Day 4 Winchester

I have learned not to trust mapquest.com.uk. I really thought I knew where we were to pickup the rental car but after walking back and forth at that address, trying to call Hertz with no luck, we finally asked a bus driver: "Oh, that's in the next town, about 15 miles down this road!" Well, I guess walking there was out of the question--time to find a taxi. Twenty pounds sterling ($33.00) and 30 minutes later got us to Hertz near the airport (I didn't even know that Oxford had an airport!) Next time I will get very specific directions from my travel agent. It was time to try out the GPS. England drives on the other side (left) of the road so GPS or not, I was nervous. Just memories of 15 years ago and near death experiences, I guess!!

For driving practice we were taking a day trip south to Winchester to meet up with friends of my sister/brother-in-law, Sara and Steve who moved from south FL to NC a few years ago. We don't get to see them very often now but when we can visit it is always such fun as they (usually Sara) collect very interesting friends!

So off to Winchester to meet Tina and Mike but first to have another look at Winchester Cathedral. I discovered that several of the early kings were buried there and I wanted another look. You really need to take the tours that are offered at the sites; there is too much to remember! So we saw the mortuary chests that hold the bones of some of the early kings (when England was divided into several small kingdoms): Egbert (802-39), Edward I, son of Alfred the Great (940-6); when the Vikings were in charge: Canute (1016-35) and his son, Hardicanute (1040-42); and after the Norman Conquest: William II, son of William the Conqueror ( 1087-1100).

The whole ruler/English history thing is so interesting to me that just seeing the tombs of these people leads me to more reading. And that is probably why I am having so much fun researching my own family tree as I have ancestors from the York area.

Don says I should have gotten a degree in English history. Is there still time?

We met up with Tina and Mike at the King Alfred statue then walked and talked all around the city center of Winchester. We had a wonderful time! And I am trying to figure out a way to live in England. I need to be closer to my research right? Maybe this week's lottery ticket will be the winner!

After returning to Oxford, we stopped at a museum that the tourist bureau recommended--Pitt Rivers Museum. This is a true collector's dream and a housekeeper's nightmare. It started with 20,000 objects that Augustus Henry Lane Fox Pitt Rivers donated to U of Oxford if a museum was built for the collection. Now there a more than half a million artifacts and growing. Everything from armour to jewellery to clothing from around the world. It actually was overwhelming!

Don and I walk a lot on "vacation" so the pedometer has recorded 10.33 miles for the past 2 days. We leave Oxford tomorrow for the Cotswolds, known in travel speak as the "unspoiled and 'quintessentially English'" countryside.