Sunday, 9 July, 2017 – weather warm and humid
Today we leave Oxford for our next adventure. We have a bit of an issue in our travel with the first problem being that the road in front of Keble College is to be blocked off for some race or event, making it difficult to get a taxi in. So we arrange for a taxi to pick us up from the Lamb and Flag. After our last Oxford breakfast, we hump up the suit cases and walk down the path to the front of the Lamb and Flag.
Our journey involves a taxi to a car park near the train station as the tracks are being worked on that Sunday. We catch a bus there which eventually takes us to Didcot Parkway. We then catch a train from there to Slough. From Slough we catch a Train to Windsor. As we get closer in, the trains become more crowded with the last one extremely crowded.
As we are entering Windsor, we notice that there are at least 100 busses parked. It is a beautiful day and it would seem that everyone in England is on the water. Windsor is not a small town by any stretch of the imagination and the train station is quite large.
I will not go into the gory details but there is “animated discussion” between Julie and myself as to where we are going and the random walk being used. Eventually our Host for the next several days comes out to meet us and we arrive at our destination. BTW: I am amazed at how friendly the Poms are turning out to be. As we were wandering along the river, suitcases being towed, a gentleman asked me if we are lost and need help and then points out where we were to go. Lovely.
So our destination is a large barge on the River Thames which has been converted to a small “hotel”.
Our Hosts Graham and Wendy greet us on the back of the boat and it isn’t long before I have a G&T in my hand. I was a bit flustered about the “foot journey” here and it is a bit warm and humid, but I settle in relatively quickly. After a bit of a delay while our room is being prepared, we move into it with our big log suitcases, Julie’s is apparently the heaviest that Graham has ever experienced. The set-up is very nice.
Julie goes for a walk around Windsor while I rest. These are some of her photos.
One thing I must say is that the Internet access is great. Compared to the nightmares I experienced in Oxford, it is a real treat.
Julie returns from her prancing and has brought several bottles of wine with her. It becomes dinner time. The main course is slow cooked lamb casserole which has smelled good all day on the stove.
Our Hosts have set-up table and chairs on the lawn outside the boat.
It is a big open park with lots of folks having fun. One group is tossing around Frisbees and Soccer balls. Another, with people from the sub-continent, are playing a variation of Cricket, sort of. They eventually fade away.
We got through a couple of the wines Julie had picked up and then it was good night. We had one of our best sleeps of all time!