OXFORD AND CAMBRIDGE, DEGREES OF SEPARATION, Sunday/Monday, October 9/10

Neither of us have degrees but that didn't stop us from wanting to see two of the world's most prestigious university cities Oxford and Cambridge. That and Simon's obssession with Inspector Morse. First stop was The Randolph in Oxford, a fancy smancy five star hotel which has a Morse bar dedicated to the Colin Dexter character. There are pics of John Thaw (Morse) and Kevin Whatley (Lewis) and other guest stars around the bar in which some episodes were filmed.
We could only spend a few hours in Oxford as we had to make Cambridge by early evening and given the competative streak between the two, (they refer to each other as 'that other place' there is no direct route between the two but a series of disjointed smaller highways that zigzag through various town centres.
Oxford is a very gothic place full of steeples and gruesome gargoyles. It's a difficult place to drive around and find parking so we opted for the open top bus tour. It was great. Conducted live by a froppy university type with a lisp he gave us the full gamut of names of who went where. A David Cameron here, Tony Blair there, Iris Murdoch lectured here, Rowan Atkinson graduated there. Margaret Thatcher studied chemistry and JR Tolkien hung out there, Lewis Carroll lectured maths of all things but it was the daughter of the Dean of Christchurch college that really gave him his big break, Alice 'Wonderland' Liddell. It was good to hear one of the claim-to-fame stories as we passed University College was one Bob Hawke, former Australian Prime Minister, who broke the world speed record for consuming a yard glass of beer in 11 seconds. Onya Bob.
One of the misconception of these university town is that there is no Oxford University building. The uni is actually made up of many colleges spread across the city so you can't really get in a cab and say take me to Oxford or Cambridge university like you can say Sydney University.
After the convoluted route north east to Cambridge we checked in and strolled around the streets. It's older (Sirs Issac Newton and Francis Bacon's names cropped up) than Oxford but isn't as scary looking. It has also educated the most Nobel Prize winners in the world more than 80 and Charles Darwin and Stephen Hawking. On the flipside, this is Monty Python country, again our bus tour pointing out the University Hotel bar where John Cleese worked. But they consider the other funny man Stephen Fry to be the King of Cambridge and it's where he and Hugh Laurie (House) first met and started doing comedy. The  Queen or more appropriately Dame of Cambridge is probably Judi Dench.
You can just feel the intellect in these places winners but alas none of it rubbed off on us. We saw a few groups of students the other side of a few ales and could relate more to that. Suppose some of them could be the next generation of PMs, comedians and other leaders in their fields.

The Randolph with Morse Bar left of the entrance.

Oxford shopping.

Inside one of the colleges.

Ghostly Gothic stuff in every corner.

Canals good for rowing.

Alice's shop.

Oxford sights via open top bus.

More ugly statues at Oxford.

Jesus College at Cambridge (Peter Roland's old campus)

Couple of pasty faced tourists doing the bus tour at Cambridge. Pretty cold.

King's College at Cambridge. Salman Rushdie learnt to write Satanic Verses there... only kidding but he probably studied literature.

SHAKESPEARE AND STEPTOE, Friday/Saturday, October 7/8

Anne Hathaway's family home.

Bard birthing bed.

The bed in the Rococo room.

B&B row.

Shakespeare's birthplace.

Stratford Upon Avon watering hole.

and more modern terraces.

Checking out for the umpteenth time.

Channeling 'Arfa' Daley

Bargain baby head.

Road to William Morris's house.

Morris's Kelmscot Manor

Feeding Arts and Craft bull.

Another story book cottage.

