We spent three days in Oxford with friends this week, staying in the suburb of Summertown. We took the train from Paddington (a 47 minute ride) that turned into a bit of chaos. I felt like I was in Planes, Trains and Automobiles. Some bridge was out on the way to Oxford, so the train company (GWR), arranged a replacement bus service from Didcot to Oxford, ok. Although when we arrived in Reading, it was announced that our driver had to leave us and that they couldn’t find a replacement. Say what? We were told to cross the platform immediately as there was another train departing for Didcot. We arrive in Didcot and find a replacement rail bus to take us to Oxford. Once in Oxford, we have to catch yet another bus to Summertown. It all worked out, and we made it in the end, finally.

Summertown seemed like a really nice place to live. The streets were wide and the houses enormous. Perhaps, after leaving the city and being used to small places, that in suburbia, everything just seems to be so much bigger. Over the course of the next few days we enjoyed perfect coffee and lovely meals out. We took a free 2 hour tour of Oxford University’s colleges with Footprints. The guide was a student awaiting graduation and was really great at her job. She knew her facts, cracked jokes and had insider info as she attended school there. It was a fab combination of history and story. The guide asked that if you enjoyed it to please leave a gratuity at the end. We did contribute, as it was definitely a highlight of our visit to town.

We visited Blackwells Book Shop, founded in 1879 by Benjamin Blackwell, and is the largest and oldest academic book store in the UK. It was 4 floors, including a massive lower ground floor, with more books than we had ever seen outside a national library. Pure joy for readers!

My youngest was gutted she couldn’t go to the Dean Lewis concert two weeks ago as she loves him as well. My husband and I searched fro tickets but, it was sold out. Ticket brokers were charging 5 times the cost as well, so we decided to skip it and wait for him to come round again. I was passing time on Facebook, as you do, and someone was giving away two tickets for his second gig in town. The show started in one hour and no one had replied to his offer. I immediately messaged him and we were out the door 30 minutes later. What luck! He was fabulous once again. What a treat for me to see him twice! Again, David Kushner opened and again he came to hang out in the Member’s Bar two seats away from us. This time, however, he had his mom and dad with him. Very sweet. As a bonus, Anton Seabra joined Dean and David on stage for a cover of Coldplay’s Yellow. Awesome luck and awesome night of music.

It was my husband’s birthday this week and he was returning from a week abroad. The kids and I planned a day out for him including breakfast, lunch and a comedy show at the Angel Comedy Club. An awesome and intimate venue that started as a kickstarter campaign. It’s entirely run and owned by comics. They host comedy workshops, shows and even house comedians. It’s a fabulous place if you are ever in the neighbourhood. It was the first time my two youngest had been to a real club to see comedians that weren’t catering to primary school children. There was some crassness, but mostly excellent material that they adored. They host an under 18’s show on Saturdays at 5pm, which allowed us all to celebrate the birthday together with lots of laughs.

Happy Easter! We aren’t religious but we like the tradition of chocolate and egg hunts. When the kids were younger we would paint eggs, decorate Easter bonnets and read stories of Peter Rabbit. 2023 is much different with teenagers, who delight in sweets, but then depart to hang with friends.

We spent Easter afternoon completing part 7 of the Capital Ring Trail. We walked from Richmond station to Boston Common along the Grand Union Canal. It was so crowded in Richmond. Everyone was outside enjoying the gorgeous sunny weather, having beers beside the water. It was about 16c and a perfectly blue sky day. This section of the trail was about 4 miles and for a change there was absolutely no mud, hallelujah!