Merry Old England - Take 11

What does that name plate say...."The Kilns"...hmmm, who lived there? C.S.Lewis, that's who!

So we're outside Oxford, and one of the tour guides for The Kilns was a guy who was living and studying there for a year or so...hailed from Warsaw, IN, the same city (basically) where the college students were from...what are the odds?!

Besides learning many cool facts and anecdotes, here is the original sign for "The Eagle and Child," the pub where Lewis, Tolkien, and the other Inklings met, ate, and shared their work with each other. At some point during a renovation, the sign was set out on the sidewalk, marked for trash pickup, BUT, someone asked if the Kilns' caretakers wanted it....presto!

Here's the pub now, in the heart of Oxford.

Traveled out into the beautiful English countryside, called the Cotswolds.

Picturesque stone house and buildings, one after the other...everywhere in the towns.

Originally we were scheduled to eat supper in The Eagle and Child, but it was too full the first night. The second night they were closed due to a gas leak in the kitchen, and the third night it was too full, again. That was a little disappointment, but, you can't have everything. Plenty of other cool pubs and eateries in Oxford.

The last two photos were taken on the morning of the sixth day. We stopped for a bit to take pictures, take in the scenery, as well as a bit of shopping. Basically, it's the kind of place you could stay all day, walking up and down the streets and drinking in atmosphere to your heart's content.

Speaking of the cars, I did not see any old or any large cars in England. Granted, we didn't go all over, but almost every car was pretty small and nice looking. London is such a congested area that drivers have to pay extra to drive in the city.

You know those idyllic book illustrations one sees depicting England's countryside? Pretty much spot on.

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