A VERY BRITISH AUTUMN

The October half-term seems the perfect time for a three-day road trip outside London. We fancy a bit of history, a bit of culture, some fun and plenty of autumnal atmosphere. Our formula is simple: short drives, two-night stays but in different locations, and a mixture of urban and rural sightseeing.

SUNDAY IN OXFORD



Every road trip demands a unique soundtrack and we agree on Coldplay. Chris Martin’s soft voice, well-known tunes and renowned lyrics follow us round the North Circular Road and up the M40. We reach our hotel Leonardo Royal Hotel Oxford around ten, leave our car and take bus number 6 to the city centre.
In Coffeesmith Café we stop for midmorning coffees and hot chocolate as well as something sweet. The something sweet is a gluten-free cake with avocado, almond and rose petals as main ingredients. It sounds and looks good, but the greenish icing is a tiny bit too sugary for my liking. Our male companion finishes it with gusto. The sugar levels tolerance is obviously an individual thing.
The day is bright and remarkably warm, a pleasant surprise for the end of October on the British Island. Only church bells are echoing through the tranquil town on this Sunday morning. We – optimistically – thought that it will be possible to buy tickets to Christ Church college on the door, but these are sold out. Instead, we visit the Magdalen college, an equally impressive Oxford institution. This college – which I find out later – is the wealthiest one in Oxford and one of the strongest in academic achievements. No surprise alumni of Magdalen college always do well on the University Challenge quiz…



Founded in 1458, this college is a breathtaking place, from the Magdalen’s tower to the mesmerising medieval cloister and the park at the back where deer leisurely graze green grass. Many famous people, from royals to politicians and members of the clergy studied here, as well as writers and artists of global fame like Oscar Wilde, John Betjeman, Julian Barnes and Andrew Lloyd Webber…



From the here we stroll to the renown Bodleian library but we only visit the courtyard that is noisy and overcrowded. The Bodleian Library is a reference library (no items can be taken out of the premises), and it is the second largest in Britain, after the British Library. The tour of the courtyard is impressive enough with doors leading to various subjects, but we are already in the lunch territory, and one needs to leave something for a future visit…
Our lunch must be in – where else when one is travelling with a teenager but –Nando’s. Of course, the most popular eatery of the contemporaries of our youngest member happens to be located on the other side of the town and it takes us thirty minutes, a couple of wrong turns and a shortcut through a narrow passage to get there.


The afternoon is reserved for more walking down picturesque streets, discovering historical façades and revisiting famous spots. The Bridge of Sighs that decorates many postcards is not a bridge in the traditional meaning of going over a body of water, but a skywalk connecting two buildings of the Hertford College, over New College Lane in Oxford. It got its name due to its similarity to Ponte dei Sospiri in Venice (I would not say they are spitting image of each other, though…) but it is also known as the Herford Bridge. It represents a distinctive feature in the architectural silhouette of Oxford and by the number of people taking photos and selfies, it is a very popular attraction.


History of Science Museum is a smallish museum arranged over three floors in a historical building with a staircase adorned with impressive stained-glass windows. Our favourite is the display in the top gallery, from the Armillary Sphere to astrolabe and various other time observing object and calculating devices. The basement gallery offers a detailed insight into the history of typhoid control, vaccinations, the periodic table and the penicillin and the importance of Oxford scientists in the development of those. Our studious Year9 travelling partner is quite intrigued by it all. She gets even more intrigued in the nearby Blackwell’s Manga department where she spends nearly all of her holiday money on a trilogy of her favourite series.
Next attraction on our list is the Covered market. This historic market in the very centre of the city offers just about everything; from fruits, vegetables to a vast selection of original souvenirs and quirky clothes, including an amazing selection of colourful socks that I cannot resist, and I buy three pairs, all in the shades of green. The place is buzzing with life, it is very loud and overcrowded. All our attempts to find a table in a café are unsuccessful…even after a significant wait. Eventually, we give up, buy a vast selection of snacks in the nearby supermarket and head back to the hotel…
Oh, I do like a day in Oxford! But – one can spend a week here and still only scratch the surface of all that it has to offer. Every building, every street, every façade holds centuries of stories and secrets…

MONDAY IN BLENHEIM PALACE



On Monday morning we set up early and drive to Blenheim Palace, a gigantic place of significant historical value and an obvious ambition to look like Versailles. The entrance is not cheap: tickets for two adults and one teenager come to ninety pounds. We are too early for the palace and go for a stroll around the grounds. We take photos by the gigantic 300-year-old Cedar of Lebanon tree made famous by Harry Potter and then take a scenic route through a wet and overgrown area.


