Day 2 Cotswolds, including Upper and Lower Slaughter, and Oxford

We woke up on day two in Stow on the Wold, in The Cotswolds, at The Pound.
Our host, Deighton had a beautiful breakfast ready for us.  Sausage, bacon, toast, cereal, fried tomatoes, eggs and waffle potatoes.  PLUS TEA!!! I had forgotten how much I love English Tea.  I LOVE ENGLISH TEA. Our whole experience at The Pound was so special, and we haven't stopped talking about it.

We checked out of The Pound, and following our tour book did a walking tour of Stow on the Wold, with a stop into Evergreen Livres (the boys both bought vintage Tin Tin books), and a charity shop (this was on my list of course). Also walked through Fleece Alley and saw the door at St. Edward's Church that supposedly inspired Tokien's Doors of Durin (Tolkien loved Stow on the Wold, and took many walks and hikes here). We also went to a local church's craft fair, where all the locals were selling their homemade goodies, like felted pins and handmade soap.  For lunch we purchased sandwiches and English candy (this is a theme that you'll see throughout our trip).  The sandwiches flavors were all so interesting, and I resolved to try a different one each day, if possible.  This time I had the cheese and red onion, Havah the cucumber and tuna, Henry the ham and cheese, and Jon the chicken and stuffing.

Next we drove to the village of Lower Slaughter and walked through the sheep fields to Upper Slaughter. This walk ended up being one of my favorite experiences from the trip.  One kissing gate led to another, and to another.  It was so fun to see the lambs bleating and running after their mamas.  We tried unsuccessfully more than once to catch one. :) These two villages were so idyllic. The homes were slightly newer than ancient Stow on the Wold, but still built in the old style.  I was surprised at how many houses there were for such a tiny village, there really were neighborhoods. The villages only had a (very, very nice) hotel, a pub, and a tourist shop. This area is world famous for their wool, so the shop seemed to mostly sell things made from that local wool.  The locals were out and about, working in their community garden, talking with each other, and attending dog training classes. My favorite sight was a lovely lady delivering a robust harvest of rhubarb home from the community garden in her wheelbarrow.  Love it.

On to Oxford! We did another Rick Steves walking tour through the town which included the History of Science Museum (among so many other awe inspiring things was Albert Einstein's blackboard from a lecture in Oxford with equations connecting age, density and size of the universe), Christ Church College (we missed getting in to see the dining hall that inspired J.K. Rowling, and the grand staircase where they filmed quite a few scenes), Blackwell's Books (Blackwell's published Tolkien's first work), the Bodliean Library (one of the oldest libraries in Europe, with over 12 million items.  Also where they filmed the infirmary scenes in Harry Potter), and ended with dinner at The Eagle and Child, where the Inklings (Lewis, Tolkien, Sayers and others) met regularly, and nicknamed it the "bird and baby".

Of course we also did some shopping, the kids both picked out Oxford sweatshirts, and a few books from Blackwell's.  Henry a Warrior's and a Tin Tin, and Havah a vintage Redwall.

Finally we drove back to Heathrow to drop off the car and then took the tube to London and to our hotel called Cherry Court, which is the Victoria district.  

Fish and Chips and mushy peas

Steak and ale pie

shopping to Oxford