Tuesday – We got into Oxford… .the railway station that is, around lunchtime…. just a bit too early to check in so we went to the pub…. The Swan and Castle and soon discovered that the accommodation was right next door. We also discovered the major shopping centre was across the road and the High Street just a minute’s walk away. Brilliant!!!
Turns out we were in the Oxford Castle precinct. A medieval castle partly destroyed during the civil war in the 1100s, it later became an administrative centre then from 1795 to 1996 it was a state prison. Now it’s a tourist attraction and a hotel. We ate at Malmaison Bar and Grill our first night and thoroughly enjoyed it.
Disaster- Rohinda is from Afghanistan and in Oxford for a training venture with a friend from Pakistan. They were staying in the same apartment complex. She had ordered food…. delivered…and came down to collect it when she realised she had locked herself out of her apartment. I met her in the foyer. She was distraught. She had issues with her phone. She couldn’t contact the owner. Her English was OK but she wasn’t confident, so I made some calls for her. We contacted security were given different numbers, but no one was able to help. Eventually I brought her up to our apartment to recharge her phone and get on to the internet. After about three hours of this continuing drama -the last resort – a locksmith. The locksmith arrived- the door was unlocked. That mistake cost her £60 and a great deal of embarrassment.
Wednesday- Time to explore but first breakfast. Westgate centre had all the usual franchises, and we ate at Ole & Steen and then l looked around for a cheap coat for Norway. Not sure if my coat will be enough. We did have a delightful conversation with Jahnavi Beckie and Vicky in a shoe shop and got some great tips on what to see and do in the city.
The main reason we came to Oxford was to meet my grandmother’s sister’s great grand daughter, Jill. What a bonus- I got to meet her mother too- Adrienne. I first contacted Jill on Ancestry in December last year when I noticed that we had a DNA connection on my paternal grandmother’s side. It seems the Irish are a little shy about getting in touch, but Jill did. I let her know we would be in the UK at this time, and we agreed to meet.
What a treat? I had done some really in-depth research to find out how my grandmother came to Australia and never found the ship’s passenger list with her name. I did however find, a Martha McMullan who was accompanying her niece from Ireland to Townsville. It turns out that Martha gave her sister Winnie her ticket and it was my grandmother who arrived in Australia in 1923. Martha was Adrienne’s grandmother.
We meet in John Lewis ‘A Place to Eat’, and chatted and shared stories for a couple of hours. We agreed to get in touch again and share the information we have. I think we could have sat and chatted all day, but Jill had to return to do the school pickup. It was an amazing experience.
As a local Jill gave us a couple of tourist tips about the city and suggested we explore the Covered Markets which were colourful eclectic and full of students grabbing cheap eats.
We were on a mission. We were going to find the 13th century Turf Tavern and ‘bend an elbow’. Thank goodness for Google. She led us through the twisted alleyways and into the pub. We both chose a steak and ale pie accompanied by a fine ale. Fabulous!!!
Next the Bodleian Old Library. I did a tour. Dan was enthusiastic and seemed to be a keen Harry Potter fan. Oxford is full of Potter fans.
We had achieved what we had wanted to and headed back to London the next day determined to rest. We are just too easily distracted. We ended up at Tachbrook Markets for lunch, dropped off backpacks then, still worried about Tromso, explored Cardinal Place, Victoria -no luck- so back to covent Garden still empty handed but exhausted so into The Porcupine for a pint. Well it was late. We were hungry and Chinatown was right there. We opted for China Modern and we were not disappointed. We stumbled home, tired but sated.
