United Kingdom

Before leaving the UK we spent a couple of days driving through Oxford and the Cotswolds, a lovely part of the English countryside.

I (Clare) thought it would be nice to stay in a cute little country hotel with charm and character… little did I know that this usually means slightly out of date décor, and staff that really don’t care that much (think Fawlty Towers…!) So shortly after checking in to our hotel just outside Oxford we decided to duck into town to explore rather than enjoying the country ‘charm’.

We had been warned parking in Oxford was quite difficult, but given our hotel staff member’s inability to give any useful directions (she didn’t even know the name of the street we were on!) we thought we would just wing it. Eventually we found our way into town and discovered a multitude of disabled parking spots – in fact, the only free parking spots in town were disabled. So we parked in one, put Simon’s Australian permit on the windscreen, and headed up the street, only to bump into a parking inspector. We explained to him where we had parked and that we only had an Australian permit, and he said that would not be a problem. Great! Feeling confident we proceeded on our way and explored Oxford, seeing some amazing college grounds and then having a drink in the sunshine at a nice little pub on the river.

Upon returning to the car, we were mighty pleased to see a parking fine smacked on the windscreen. Thanks parking inspector. We have since written a letter and sent in this picture so we’ll see if we can get off it…

That night we had a meal included at our luxury hotel, which was surprisingly good although they seemed to think we could each manage a whole roast chicken to ourselves! We were told it was a baby chicken. We think perhaps they accidentally killed his parents.

The next day we spent driving through the Cotswolds, taking in the beautiful scenery and amazing old buildings.

And last but not least...

Enough photo's for you?...

At last another update. Sorry for the delay but we've had trouble finding internet access in Verona where we are now. First a quick catch up from our time in London...

Since we had brought some respite from the heat and humidity to Hong Kong, we thought the least we could do was bring some respite from the chill in London.

Luckily we had been prepared for warm weather in Hong Kong so we were able to bring out the summer singlets out for a few days in London that topped 25 degrees.

How beautiful is Springtime in London!

A few highlights from London...

We made the most of our week by catching up with friends -

Having drinks outside a classic English pub in the balmy weather with GP, Em, Tara and Caius.

Visiting the Borough markets and tasting some delicious cheeses... Clare was quite distraught when the assistant refused to serve her any more stilton after hearing she was pregnant!

Eating lunch in the church grounds at Borough markets with Georgie, Tara, Em and Jane Don who was on a flying visit through London.

This is Clare and Em checking out the Peacock's lovely garden.

And visiting Daniel and Robyn in Clapham...

We also got to explore some interesting parts of London including the gothic Camden markets - check out these boots...

And enjoyed private box seats at a hillarious musical called Avenue Q...

We also had a great time catching up with the rest of the gang including Jo & Tom, Tinks, Karen, Amy, and Clare's relatives and spent a couple of days driving through Oxford and the Cotswolds - more photos to come soon once we can get our internet up and running.

Verona is going really well - apartment is excellent, Simon is coping remarkably well with Italian drivers and we are slowly discovering our Italian language skills.

Hope to write more soon!

Simon and Clare