Oxford, England

On our way home from the Cotswolds, we made a stop in Oxford to explore the university city. The weather wasn't the best so we didn't walk around as much as we would of liked but were happy that we stopped and got to see some of the sites.

After we parked, we headed to Christ Church University. We viewed the university from outside the grounds since Martha was in tow. Martha enjoyed the Christ Church University meadows as it was the only place near the city center that had grass.

After viewing Christ Church University, we meandered through the alley streets to Radcliffe Square to check-out St. Mary's Church, Radcliffe Square and the Bodleian Library. 

At this point, we were quite cold and decided that it was time to grab some lunch and warm-up. We crossed under the Bridge of Sighs, navigated through Helen's passage and uncovered Turf's Tavern. Turf's Tavern was a local for Bill Clinton when he was at Oxford and also a favorite of the Harry Potter cast when they were filming. 

The owners of the Turf's Tavern quickly welcomed us in from the cold and introduced us to Junior, their fifteen month old golden-doodle who was the furthest thing from 'junior' - he was three times the size of Martha! The owner's loved Martha and couldn't stop complimenting us on how well-behaved she was. Martha's not that well behaved but from the stories they were telling us of Junior running through the pub, Martha must have looked like an angel. 

Even though it was a quick stop, Oxford did not disappoint! The town was beautiful, even in the rain/snow. 

Chipping Campden, Cotswolds, England

In need of a break from London, we rented a car and headed to the Cotswolds. The Cotswolds is an area of rolling hills located two hours west of London and is known for its historic thatched villages. We found an inn that allowed dogs so Martha joined us for our weekend away.

We rented a car at Kings Cross Station so Shane had to navigate through the streets of central London before we found ourselves safely on the motorway. Shane did great making his way through the narrow streets of central London, especially in rush hour, despite his two backseat drivers.

We arrived in Chipping Campden around 8pm. We quickly dropped our bags in our room, which was located across the garden, and headed back into the main building for the dinner at the restaurant. After dinner we retreated to the pub where Martha proceeded to introduce herself to everyone around her.

We woke up the next morning, had breakfast in the main building and bundled up to trek a portion of the Cotswold Way. The Cotswold Way spans 102 miles from Bath to Chipping Campden. We trekked the portion around Chipping Campden. Our walk started with us meandering through the village streets, I couldn't get enough of the cottages!, and making our way through the stock (sheep) yards to the top of Dover Hill. On our way back, we cut through an orchard and worked our way back through the village streets to our inn.

After changing out of our muddy shoes, we hopped in the car to go explore some of the nearby villages. We took a thirty minute country drive through Moreton-on-Marsh and Stow-on-the-Wold before stopping to explore Bourton-on-the-Water. After walking along the creek through the Bourton-on-the-Water village, we decided that we had enough of the rain, snow and cold and retreated into a pub. The menu wasn't intriguing so we headed north to Chipping Norton and took refuge in Kingham's Plough. The pub had fires going and was the perfect place to warm-up and grab a bite. It definitely was Martha's favorite pub as it had pig ears on the dog menu.

After our mid-day lunch, we drove back to our village to rest up before dinner. We went to another pub in the village for dinner and headed back to our inn for one last drink.

The next morning, we grabbed breakfast in the main building before heading back to London. There happened to be two golden doodle puppies in the lobby when we left breakfast. Their owners had heard that Martha was at the inn so we brought her in to play before we checked out. The puppies were obsessed with Martha! It was fun to see a bit of a role reversal for Martha - normally she is the one who annoying other dogs, this time it looked like the puppies were becoming a bit too much for her to handle!

We loved our weekend in the Cotswolds. We couldn't get over the quaint villages - we felt as if we travelled back in time.