When we finally return to the palace, we are desperate for coffees and chocolate brownies. Satisfied with our caffeine and sugar levels, we enter the gargantuan, overwhelming and overdecorated palace. Everything – from the floors and the walls to the beddings and the crockery is luxurious and out of proportions. I should not be surprised; this is the largest non-royal palace in Britan that with its private, royal and political intrigues resembles more to a soap opera than to a history book.


Blenheim Palace – named after the Battle of Blenheim (the village of Blindheim on the Danube River in Bavaria), a battle in the war of Spanish Succession – has the status of the UNESCO World Heritage Site. The palace and the grounds have always belonged to the family of Lord Marlborough. Yet for me the most important fact is that this is Winston Churchill’s family ancestral home and that he was born here. The other interesting fact is that it appeared as a backdrop to over seventy movies and other shows. Just to mention a few: Harry Potter (Order of the Phoenix), James Bond (Spectre), Mission Impossible, Indiana Jones…
Behind the palace are hidden impressive formal gardens with classical sculptures and water fountains. Further afield – one can also take the little train, but we decided to walk – are the walled gardens, the Butterfly house and a rather challenging maze. I loved the butterfly house but pull out of the maze. And while my two companions navigate their way through the hedgerow paths, I sit on a nearby bench and enjoy the sounds, colours and smells of autumn on a chilli but not unbearably cold afternoon.


Mid-afternoon we are back on the road and in no time surrounded with perfectly manicured hills and postcard-looking hamlets of Cotswolds. It feels like we stepped into a time machine and found ourselves in medieval times. Our route takes us through Chipping Norton, Moreton-in-March and Stow-on-the Wold. In Chipping Norton we visit the church and a couple of Charity shops. In Stow-on-the Wold we miss the turnoff for parking and just drive through to our destination and one of my favourite places in Britain, the spellbinding village of Burford.
We are staying in the Travel Lodge by the roundabout. There are more old fashioned and no doubt more charming places to stay in Burford, but the price for a night was nearly as high as the price of this short break. The hotel is not great and our ground floor room smells of damp, but we can survive.
The night has descended and the day dressed its distinctive autumnal robe; dark, wet and windy. We walk up and then down a foggy hill that feels like something from the Twilight zone and towards the centre of Burford. In The Mermaid Inn, a gourmet pub with dark wood furniture, low ceilings and chatty local people, we have our dinner. It serves something for everyone, pizzas, fish and chips and salads, and a rather good Merlot. Perfect ending to a perfect day on the road…

TUESDAY IN BURFORD




We wake up to a sunny but not warm morning. We drop our bags in the car and head to Burford for breakfast. In Huffkins we have our coffees, bacon sandwich and croissants with jam and chocolate chips. The café is nearly empty – but I guess we are rather early – the serving ladies are chatty and friendly, and the pastries fresh from the oven. So delicious. In the adjoining shop we buy a selection of sweet souvenirs of authentic Cotswolds products like jams and curds.


Next, we visit the St John the Baptist Church, one of the most visited churches in the country. The volunteer tourist guide gives us the historical and architectural highlights of the place. One of the main features is the impressive Harman memorial. Harman was one of Henry VIII's barbers and he erected the monument for himself, his wife Agnes and their sixteen children. The skeleton underneath the Tanfield Tomb contains a real, human bone (the right femur if I remember right) while others are carved out of stone.
When in 1649 a group of soldiers defected, the army caught them and imprisoned in this church. During that time, waiting to find out about their future (some were executed other pardoned) a certain Anthony Sedley carved his name in stone, and this etching is considered the oldest graffiti in Britain.


Ten-minute drive away from the Travel Lodge, there are the Cotswold Wildlife and Gardens. We are still in the morning zone, yet the place is packed. No doubt this is a perfect place to bring kids, both of school and pre-school ages, on a sunny and warm day in October half term. The small train circumnavigates the park and drives pass emus, rhinos, camels and giraffes. Of course, a superficial glance from the train is not sufficient and we repeat the route on foot. We are particularly impressed with the elegant and friendly giraffes. We also witness a striking lion waking up and annoying his lioness, red pandas slipping on a tree as if they were decorations and scary reptiles in glass boxes.


In the self-service restaurant we grab a lunch of satisfyingly tasty macaroni cheese with pesto, goulash with rice and chicken kievs with chips.
Time to hit the road and head back to London. After a perfect, yet short, quintessentially English road trip…