Year 2 in Oxford - Watching the Arsenal Legends

We arrived back in Oxford on 2 September 2016 for Athol's second year of study.

We had Athol's brothers Nicholas and Roscoe visiting for the Arsenal Legends game at the Emirates Stadium on 3 September. Sadly Thierry Henry and Dennis Bergkamp did not play but as least we got to see David Seaman (which the crowds chanting!), Robert Pires, Emmanual Petit and other legends :) it was a great game, 4 -2 Arsenal Legends vs Milan Grande.

The inaugural Lowveld Book Festival in White River

Athol was invited to the first ever Lowveld Book Festival in White River 5-7 August 2016.

All the events took place at Casterbridge Lifestyle Centre. Athol read some poems at the opening ceremony, along with other guest speakers including Jenny Cruys-Williams. Such a well organised event. We thoroughly enjoyed it. There were sessions from the Friday to noon on Sunday. There was also a show with comedian Nik Rabinowitz on the Saturday night. We stayed at the Premier Hotel The Winkler, which was very nice - just down the road from the Casterbridge Lifestyle Centre.

It's 1 12 hour trip from Cape Town but worth it. The best way is to fly from CT to JHB and then take a 4 hour shuttle to White River.

We look forward to next year!

End of Year 1 in Oxford

6 more days in Oxford, until we fly back home to South Africa for a month.

Athol passed his first year of studies! So we're back in September.

Our lease at college accommodation also expires this month. We had to find alternate accommodation for the second year, as college and university accommodation has a waiting list. There's been some advantages of being in college accommodation - it's serviced once a week, it's relatively cheaper than market accommodation, internet, electricity, water is all included, toilet paper, rubbish bags and kitchen sponges are replaced.

We managed to find furnished accommodation in Summertown for Year 2. It's a walk to the Summertown shops and a 12 minute bus ride into the city centre. It's a 2 bedroom flat - the second room is small but can be used as a study which is great for Athol. I will have to figure out how council tax, water and electricity all works now, will have to subscribe for internet ourselves. Nonetheless we look forward to our second year in Oxford.

Some of our wonderful memories and favourites of our time here:

• Our favourite Indian food is from Saffron - my favourite is the Chicken Tikka Masala and Athol's is the Vegetable Masala
• Our favourite Chinese restaurant is Xi-An in Summertown. Their Tofu and Cashew Nut dish is delicious!
• Favourite cooked meals - We invented "Oxford stew" which is made up of onion, cabbage and mushrooms in a brown sauce - Athol's favourite! Also amongst the favourite were Tofu Stir Fry and Tofu Curry - my new inventions while here in Oxford which are absolutely delicious!
• Favourite shows - How I met your Mother, 70s Show
• Athol wrote a bicycle in the garden - it's been years since he has rode a bike
• We tried growing chickpeas and celery but didn't last :(
• Tesco home delivery was great - at 3GBP a month it's worth it

We will start to pack up as the movers will collect our items on Thursday morning and store it until we are back.

The weather has been great, we've had sunshine for a week and the sun only sets at 10pm everyday :) not looking forward to the winter in SA :(

We've had a great time here and look forward to the second year! 

 

Boat Cruise to Iffley Lock (Oxford)

Summer has finally arrived in the UK, with temperatures in the late 20's this week.

We decided to do a 40 minute boat cruise from the Folly Bridge in Oxford to Iffley Lock and back. We discovered Salters Steamers a boat cruise company who charge 7.50 GBP, compared to the Oxford Boat Company who charge 12 GBP for the same trip. They offer cruises on the hour so we boarded the 16:30 cruise. It was a medium sized boat, probably for about 20 people. We went down the Thames River and saw the university boat houses, there were also a lot of children playing in the river.The boat went along Christ Church Meadow and we saw a lot of parked canal boats. A pleasant boat cruise.

Trip to Wales - Part 3 Hay-on-Wye 24-27 June 2016

We spent 3 nights in the little book town of Hay-On-Wye which is on the border of Wales and England. There are 20+ book shops in this tiny town - book heaven for Athol and any book lover :)

The famous Hay-on-Wye Book Festival took place early June. So we missed it but still was fun to explore this little town.

 Came across this art piece of books at Richard Booth's Book Shop - apparently the first book shop.

 This is the Wye River.

 Hay Castle

Honesty Book Shop at Hay Castle. Pay 50c for paperbacks and 1GBP for a hard cover and place your coins in the container.