Oxford

We went to Oxford on Saturday; we heard that it was nice to bike around and we thought we might be able to reprise our fabulous experience in The Netherlands on bikes. It turns out that you have to ride on the road to take advantage of the surroundings of Oxford on a bike, so we decided to take a pass.

By the time we figured out that we weren't going to bike, we were starving, so we walked around, not finding the "right" place for a while and finally found The Head of the River pub. It looked very promising, lots of outside seating with most of the tables taken, the food looked good, what there was of it on other people's tables. I'm sure I could have been more wrong about the place, but I would have to think hard to figure out how (food poisoning?). It was a pub, so we picked a table and what we wanted to eat, then sent Larry in to order from the bar. He was gone for at least 20 minutes in a line that snaked out the door from the bar way inside. When he finally came back, it was at least 20 or 30 more until the food came. I could forgive the slow service if the food had been fantastic, but it was abysmal. Nina and I had decided to share fish and chips (which she kept calling chips & fries), neither of which was very good. The "chips" were shoestring french fries (my experience is that the fries here tend to be thicker, sometimes even steak, fries, which are my favorite). And they were undercooked. The fish was greasy and there wasn't much of it. Seriously, the one dish that is supposed to be (and usually is) really good here and they can't get it right. After making us wait an HOUR???

But all was not lost, there are lovely walking paths right in town, one of which was right there by the pub. Bellies full (a bit unsatisfied but full) and supplemented with the double chocolate chip cookies we had brought along, we set off to take a nice walk.

It was beautiful with people punting in the water (canal? river?) along the path. We (I) decided not to try punting with Nina. She's not so good with the sitting still.

And along the way we came to the botanic garden, which totally saved the day for me. Larry and Nina even let me walk around at my own (not toddler or impatient husband) pace. It was heaven.

They have an insectivorous house; these ones are so pretty.