Oxford, Blenheim, and Harry Potter

Monday, 27 June, we were out the door bright and early headed north along country roads in the direction of Oxford. We spent the morning exploring and visiting Harry Potter and Tolkien sites. Headed north again we stopped at Wolvercote Cemetery to visit Tolkien's burial spot. Blenheim Palace, just a few minutes up the road, was our next stop. Late afternoon we headed southeast to the Warner Brothers Harry Potter Studio, which was really quite interesting and a lot of fun. You must have a reservation so the place is not overcrowded. For supper we headed into Watford for fish and chips before heading back to our great little cottage and bed.

 A familiar view near the gates to Christ Church College

 Famous Hogwarts stairs at Christ Church College

 Christ Church great hall inspired the Hogwarts hall set

 Christ Church Cathedral

Dito

 Bodleian Library

 Divinity School at the Bodleian was the Hogwarts infirmary

The College Church of St. Mary the Virgin

 The Bridge of Sighs

 The Sheldonian Theatre

 View toward the Radcliffe Camera and St. Mary the Virgin

from the lantern of the Sheldonian Theatre 

 Looking down into Broad Street

 Good time in the lantern

 Sheldonian roof trusses

 Oxford Covered Market

 Favorite meeting spot for Tolkien and C.S. Lewis

 The Tolkiens' graves

 One ring to rule them all left on the grave

 Our large and faithful blue VW people carrier parked outside

the Wolvercote Cemetery

 Blenheim Palace

 Binkers

Dickie showing Clara the details of the ceiling painting

Impressive gallery

 

Off into the gardens

 Italian-style gardens

 Capability Brown's gardens and lake

 Longstanding Taylor tradition

 The Cascade

Oxfordshire countryside

Harry Potter!

 The great hall set with costumes and props

 Uniforms


Hagrid, Snape, Dumbledor, et al.

Hogwarts Express

 The Knight Bus

 The ancient Hogwarts bridge

 4 Privet Drive: home of the Dursleys

 Dursley's lounge with deliveries of post

 Diagon Alley

Rob, Anders, and Clara headed up the alley

 Incredible scale model of Hogwarts

EUREKA! WIFI!

Late supper in Watford

Headed into the sunset on the M4

That was day 2, and remarkably we were on schedule!

OXO

D.

Windsor with Jet Lag

In company with the Hastings, I set off for dear old England on 23 June 2016. Having flown with Virgin Atlantic through the night from Chicago, we landed a touch early at Heathrow on 24 June. The lines at border control were insane and it took us two hours to get through. We picked up the rental car at Hertz, programmed Google Maps, and headed for Windsor Castle. We arrived in time for lunch prior to entering the castle, and after a relatively short wait, were able to go in. We walked to Eton and back before picking up some groceries for our stay in Berkshire. We arrived at our fine little Airbnb, Linden Cottage at Streatley, in time to get settled before night fell.

 Headed out from SLC

 Virgin Atlantic selfie

 Two hours 

Navigator and pilot in the VW people carrier, which feels huge
in the UK, but is smaller than a US Escalade

 Our first pasties

 On Peascod Street

 An exchange with Baby Goat Cheese whilst waiting to go in

 So, apparently I walk with my arms behind my back most of the time

 With the binkers on a bench

 Queen Mary's fabulous doll house

Traditional dead-slow-arch photo with ATH

 Norman round tower

 The Hastings crew

 Saint Alban's Street with St. John the Baptist Church in rear

 Nevada school boys at Eton

Windsor Waitrose is upstairs and was tricky to get into for us

 Stocking up on treats for our adventures

 Roberto is a stellar driver

Linden Cottage: our Berkshire home away from home

Sitting room and kitchen at Linden Cottage

Bedrooms at Linden Cottage (mine and Tucker's is top)

This was the wonderful pastoral view from our window

This was a brilliant beginning to our adventures.

OXO

D.