May 4

Hein and I were up about 7:30 this morning and had a light morning. I had checked out trains and accommodations in Oxford where I intend to spend the next two days prior to coming home on Wednesday. I caught the 12:27 from Evesham to Oxford and arrived there at 1:15. It was pretty busy as there were only 4 cars and people were coming back on the bank holiday. It was raining this morning and a little breezy and probably only about 15. It had stopped raining by the time I arrived. With my heavy luggage I again took a taxi to my B&B Newton Guest House. It would have been about a 20 minute walk. I was let in by a young lady who had just been cleaning my room. She is from Slovakia and here improving her English so she can further her education. She was very helpful and I was soon settled into my room. It was a pretty good size and had WIFI that I could connect to in the room. It cost 56 pounds per night and that is very reasonable for walking distance to the city. I was given a map of the city and within 20 minutes was off for a walk. The streets are very crowded and I was disappointed to see a lot of garbage that seemed to be just blowing around. By 2:30 I had found the tourist bureau and bought a walking guide and a few post cards. On the way down Turl Street I stopped and bought a book and a music CD about Morse in Oxford, from the TV show of the same name. This was a great favourite of Carol and I so I thought it was very appropriate. It only cost 5.99 pounds. I continued down to High Street and stopped at the Que Pasa Pub, which was very much a restaurant with a few taps. I had a pint of Marsden’s Pedigree and took time to relax and write up my journal. By 3:30 I am off again and stopped at the New Road Baptist Church where Othello was advertised and I intended to come back for the performance tonight. I took the long way back to the B&B which took about 30 minutes. I posted yesterday’s blog and answered my emails.
I thought about going to the theatre so started up towards it but upon arrival I was met by a fellow at the door who didn’t think it was on tonight. He was kind enough to make a call to a posted number to check and confirm that indeed despite what it said on the poster, it was not being presented tonight. I was disappointed. One of the pubs mentioned in the walking guide was the Turl Pub and I was determined to find it and have a meal and a drink. I found it no problem and wanted a fairly traditional meal so opted for the fish and chips which was haddock. To compliment it I chose a half pint of Guinness a real standby. I was a little disappointed with the fish. I think they buy it battered and frozen and somehow heat it and thaw it out. I found it a little watery and the peas accompanying it were quite hard. Usual French fries couldn’t disappoint, only hand cut ones are really any good. All in all for 7.70 pounds including the beer it was nothing to complain about. I walked back home at least full and stopped at an off license store and selected a couple of bottles of Stella and a block of aged cheese for tomorrow. Back at the room, I put on the Morse CD and read up on the tour I planned to take tomorrow. I was asleep at 10:00 with music playing on the computer. It was very peaceful.