Friday, 4 January 2008

On the road again

With winter rapidly arriving we took the opportunity to take the mini on another road trip before the snow set in and buried in the car in massive drifts. Having spent 12 months in the area in 1993, I was keen to revisit Oxford and so Krystle and I set off on a mild Saturday morning. Spring was holding in there, but not enough to take the roof off the mini. I had booked a pub room at a place in the little town of Dorchester-on-Thames, about 9 miles away from Oxford. First though we went to Oxford and took a trip down memory lane, visiting Cothill where the school I worked at is, and the surrounding area. We had lunch at a pub near the school that I used to visit and then drove back through Abingdon which Krystle liked and wants to go back to.

The pub was very nice, warm and welcoming. Our room was large and comfy and we decided just to have dinner at the pub as nights were now becoming less welcoming for travel. Dorchester-on-Thames is a tiny little town with a population of only a couple of hundred. It is really only a street, but has a large church, post office and no less than 3 places to drink. Always get their priorites right.

On the Sunday we went into Oxford and had a look round the centre of town. Everything looked much smaller than I remembered it. We took an historical visit to Oxford castle, parts of which are almost 1000 years old and was until recently used as a prison, one of its many functions over the past millennium. You actually climbed the tower, the oldest standing part of the building and got a really good view of Oxford and the surrounding area. We also ate donuts at Krispy Kreme which I'm led to believe has been part of the complex for most of the past 1000 years. So its traditional!


We headed back having decided to steer clear of the freeways, giving the little car a break. It cruises along at 100-105 km/hr but because its only a 4 speed manual starts to struggle above these speeds. That and most other cars are doing 125km/h +.

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