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Hi all

Just wanted to tell everyone the latest news on where I'm going next.  My boyfriend and I always go away for our Birthdays as they are only three days apart.  For some reason, we always end up going to the coast, and this year.....yes, we're going to the coast!!  We usually stay in the UK, so this year we have decided to go to the Scottish Borders.  We will be flitting between there, Scotland and Northumberland, its all booked and we're ready to go NOW rather than in a few week's time, of course!  I hope the weather will be kind to us, it usually is, but its always a little tricky at that time of year.  Anyhoo, the next photos will be of Mathew and I exploring the Scottish Borders from the 10th - 17th October.  I'll post as I usually do, so you can read from top to bottom. 

Happy Blogging folks! :)

Siobhan x

Bank Holiday trip to Oxford

Friday August 28th

We had packed a suitcase - deciding to share one between us - and we left work, heading straight to Oxford after we finished at 15:30. The weather was chilly and wet - the rain hammered down REALLY hard on the car as we travelled along the main roads towards Oxford. Our route ended up taking us zig-zagging our way there, which meant we were in and out of the stormy front...although mostly it rained! The Radio was playing the Beatles hits all the way - from 5pm it was the "Beatles Bank Holiday". I'm not a huge fan, but actually it was quite nice, and I learned that I knew more songs and more words to their songs than I thought I did!

Having arrived near Oxford, we drove around it and headed southwards to the sleepy village of Dorchester-on-Thames, well known for being the film-set for "Midsomer Murders" here in the UK, as was the place we stayed: The White Hart Hotel. We settled ourselves in at around 18:20, having a shower and unpacking, before going downstairs for dinner at 19:30 - they functioned as a restaurant and a pub, and we ate in the restaurant, and the food was delicious - I had a Chicken salad, while Mathew had Fish and Chips.

Saturday August 29

A Day in Oxford

Nothing seems to open until 10am in Oxford, so we rose fairly late without realising - nice having a lie-in! We had a very nice Breakfast at 8:30, and headed out to the Park and Ride, getting a bus into Oxford which took just 15 minutes. We started out by looking at Carfax Tower, hoping the little men on the Tower would do more than hit their bells just ONCE on the hour, leaving the clock to chime the rest....nevermind! They were cute so I took a photo anyway. We thought we would leave the Tower until Monday.

The first thing we did, was walk along one of the main streets admiring the architecture, which - not having ever been to Oxford before - I thought was very nice indeed, despite there being quite a lot in the way of road works going on. I have been to Cambridge in the UK before, and Oxford in comparison seems much more compact, all these buildings are closer together, much grander and noticable. All the buildings here are very beautiful, and I can see why people would want to live or study here.

We went into the Botanic Gardens, it was a very nice, warm and sunny day and it was a nice gentle start to the day, especially with me having a stomach ache earlier, walking around the garden seemed to make it disappear. Lots of flowers were out in the Botanic Garden, and one of the best things here were the Glass Houses - it was just like a mini - Eden Project in Oxford, only in Glass Houses, not domes. There were seperate rooms for cacti, carniverous plants, ferns, tropical and alpine plants. VERY warm but definately worth looking at! Next to the Botanic Gardens the River Cherwell flowed by, with peoplein boats, punting and enjoying the day.

After the Gardens, we went to investigate the Pitt Rivers Museum. It turns out that its behind the Natural History Museum - which you have to go through in order to get at it. Quite neat really, the Natural History Museum was like a mini version of the one in London, and at the back - here was the Pitt RIvers Museum. Despite the top floor being closed, we still went in and I had no idea what to expect. It was very old-fashioned, lots and lots of cases very close together FILLED with SO many things, most with their original labels which tiny TINY writing! The entire room was dimly lit, I presume to preserve the artefacts which had come from all over the World. But, when I asked, it turned out that photography was allowed, even with flash. Plus, you could borrow a hand-powered torch to look at things more closely, which was REALLY fun, and although at first I didn't think it was necessary until we discovered that there were SO many more things UNDERNEATH the main cases, around the sides - it was far too dark to see these bits and we HAD to use the torch. It was like we were roaming around a Museum after hours, it was VERY fun to go round, and if anybody is thinking of visiting Oxford I strongly recommend the Pitt Rivers Museum!

We made our way to the second floor, which was just a balcony around the edges really, but AGAIN there were SO many things, and I found this part VERY useful indeed - SO many beads, beaded jewellery from around the World - I had never seen SO much jewellery in one collection. Of course, I took as many photos as I could, especially with hoping to enrol on a Design course early next year, and my idea involves ancient jewellery and beads....this was perfect for me. Although I felt a little conspicuous taking a photo of EVERY cabinet, but nobody seemed to mind, or notice. It will all be very useful, I hope!


Coming out of the Pitt Rivers, and after buying a VERY nice bag which seems very tardis-like (SO much room in there!), we looked around the Natural History Museum, and the second floor of that was PACKED with bugs of all sorts, and even tanks with live cockroaches, beetles and a tarantula! Eughh!! Nope, I'm not the biggest fan of spiders.......!