Next stop was Stratford Upon Avon which sounds very posh but as I discovered it has its bogan element like Grafton Upon Clarence.
The hometown of the world's most famous playwright is Tudor city with lots of great examples of that style of architecture complete with colourful floral hanging baskets adorning the facades.
While we didn't have time to go to one of the Shakespeare theatre to see a production while we were there, we did go to Anne Hathaway's cottage (that's Mrs Shakespeare not the Hollywood starlet Gen Yers). Turns out Anne was the original cougar marrying Will who was 18 at the time and she was 26. The cottage was the place where he wooed Ms Hathaway and contains some significant pieces of furniture including the bed in which Shakespeare was born.
We stayed in a cute B&B run by a Scottish couple, our Rococo room lived up to its name, pretty lavish for the 75 pounds.
After another hearty full English breakfast (lost count of these), we headed to the local car boot market to check out the locals and find a bargain.
It was a stark contrast to Shakespeare and the theatre types around the night before. It was Steptoe & Son meets Minder. I tried to speak neutrally but some of the 'geezers' picked up on my accent. After quizzing me they soon worked out I was an Aussie after I commented on the rugby. The Poms had just lost to the Frogs and they weren't happy. Oh well our cricket team is crap at the moment. It's been crap for five years one of the geezers said. Do you want me to buy something or what? They all laughed and said they liked Australians cos we didn't take any crap from anyone, and we don't get have all that class structure, or royal families or anything. I said we do have a class system but it's self appointed. After a few more jokes I parted with a 'fiver' in exchange for a collection of trinkets and we headed off into academia and the university cities of Oxford and Cambridge.

COTSWOLDS KIDS, Thursday, Friday, October 6,7

We spent Wednesday night in Tetbury, our first taste of Cotswolds cuteness. Simon found a great room at the local hotel The Stone called the Elisabethian. Pretty grand for 75 pounds. We couldn't get into the Snooty Fox (too snooty maybe) but we had a beer there while an old Great Dane snoozed in the corner of the room (see previous entry for pic).I kinda wish Australia was a bit more open to dogs being able to hang around like this. Owners take their dogs everywhere in England so they are really well socialised and never a problem in crowds or around food etc. and they give a place a very homely feel.
Tetbury was full of great little shops including one of the two Highgrove stores operated by the Prince of Wales as his residence of the same name is nearby. All the profits from sales go to his charities so I had to buy some bits from there (or that's what I told Simon when I came back with a bag full of stuff).
It was starting to get pretty cold up here in the Cotswolds and the wind had a particulary nasty edge but it was good to get the coat, gloves, scarf, hat, boots etc on finally.
We had a little bit of rain but nothing set in thankfully. On Thursday we took off and really started to see what this much talked about area is all about.
Quaint, quaint and more quaint, in fact it got quite sickening the more you drive around, looking up laneways, passing cottage after cottage, manor after mansion, village here and there, rivers that were more like streams weaving their way through the villages. Our first stop for the postcard perfect and self explantory Bourton-on-the-Water. The quaint factor about 9 out of 10. Ducks and swans in the river floating past tiny arched bridges that pass to cute stone shops that sell gorgeous little tidbits and cream teas. I think this was about my third or fourth cream tea here. You do start to feel to feel calorie OD living like this. English breakfasts, followed by cream teas followed by lunch, maybe squeeze in afternoon tea before it's beer o'clock and then dinner. Luckily we are doing lots of walking.
We visited our first castle here Sudeley which is Lady Somebody Muck's family home and was also the former home of Catherine Parr the last wife and widow of Henry the 'Ape'. A visit to the castle's chapel and you can see where Catherine lies. Weird feeling that. We stayed at Chipping Camden that night another bustling little village that looks like several other bustling little villages. On Friday we headed to the nearby Slaughters which sound awful but again are not. They are the tiny villages of Upper and Lower Slaughter the latter boasting a working water mill. You never tire of driving around these areas as all of the tiny narrow country lanes lead to villages and there are pubs and general stores no matter how small you think they are. I don't know how many Swan Inns, Red Lion's, Queen's Heads, Fox and Hounds, etc etc I've passed during this trip. Snowsill or 'Snozzle' as they call it is a tiny village but had a great manor named after the area. It it now run by the National Trust but was owned by an eccentric Charles Wade. He lived with his grandmother for an uncomfortably long time, until he bought the manor with his inheritance and had lots of 'bohemian' friends, and then married a woman much, much younger than he was in the last few years of his life (and they had separate sleeping quarters) so you can join the dots.
He collected things, mainly handcrafted items from around the world during his lifetime. It was astonishing to see someone that had hoarded more stuff than me. It made Schaeffer House's collection look like a garage sale. The manor, certain sections of which dated to around 700AD, housed the collection, while Charles lived in the less impressive Priest's House without any of the comforts that a manor afforded. Mad I say but then that's what being eccentric is all about.
Speaking of collecting, you'll also find op shops or thrift stores as they call them in England, everywhere including in the Costwolds so it I was having a ball scouring those and scored a nice piece of Poole pottery at one village. Had to explain the weight -v- bargain factor to Simon though as my carry-on is getting heavier by the day.
We have also been extremely lucky with the weather in England with only a spot or two of rain. Nothing set in and mostly clear skies thankfully.
Before we left the Cotswolds on Friday we ducked into Kelmscot Manor the home of the grandfather of the Arts and Craft movement William Morris. It was an amazing sneak peek into his life and showcased the furniture and beautiful tapestries he created. Next stop Shakespeare country.

