The Travellin' Kind, Part II

As I mentioned in my last post, I spent a large part of Saturday hiking in the Cotswolds. I hadn't been to this part of England before -- it has a certain bucolic beauty that I've only found a few times in my life. We started our journey by following some of Oxford's canals. After seeing all the narrow boats up and down the canals in Camden and in Oxford I've decided that Kevin and I have to rent one for a few weeks and travel up the Thames. What a wonderful way to see England! Don't you think my parents would enjoy a trip on a narrow boat? Mom could have a stack of books and drop Dad off in the morning to hike and the meander up the canal to get him in the evening! Many people live in narrow boats, so it was wonderful to see herb gardens (and even a tomato plant) on top of the boats. My favorite sight was of an older gent reading Harry Potter on his boat the day after it had come out!

After walking along the canals, we walked through Port Meadow which is a 440 acre common grazing area that is on the outskirts of Oxford. Since it had rained so much, most of the meadow had flooded. Uncle Dennis and Aunt Kathy would have loved it since wading birds, ducks, and terns had already taken residence. Without my binoculars I spotted: Great Blue Herons, Terns, what I think may have been a Great Crested Grebe, Mergansers, Mute Swans, Grey Geese, Coots, and a large number of ducks and other birds I've forgotten to mention. We saw one bird of note on our walk: a Water Rail let us watch him for a while, which was a definite treat.

Probably the neatest part about Port Meadow was the fact that it's common grazing land. We walked through herds of cattle; a group of horses with little colts ran through; and many, many people were out walking with their dogs, even though it was raining. I've noticed that the rain really doesn't stop anyone here. Umbrellas are just part of the normal wardrobe!

After a four mile walk, we arrived at The Trout, a lovely restaurant that served up some of the best grub I've had while I've been here. We sampled some wonderful cider and I had Innis &Gunn's Oak-Aged Beer, which was really yummy. Our table shared a tart of carmelized onions with a layer of stilton on top that was to die for. I will be recreating it for Kevin the minute I get home! I had the fish and chips since I hadn't tried any since I got here -- amazing! We split a crumble and a sticky toffee pudding for dessert and then began the 4 mile walk home after a wonderfully slow meal. It was truly one of the best days I've had in recent memory!

(Photo Credit for the lovely image of Port Meadow)