In the Footsteps of Legends

The Cutty Sark Museum
London, England

When my parents came to visit we planned a week long excursion to the UK. After we landed in London we proceeded to pick up our rental car, but Sixt wasn’t located at Heathrow; we had to take a shuttle out to the lot. Our car was a black Citroen something or other; the standard European hatchback. Whenever we get a new rental car (at least every 3 months), it’s my job to fiddle with the dials and to figure out how the navigation system works. The nav system wasn’t very intuitive or user friendly so I switched to our handheld Garmin—a decision I would later regret. Perhaps to make up for its navigational deficiencies the car came with a bonus; there was a CD already in the player! It wasn’t just any CD either; it was The Beatles #1 hits CD. Naturally we put it on and drove through London feeling very authentic.

Best. Picture. Ever.

Cutty Sark, London, England

Our first stop was the Cutty Sark, a ship that dates from the height of the British Imperialist era, though it was in use until 1954. This ship has been in dry dock since 1957 and acts as a museum of English maritime history. It was a very hands-on museum and there were many exhibits for children and Joe. A lot of the ship is original; they’ve delineated restoration work with gray paint; original ironwork is white. Most of the boat was dedicated cargo space and the living quarters were cramped; the vessel was designed for making money. Throughout its eight seafaring decades, the Cutty Sark carried a variety of cargo, but I think the best time would have been when it was ferrying tea from China; this cargo would have smelled much better than wool from Australia.

Crossing Abbey Road
London, England

We then drove all the way across London to Abbey Road. We parked in an underground lot and witnessed a large queue of cars at the exit. A man was struggling with the automatic pay system and the mechanical arm wouldn’t let him out. Among those behind the man were an irate delivery truck driver and an anxious mother late to pick up her kids. Later, when we returned, the arm was bent at a funny angle; perhaps forced just high enough to let a car through. Abbey Road was once again packed with people, and since I’d already been there, I volunteered to stand on the island of safety and take pictures. 

My mom asked me to take this picture.
She said she hadn't seen clothes like this in awhile.
Oxford, England

Despite not sounding like much, due to the size of London and the abundance of traffic, these two visits took us past 3pm. We were spending the night in Birmingham, so after visiting Abbey Road we headed north. We stopped briefly in Oxford for dinner. Originally we were going to try to take a tour of the Bodleian library, a Harry Potter set, but we arrived too late to join a tour. Even if we had arrived on time, I don’t think we would have made the tour; Oxford University was having its graduation that day and there were gowned students and their families everywhere; surely the tour would have been full.

Instead, we delighted ourselves with looking at the old buildings and eating dinner in the Kings Arms Tavern. Almost every year my parents spend a week in Colonial Williamsburg, and one of their favorite places to eat is the Kings Arms Tavern where the food is prepared using colonial methods, and the staff wear traditional garb. Since Colonial Williamsburg is set before the American Revolution, technically both taverns are British. In the modern Kings Arms we learned British pub protocol; place your order at the bar, receive a number, and wait for your food to be brought to your table. I ordered a rabbit pie with cider. Mmmmmm. Meat pies in the UK tend to refer to a stew baked in a puff pastry pie shell; very hearty and delicious. It was an excellent conclusion to our first day in England.

My parents outside the Kings Arms Tavern
Oxford, England

Useful Links!
Pictures from Our Trip!
Visiting the Cutty Sark
Abbey Road Live Feed Camera - Watch the Madness
My Sister and I Visit Abbey Road
Oxfordshire (region Oxford is in) Tourism Homepage
Oxford City Guide
Bodleian Library Tours
Kings Arms - The Oldest Pub in Oxford
Kings Arms Tavern in Colonial Williamsburg