My feet aching, we sat outside the Museum for a short while before.....yes, you guessed it - checking out the shops!! Actually, we didn't go into that many shops, there didn't seem to be much in the way of quirky unique shops or boutiques, although the covered Market was quite nice to walk through. We did, however, go into Blackwells and Waterstones - where I ended up buying a couple of Christmas or Birthday gifts (I can't decide yet!) for Mathew. I loved the Art Blackwells, but I resisted the temptation to buy a book on papercraft......!


We also walked around the city and admired the Radcliffe Camera buit in 1737-1749, which used to house several general and scientific books before being moved to different locations around the University colleges in the city, although it is the main Reading Room of the Bodleian Library in Oxford, sadly not open to the public - just the students, who would also have access to the Library's collection of 600,000 books stored underneath Radcliffe Square in underground rooms. We admired the Hertford Covered Bridge (completed in 1914), which is often known as the Bridge of Sighs as many people think it look just like the same bridge in Venice, although it does look more like the Rialto Bridge from that same city! Although we didn't go into the Bodleian Library itself, we went into the shop after admiring the courtyard and the "Tower of the Five Orders" - I didn't know they had a gift shop! But it was quite handy actually because Mathew pointed out a book he wanted for his Birthday, and I ended up buying a couple of Christmas presents while I was there. My Christmas shopping was getting off to a great start!

We went back to the hotel where we dined there again, I enjoyed the beef steak while Mathew chose the pork dish.

Sunday August 30

A Day at Blenheim Palace

Today we went to Blenheim Palace. Mathew wanted to go here, and I had no idea what it was all about - like many things I like to wait, and discover without having read anything about it first. I like doing that, most of the time I enjoy it, and this was no exception.



Set in 2,100 acres of park land, we parked and got out, walking to the Palace there seemed to be a Vintage Car Show on in the grounds, which we had not known about! Many very nice cars, horrible cars, and old caravans. The weather wasn't too good, overcast with little sunlight poking through. It was quite chilly today, quite the opposite of yesterday. We made our way through the stately rooms showing portraits, tapestries, and porcelain. This was the birthplace of Sir Winston Churchill, which I had not known until a little later in our visit. We didn't have a guided tour, just "followed the carpet" around the rooms. On the outside, it looked a grand place, although there was no magnificent sweeping staircase inside (photography was not allowed), so most of the important rooms were downstairs. Upstairs there was a "visitor experience" called "The Untold Story" comrising tales over the last 300 years. It was very clever actually, we went through a door where we had a "guide" Grace Ridley (previously filmed and projected onto a screen) at the end of the room. The room was basiclaly built to look like it was in the middle of being constructed, with animated robotic models and voices. What I found was particularly clever, was how the main model was made to look like she was "breathing" with her shoulders moving in a rhythm, and her face was portrayed as a mirror-image - having been filmed previously of course, and every person's lines being said at the right time. It was very cleverly done, after having walked through three or four of these rooms, we eventually came out and watched several short "films" in more small rooms, before it suddenly got a little cheesy toward the end, and a very cheesy greeting message filmed by the 11th Duke of Marlborough!


After this, we explored the Italian Garden, the Rose Garden, and the Secret Garden, had lunch, browsed the shops, and went to "Pleasure Gardens" where we enjoyed the very small but fun Butterfly House, and the Marlborough Maze which was great fun! We actually did it, despite splitting a couple of times, running into each other once, and finally reaching the middle together. It was cold and windy.....but of course, I did the very English thing of having an Ice-Cream on a cold day! Well it was Strawberries and Cream flavour - how could I resist?



All in all a great day out, and guess what? I ended up buying yet ANOTHER Christmas present from one of the gift shops! Afterward I asked Mathew where Churchill had been buried, and it turned out that it wasn't far from Blenheim - he was buried in a humble family plot in the Churchyard of the village of Bladon. So we went along to visit it, where he was buried with the ashes of his wife Clementine.
















After this, we went back to our hotel, eating there yet again, enjoying the salmon caesar salad, and Mathew enjoying the beef steak.

Monday August 31st

Short visit to Oxford, and then the journey home.

This morning I wasn't feeling too good, but we went into Oxford again today. It was Bank Holiday Monday, and we were hoping to go into the Museum of Oxford, and the Museum of Science History....but both were closed. We are used to most places like Museum being open on Bank Holidays, but these two Museum weren't. So, it looks like we will have to wait until next year - when we shall visit Oxford again so we can explore the Pitt Rivers Museum once again, and the top floor which was closed this time, due to refurbishment. Also next time, we plan on visiting the Ashmolean Museum which was also completely closed for refurbishment. So next year, in the spring....we will hopefully visit again!

In the meantime, we decided to go up Carfax Tower, despite the weather being just overcast, admired the view of Oxford, and headed back home. Not before a visit to Waterstones however, as the Art Blackwells Bookstore was closed, and only the General and Music Blackwells was open (how THAT works,I have NO idea....!). Still, we bought a couple of books in Waterstones and it was a large store, and made our way back home.

I look forward to visiting Oxford again, as it is a VERY nice city, nicer than I had imagined actually, having never been there before. I would definately go again!