London Fischery: That Time I Made my Parents Visit a Bunch of Castles and Old Villages

After getting a bit better at round-abouts, we finally made it to our first destination: Oxford. Oxford is one of the most beautiful cities in the UK. The buildings and streets are perfect; it's no wonder so many movies are shot here.

A typical street in Oxford

A typical building in Oxford.

The highlight of Oxford for me was going into the Bodleian Libraries, one of the oldest libraries in Europe. It was magical to see books older than Canada and learn about the collection. Unfortunately, no pictures are allowed but I recommend a visit if you are ever in Oxford.

The Divinity School which was used in Harry Potter. It has an amazing ceiling.

Mom getting her learn on in the Divinity School

The Radcliffe Camera. It is basically a storage space for books. The Bodleian Libraries get a hard copy of every published book ever published. So a lot of Oxford is dedicated to book storage.

Our next stop in Oxford was to Christ Church Cathedral. The Cathedral was closed so we just walked the gardens and enjoyed the views. We also got to witness an Oxford graduation tradition where when a student graduates, his/her friends throw foam and confetti on the graduate and then they go for a dip in one of the creeks or rivers to clean off.

At the gardens.

More of the gardens.

After seeing all of Oxford, we hopped back into the car, through some more round-abouts to arrive at Blenheim Palace where we walked from room to room, enjoying the decor and how the top-half live.

Blenheim Palace.

Nice use of bunting!

Beer time!

Warwick Castle was next on the list of large buildings to visit. The site does a great job with walking tours every hour or so, a birds of prey show, and just enough information to read in order to learn a thing or two about the castle.

Warwick Castle

The mighty trebuchet.

Inside the castle and up along the walls.

We walked all of the walls, went into the pathetic gaol while mom learnt about birds.

For Father's Day, we were in Stratford-upon-Avon where we found a Sunday Roast dinner.

Happy Father's Day! Now eat up!

There is turkey and beef under all that gravy.

After all that food, we needed a walk so we strolled along Shakespeare's home.

A large monument to Shakespeare.

A plaque for Shakespeare.

Bath was the next destination on the driving tour. I don't think the city is as pretty as Oxford but it does have a few attractions worth visiting; the first of which is the Roman Baths.

Shea was in charge of pictures here so a lot of them were of me wondering the baths. Very few were of the baths.

A selfie with something in Bath. Perhaps the Abbey?

Selfie with a bridge.

Selfie with a well-earned beer.

After a few days of Bath, we were back doing round-abouts all the way to Salisbury.

Interesting sign on the road.

We had a nice lunch in Salisbury and the sun was out.

Again, Shea was in charge of pictures so we didn't get too many of the Cathedral which is the main reason to visit Salisbury.

Salisbury Cathedral.

Shea and I had previously visited the cathedral in 2005. Our time did not allow us to fully explore it so it was nice to return and get a private tour.

The world's oldest working mechanical clock. It was built in 1386 and still ticks!

Some old flags. They are hung until the final thread disappears.

Drinking in the Library.

We had a bit of trouble finally getting to it, but eventually we found our way to an Open for Visitors Stonehenge (stupid druids on the Solstice and the GPS lady).

Stonehenge.

Selfie with some rocks.

Dad's got all the rocks in his hands...

Our final stop on this driving tour was Windsor Castle, the castle where the Queen stays on weekends. It was magnificent. I especially enjoyed St. George's Chapel where King Henry VIII is buried with wife number three, Jane Seymour. Again, no pictures so you will just have to visit.