Oxford, Stratford-upon-Avon, Broadway and the Cotswolds, Cheltenham 4/5

Yes, dear Reader, I was tempted and I ate.

But who could resist Yorkshire chocolate from the sacred Bodleian?  We left London for a way too brief  stop in Oxford. How could those TV villains in Inspector Morse and Inspector Lewis have the heart to create mayhem when surrounded by so much beauty and history?  We easily could have spent a day there, but we only got 2 hours. Fortunately Balliol College was open to visitors so we got to see the quad, chapel, and dining hall set up for a wedding. Then we went thru the Bodleian quads and some of us visited the Turf Tavern where the fictional Morse drank and real Bill Clinton smoked pot but didn't inhale. Unfortunately we didn't have one spare second for the Ashmolean Museum or anything else. Here are some of our photos.

Altar in Balliol chapel

The mighty Bodleian Library

The Bridge of Sighs

The Turf Tavern

All pig parts at Ocford market, heads £5 each

Stratford turned out to be a hellacious tourist trap. The only redeeming features were the River Avon and a nice Marks & Spencer store. 

Shakespeare's birthplace

Trinity church, Shakespeare's gravesite

On the banks of the Avon

After escaping Stratford we drove on thru the Cotswolds (after miles of driving thru them, I now know what English hedgerows are), past numerous adorable and no-doubt taxpayer subsidized sheep, to the almost-too quaint and and picturesque stone village of Broadway. Both Charles I and Oliver Cromwell hung out at the local Lygon Arms. The torrential winter rains have led to unbelievably lush fields and blooms. Still, I'd take a suite in Balliol over a £395K 2 bedroom Cotswold townhouse. From there, on to Cheltenham and a nice dinner at our hotel. Up early tomorrow for Barh and Stonehenge!

Cotswold scenes - sheep!

I assume the Xmas lights came after 1458