Sarah Rose and Jay: The Flowerbed Shed and Oxford

I wrote this list after our first day in Oxford

Things I like about the UK:

-Their stoplights flash yellow right before they go from red to green so that you know when to get your foot back on the clutch and shift out of neutral

-At the grocery store, they list the fruit varietals for berries. For example, this evening we dined upon "Spartan" blueberries from Poland. They were AWESOME.

-Their "Free From" sections, which is where I find gluten and dairy free things, are SPECTACULAR.

-They appreciate the importance of pudding in ones life. I saw about 7 different dairy free puddings and custards. It made me very happy. I got dessert for the next couple of nights. They even had a pair of individually sized gluten and dairy free tiramisus!

-Roundabouts: at first they were confusing and would get me flustered, but now I really like them. If I make a mistake, miss my exit, I'm not in the right lane or whatever, I just go around again!

I've changed my mind since I wrote that last one. I have mixed feelings about roundabouts. The big, well marked ones, I like. But the little dinky ones that pop up out of nowhere and aren't entirely clear? NOT A FAN. Especially since impatient drivers have a tendency to decide that they don't want to do the roundabout and just cut across the middle and cut me off and scare the crap out of me. *rant over*

The Flowerbed Shed is the first place I booked on AirBnb once we started planning our trip back in May. It seemed like a bit of a risk, cause our host didn't have any reviews, but that's also when you can get the best prices, so we took the chance, and I'm so glad we did. Lizie (our hostess) is going to be able to start charging more for this now that she's got a few reviews under her belt, so I feel pretty lucky for having snagged it. I believe she used to use this place as an art studio. It's in the back of her spacious garden next to the chicken coop. The directions to her house read a bit like a treasure map. We're really close to Oxford, but I feel like we're a world away. It's been a fantastic chance to rest and relax.

one of our neighbors

A road on our walk

Yesterday was a lazy day. I worked on my paper, napped and read. Once Jay was done working we had a delicious dinner of lamb and green beans. The flowerbed shed smelled amazing for the next hour after that. We've made a habit of sharing a large bottle of cider in the evening after dinner. In the evening, we went for a long walk past the Mole Inn, which is a nearby restaurant that is actually in the Michelin Guide. We stumbled upon an old Manor house and an old church before we had to turn back to avoid the rain.

The old church

The Manor House

Today, Jay started working early so that he could get off early. We headed to the Cotswolds and down to see the Uffington White Horse. First we tried to go to the village of Bibury, but it turns out that everyone else wanted to go to Bibury today too, so we ended up just doing a quick drive through (it was adorable) and found another, slightly less well advertised village. We went to Bourton-on-the-Water, which is apparently "the Venice of the Cotswolds." It was packed with other people, and very picturesque. We walked around a little bit, had tea, and then headed back to the car to go see the White Horse.

Jay at tea

Me and a British Phone Booth.
Cause I couldn't help myself

The Uffington White Horse is the oldest of the British White Horses, which are chalk drawing carved into the sides of hills. The Uffington Horse was carved in the late Bronze Age (1000-700 BC) and has been continuously maintained by nearby inhabitants for 3000 years. Right next to it is Uffington Castle. Uffington Castle is what's left of an Iron Age hill fort. At this point it's a flat area surrounded by two "walls" that are now little more than grass mounds. It's very clearly not a natural formation, but it's hard to envision what the original fortress might have looked like. Just below the horse is Dragon Hill. Dragon Hill is said to be the place where St. George slew the dragon. There is a bald patch on the hill where grass doesn't grows and its said that is because that is where the dragon's blood landed when St. George killed it. It was cool to see the horse in person, though we have to resort to Wikipedia to get a really good look at it. The hike to the top of the hill would have been worth it on its own. The view was stunning. All the driving through the English countryside was beautiful and utterly charming. Unfortunately, since I was driving and Jay was navigating and the roads are absurdly narrow with no room to pull over for pictures, you'll just have to trust me on that.