Larry was amused as Jenny leapt out of bed this morning and he thought we must have slept in but then realised it was just so she could watch a couple of early morning horse riders trotting past our window. Made a pleasant change from the constant procession of Mercs - this is a very affluent part of the world!
Breakfast in the bar again and then on the road early so that we could get through before they started closing roads as the Tour of Britain comes through the Cotswolds today. A bright sunny day after the storms of yesterday but they are promising more rain this afternoon and even by the time we reached Woodstock it was starting to cloud over.
We bit the bullet and paid the exorbitant entry fee to Blenheim Palace and it really is rather splendid. We were there right on opening time but the officous ladies at the front door weren't satisfied that all our watches said 10.30, they had to wait til a special buzzer went off. I nearly made it in anyway as they thought I was a worker there to help set up a rather magnificent wedding reception.
We were eventually let in but managed to go the wrong way as they hadn't set up their guiding ropeways properly so we got in trouble for going through the Winston Churchill exhibit backwards. We were getting a bit grumpy at being told off by this stage but eventually got to the State rooms in a quiet moment between the bus loads of Chinese tourists and had a nice chat to one of the room attendants who has a daughter living in Mundaring and our good humour was restored.
Made our way into the gardens and it was about then we realised Blenheim has its own wifi spot and we could get updates on the Eagles game via Kate and the AFL app. Was a little hard to concentrate on both the stunning grounds and the footy but we did! Was disappointed to see them setting up for horse trials here next week - everywhere we go we are a week out! Still, suppose it will be even more of a mad house so perhaps just as well. Had a cup of tea and watched the footy til half time and Eagles maintainjng a small lead.
Back to the car and drove into Oxford and managed to get a parking spot in a multi storey in the centre of town. Went off on a walking tour with no set plan and stopped for lunch at a cafe. Sat there and Larry managed to get great reception so watched the final quarter of the Eagles game. I didn't want to spoil my yummy baguette with the stressful game so told Larry not to tell me what was happening til the end. Poor L was nearly jumping out of his skin and had to get up and go round a corner so he could shout at his screen! He then came back and told me the game had finished and it was a draw and so they had to keep playing!! So I still didn't know a result and was still stressed! They played on and thinking we had lost I went off to the toilet only to come back to Larry leaping around the courtyard and fist pumping the air with all the locals staring at him strangely. Luke Shuey had kicked a match saving last minute goal!!! It reminded us of sitting in a Paris pub 6 years ago and learning West Coast had scraped through to win an elimination final against Carlton. Think that cost us a big Telstra big that time too! Still, if we need to cheer the Eagles on from a European city in an elimination final in the future I'm happy to do that! 😊
We then continued on our walking tour of Oxford with a spring in our step and grins on our faces before retrieving the car from the carpark and making our way south to Abingdon and the Kingfisher Barn Holiday Cottages. Checked in and rewatched the last couple of minutes of the Eagles game a few times whilst completely repacking our suitcases to fit in all the extra bags of souvenirs we had accumulated in the car over the weeks.
Drove back into the centre of Abingdon and had dinner at a very popular but characterless pub. We then went on a post dinner stroll to watch the sun set over the Thames and on our lovely 3 week holiday.
Home tomorrow.
You could have watched the Tour of Britain stage to make up for missing the horse trials!
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