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8th & 9th August 2019
With Callum safely on his way to Jersey with the Scouts, we headed to Oxford to make the most of the voucher for my “big birthday” last year. Oxford River Boat trip and meal at The Folly. Thank you Ray, Nic, Aly and kids!
We decided to make a night of it and we managed to book a room at the newly-opened Courtyard by Marriott hotel. A bit of a panic beforehand as the hotel website said it wasn’t open yet … I did phone through to check!!
We first dropped our bag off at the hotel – the room was ready so we didn’t have to worry about getting bags later.
We knew where we wanted to go for lunch – The Turf Tavern is now a regular refreshment pit-stop when we are in Oxford, and we were hoping there would be a free table so we could have lunch. We were in luck!
It’s one of the oldest pubs in Oxford, made famous by Inspector Morse.
A took the long walk back to the hotel so we could change for dinner. The hotel was close to Oxford Castle – some rooms would have a view over the castle (Clue: we didn’t !!)
We arrived at The Folly a little early and were shown into the small bar to get a drink – gin and tonic went down a treat. Everyone was then encouraged to take a seat outside to wait the arrival of the boat. It was a lovely warm evening so people didn’t need to be asked twice.
The river cruise took us along the Thames, passing numerous rowers and all the university boat houses. Some run down, some very new and shiny. It was a lovely way to spend an hour on a lovely evening (wouldn’t have been the same if was raining!).
On arriving back at The Folly, the terrace was set ready for dinner and we were shown to our table. The food was amazing and we had a lovely meal.
It was twilight as we walked back to the hotel and the hen/stag dos were making their way around town. The bar area at the hotel was quite quiet so we grabbed a drink and chilled for a bit.
9th August 2019
A good nights sleep and we couldn’t help but admire the view from the window (we were given a room with a view!).
The view from outside the front door on the otherhand …
and we headed out to find somewhere for breakfast. We ended up near the Radcliffe Camera (Bodleian Library) and spotted a little café tucked away by University Church.
It proved to be little gem of a place. Vaults & Garden had a large indoors seating area under it’s vaulted ceiling – and a small courtyard outside with views of sorts over to the Radcliffe Camera. We were lucky enough to time it right so we could eat outside. We both went for Scrambled Egg on Toast with bacon and it was one of the nicest scrambled eggs we’d eaten. So light and fluffy.
After breakfast, we wandered around the universities. It was mainly international students in residence so some of them had opened up their buildings for the public to have a look inside. It really is a most magical place to study at university.
Jon had read somewhere about a rooftop bar in Oxford and as Callum wasn’t with us, we could pay a visit and admire the rooftop view. We ended up at The Varsity Club at The Covered Market. It had just opened when we arrived and we climbed the six flights of stairs to the top. I had a glass of prosecco and Jon a cider which we sipped whilst admiring the view.
Alas, time to head home. Bags collected from the hotel on the way back to the station and we headed home.