No mincing words at Bourton-on-the-water.

Lower Slaughter sounds awful but as you can see, isn't.

Another fancy gate, another fancy manor.

Signs of Slaughter.

Sudeley Castle garden ruined by some shonky brickworks.

Don't complain about mowing your lawn.

Paying my respects at the late great Catherine Parr's tomb.

Snozzle Inn.

I can't even remember where this is cos they all look the same after a while.

Bourton-on-the-Water I think.

Sir Hoard-a-lot at Snowsill Manor.

Snowsill Manor the home of eccentric finds.

Holly in the gardens at Snowshill manor.

Blogging in the Elisabethian room at Tetbury.

Ghost town at Tetbury. Everyone's inside cos it's cold.

Tetbury shops. Yep I bought something from this one.

Main street at Tetbury about 1700AD.

British combo: Snooty Fox and mini at Tetbury.

Circa 2011.

Cathedral at Tetbury.

Yes it's real and no Goldilocks hasn't slept there.

You don't know where the gardens finish and the houses start here.

Rear of The Stone at Tetbury. You can just make out the princess in the Elisabethian room window left of the castle turrets (which was the bathroom window).

TIME FOR BATH. Wednesday, October 5

We were heading to Bath this morning so after dreaming of hedgehogs all night we bid farewell to Mike and Mary and their enchanted garden and headed up to this historical city.
Again a relatively short drive for us, 1.5 hours, and we were soon seeing the beautiful Georgian terraces that line the hillsides as you wind your way down in the CBD.
It is a grand place, lots of green spaces mixed with blocks of grey buildings and paving with no trees in sight. The Royal Crescent, an arc of 30 or so terraces, is the most photographed buliding in Bath so we had to get one too. We also had to see why the city was built and named in the first place by visiting the Roman baths.
Using the natural hot springs found in the area you really feel you are in a time warp. The water doesn't look very healthy though, bit green and apparently is full of bacteria so no touching. Apparently some people have fallen in and lived to tell the tale. You can see the water bubbling in some sections, the hottest pool about 50 degrees from memory. Jane Austen is also big in Bath as she lived and wrote there but we were on a mission to get to the Cotswolds that afternoon so we gave Jane's museum a miss and headed up into Midsommer Murders country.
Tetbury is the gateway to that area and once you arrive you really know you are in chocolate box English countryside. We are going to hang around here for a few days, exploring the countryside with its insanely narrow lanes, unbelieveably cute honey coloured stone cottages and maybe find the odd dead body. (For the Inspector Barnaby fans).

By Georgian it's grand.

Time for a Bath.

Warm but not inviting.

Infectious place.

18th century shopping centre.

Royal Crescent. Imagine trying to find your front door after a few pints.