Actually, it's more than one jet plane. :-) A week from tomorrow (Nov. 7th), I'm flying to Las Vegas to attend a banking conference; back home to L.A. the evening of the 10th. The next day (the 11th) is a holiday (Veterans' Day in the U.S., Remembrance Day elsewhere), and I'll be wearing the red poppy I bought in Canada three years ago while I do laundry and chores and ... pack the big suitcase this time, for another trip. Friday, Nov. 12th, at 4:00 p.m., I'll be sitting back in my Air New Zealand seat waiting for the plane to taxi down the runway and take off for London Heathrow! From there, it's on to Oxford, where I'll settle in for three lovely weeks of vacation! *throws hands up in the air and dances around the room, dodging all the piles of books on the floor*
Am I ready for either one of these trips? Is my apartment tidy? Am I caught up with work projects, or even better, ahead of schedule? Foolish questions! The answers, in order, are No, No, No, and No yet again. Should I be panicking? Yes. Am I? No. Will I be in full panic mode when I return to the office after a month away and am dropped right into my busiest time of the year? Oh, lord, yes indeedy! But, as someone once said (you all know who), "Tomorrow is another day." I'll deal with all of it then and not worry about it now.
So. I'm going to be in Oxford for three weeks visiting
dominiquelechic and giving her excuses to play instead of attend lectures and work diligently on her essays. The long-interrupted 2008 Scotland trip diary might even be finished and posted during my stay. (Yes, I can hear some of you saying "Be still, my heart!", but I'm just going to ignore that. ;-p) The new Harry Potter film will be opening while I'm wandering around Christ Church, and how perfect is that timing? There will be walking tours and shopping (including food shopping, as I'm renting an apartment instead of staying in a hotel, so will be able to cook!). There will be day trips to London for museum-going.
Now, since I've never been to England at all (just flew over it on the way to Scotland), but lots of you have, I'm throwing this post open for suggestions on the subject of "must-do / must-see". Things requiring automobiles are out, but anywhere accessible by public transportation is an option. I'm really thinking mostly of day trips, but an overnight trip or two might also be doable. As for London sightseeing, what are your favourite things? There have already been votes for the Tate Modern and the Harrod's Food Court. :-)
**************************************
suzycat: msdaccxx isn't likely to see this post unless you point it out to her, but if she has any suggestions, I'd love to hear them. :-) 
Am I ready for either one of these trips? Is my apartment tidy? Am I caught up with work projects, or even better, ahead of schedule? Foolish questions! The answers, in order, are No, No, No, and No yet again. Should I be panicking? Yes. Am I? No. Will I be in full panic mode when I return to the office after a month away and am dropped right into my busiest time of the year? Oh, lord, yes indeedy! But, as someone once said (you all know who), "Tomorrow is another day." I'll deal with all of it then and not worry about it now.
So. I'm going to be in Oxford for three weeks visiting
dominiquelechic and giving her excuses to play instead of attend lectures and work diligently on her essays. The long-interrupted 2008 Scotland trip diary might even be finished and posted during my stay. (Yes, I can hear some of you saying "Be still, my heart!", but I'm just going to ignore that. ;-p) The new Harry Potter film will be opening while I'm wandering around Christ Church, and how perfect is that timing? There will be walking tours and shopping (including food shopping, as I'm renting an apartment instead of staying in a hotel, so will be able to cook!). There will be day trips to London for museum-going.Now, since I've never been to England at all (just flew over it on the way to Scotland), but lots of you have, I'm throwing this post open for suggestions on the subject of "must-do / must-see". Things requiring automobiles are out, but anywhere accessible by public transportation is an option. I'm really thinking mostly of day trips, but an overnight trip or two might also be doable. As for London sightseeing, what are your favourite things? There have already been votes for the Tate Modern and the Harrod's Food Court. :-)
**************************************
suzycat: msdaccxx isn't likely to see this post unless you point it out to her, but if she has any suggestions, I'd love to hear them. :-) - Current Mood:
excited
Profile
- aswanargent
- Karen
Page Summary
- babycakesin : (no subject) [+0]
- luci_2 : (no subject) [+0]
- ccoralacid : (no subject) [+0]
- (Anonymous) : London [+0]
- ccoralacid : (no subject) [+0]
- (Anonymous) : (no subject) [+1]
Comments
And if you have a chance to go to Speaker's Corner (in the north-east corner of Hyde Park, says Wikipedia) on a Sunday morning, go for it, it was really interesting to hear all those people speaking with so much passion.
Then again, I've only been to London once, so...
Bon voyage!
Have a great vacation.
Edited at 2010-10-31 06:57 pm (UTC)
Warwick Castle is fun and its near town so you can see that as well
Blienham place is also interesting ad the village of woodstock is pretty you can get a bus from oxford
The canals--there is a pub on the canals at Kidlington -i think it may be called the jolly boatman-good food and you can walk down the canal after a see the canal boats--you can probably gett a bus there but it may need a bit of researching--ashame i no longer live in Oxford or I would have offered to take you there.
London --i love the Victoria and Albert--my favourite is te fabric section
Boughton on the water if you can get there--very pretty but a bit touristry
If you like outlet shopping Bicester village is good and you can get there from oxford by bus.
There a little castle outside Banbury where they filmed three men and a little lady and many other films and tv shows--Ralf Fiennes is linked into the family-samllamd funto go around but you ned to check if it is open at this time of year
Stow in Wold is a village with lovely shops,the oldest pub in england -also antigque centre of uk-you can probably get there by bus
A west end theatre show is always good--cages aux folles may still be on --i saw it and loved it--its on at a small theatre and is very intimate
Kris Kristoffersonn attended Christ church college oxford and i think he shared a room with Rowen Atkinson
London I like the Tate the modern art museum but you cannot get around it in one day.
I always enjoy covent garden in London -- lots of shopping,a market and there is usally some street theatre on.
That all i can think of for now but if i think of any thing else i will let you know
All of my recommendations are food related! Oh well.
For delicious inexpensive food or coffee I recommend Pret a Manger; they're all over the place. I've heard Nero Coffee is also good.
Hyde Park, of course! Giant version of Boston Common.
And I love the Borough Market, which is a wholesale and retail food market and one of the largest in the world. (Neal's Yard Dairy has good cheese.) Borough Market is open to the public on Thursdays (11 am to 5 pm), Fridays (noon to 6 pm) and Saturdays (8 am to 5 pm). The market home page is here:
http://www.boroughmarket.org.uk/page/1/Home
There's information on the location and how to get there. I loved it.
Fun to browse Sainsbury's market if you enjoy checking the food stores abroad, and if you go to Harrod's the food hall is a must see.
the harrod's xmas trees may be up--the have solid silver decorations and are auctioned off for charity each year
Tavi and I have no definite plans as yet, so if fate does put you in the vicinity, give us a shout and we can all put our heads together and see what makes sense. Aren't you lucky that a certain former prime minister's birthday is today, which of course would have been much too short notice to have for you join Tavi and me for a celebratory dinner. ;-)