 but moved the publish date back to the middle of December 2017 to keep chronological order.
