A day trip to the coast

Beach huts from behind, a photo by Gypsy Saskia on Flickr.

When friend Sandra emailed me she'd like to get out of town when next visiting me, I thought that was a brilliant idea. When I realised the CWC final wasn't in March but on the 2nd of April, the brilliance was lost on me. So we agreed if Australia would make it to the final, we'd watch the match. If not, we'd go to Whitstable. And Whitstable it was... Though dubbed 'Islington on Sea', I wouldn't have heard of it if my bro hadn't sent me a NYT article two years ago about this coastal town in Kent. It looked pretty and was known for its seafood. Sold. So off we went. Sun, a nice train ride (d*^khead ticket dude at St Pancras more than made up for by the sweetest ticket lady on the train), the sea, seafood and a close friend. Ingredients to a perfect day.

A culinary day trip

Lunch by the river
Originally uploaded by Gypsy Saskia

From a weather perspective, our timing for a Cambridge trip was fab. From a sightseeing perspective however, it was pretty poor as a lot of the colleges were closed for finals. That didn't stop my friend Ilse and I to have a great day out though.

Basically our day was: coffee at a lovely little place opposite Trinity College, a two course lunch washed down with a bottle of Verdelho by the river, punting on said river, icecream, walking, reading the papers in a courtyard by the river, enjoying a few cold drinks, and a two course dinner with a glass of wine. So one might argue we have seen more of Cambridge hospitality staff than we have of its students. Very true. And it was brill.

Oxford

Christchurch college
Originally uploaded by Gypsy Saskia

After a fair bit of rescheduling, Zoe and I finally managed to go to Oxford yesterday. Feeling a bit delicate after farewell drinks with work the night before, I managed to get up at 8am to get into Oxford for eleven. It was a lovely day, we were very lucky weatherwise. And it was truly enjoyable.

We sort of did a tour, and were told a lot about Oxford's history and famous ex students (Bill Clinton and Tony Blair amongst others). Hard to believe the uni was founded in the beginning of the 13th century - it's just so old (potential pub quiz answer: only Bologna and Paris were earlier).

The colleges are incredibly pretty, it must be amazing to study there. The one in the pic is Christchurch. I recognised it from Inspector Morse. The dining hall of Christchurch was used in the first Harry Potter film so it attracts loads and loads of tourists. Still nice to see.

We had a lovely lunch by the river, then headed back into town for some more sightseeing and lazing in the meads. My new camera and I still need to get to know each other. Having limited eye sight due to losing a contact last week and being a bit hungover meant I had my camera on auto all day. Small print manual has to wait till next weekend. Canterbury cricket ground is on the cards for then!

Bath was fab

And a few pics to prove it. Rest can be found on Flickr.