Albert Dock

Monday 7th July: After short drive into Liverpool via beautiful Chester, the industrial scenes around the Wirral and the slick Merseyside tunnel, and we arrived at the Albert Dock, in the 2008 European Cultural Centre, Liverpool. Immense civic buildings on the edge of the Mersey estuary demonstrate days-gone-by prosperity from shipping industry at this world heritage shipping port. But the docks have now been revolutionized, with shops, arenas, galleries, museums and many other tourism facilities. We managed to see the 'Beatles Story' and the 'Tate Liverpool' gallery, as well as check out the interesting shops, and watch the yachts en route on a oceanic race. Apparently on the following weekend, they were expecting 70 tall ships also in the dock!

Holly Cottage

Sunday 6th July: Getting back to Benson after a 1:30 am night in London, meant that today was recovery and also packing for our Liverpool and Wales journey. Pictured is Holly Cottage, which was where we stayed in 1994 when living in Oxfordshire. It was built in 1799, renovated, it was very comfortable, but typical of the flint and brick houses in this area. There was still a reasonable cottage garden, with screening hedges, but some of the local shops, including the post office had gone :-( ***** We left Benson at 5pm and arrived at a little town near Chester called Tarporely for a B&B at a cute hotel.

The Jazz Café

Saturday 5th July: We had a day where we visited some friends and family to share meals, both near Swindon (thanks Trevor and Sue) and then in Ruislip (thanks John and Dominique), then finished with a memorable night out at London's premier jazz club, at the Jazz Café in Camden Town. There was a performance by Victor Wooten and his band, which was superb, and was our son's highlight of the trip. There was 2 and a half hours from his band, preceded by another hour from another excellent jazz trio, so we really got a great show, and some delicious food served to our balcony table with very intimate views of the band players and stars. Needless to say, we got photos and autographs afterwards, they are very amenable to their fans at this venue.

Oxford Colleges

Friday 4th July: Part of our walk, we encountered this very well known building in Oxford. We are amazed by the history and familiarity of all the places in Oxford. On a sunny English day, such as today, we enjoyed the serenity of the surroundings, such as the shining golden stone, the beautiful cloisters arches and the immaculate green lawns. We continued our walk around another college, Exeter, where Inspector Morse collapsed in his last episode. The chapel had just been restored, with magnificent stained glass windows.

Christ Church Dining Hall

Friday 4th July: We got back to Oxford to stroll around the famous college of Christ Church, one of the oldest University establishments. The most impressive experience is in the Dining Hall, which is familiar to the world due to Harry Potter and Alice in Wonderland stories. It was set-up ready for a special dinner with the lights illuminated and places and menus prepared. There are also many famous portraits of former students to be found, including Lewis Carrol and John Wesley. A magnificent place!

Tate Modern

Thursday 3rd July: Directly across the Thames from St Pauls is an old power station now houses the Tate Modern Art Gallery. To get there is a very pleasant walk across the Millenium Bridge, with views back to the rising cathedral, up and down the Thames and the imposing art gallery building ahead of us! Its a huge gallery with contemporary and art from this century, some is fairly challenging, but compelling to see. We were lucky to miss a torrential downpour as we were seated in the café behind the glass-protected views of the Thames.

St Pauls Steps

Thursday 3rd July: Found a great parking spot in London, at St John's Wood, one station away from Madame Tussauds :-) , but when we got there the queue to get in was way too long :-(. So, onwards on the tube Central Line, we visited the immense St Pauls' Cathedral, towering above everything near London's city. It is huge and serene inside, and there is plenty of light to see the monuments and art work under and around the dome. We climbed the 364 steps to the whispering gallery, then the 112 steps to the stone gallery, then the 156 steps to the golden gallery at the top of the dome. That's about 35 storeys. Phew! What views!

Radcliffe Camera

Wednesday 2nd July: The unique views of Oxford spires and the high views of the colleges, such as the Radcliffe Camera, are really worth the wait and the climb up what started out as the sole University building and the library. Other libraries and reading rooms, such as this building now replace this function of St Mary the Virgin University and parish church. The church has been in use at the University since the 1300s, and is still used for formal University religious functions.

University Church Tower

Wednesday 2nd July: We had a nice day in Oxford, which is only 20 minutes drive from our friends' house in Benson. It was a bit wet on and off, but not enough to stop us from visiting St Mary the Virgin University Church and scaling the steps to the top of the bell tower to get the bets view of Oxford and the University from above. Its a bit tight at the top, there is no space to pass another on the balcony, except at certain places, and you have to wait for others to finish before you are allowed up the 124 steps.

Wallingford and the Thames

Tuesday 1st July: A bit of a rest day for us all. Washing, banking, shopping, postcards, etc. But even then there is plenty to see just walking around the local areas in Benson and Wallingford. Negotiating the small streets in the car is a necessity and this includes threading the needle between parked cars and passing buses, as well as finding the signs to the town centre car park and driving on the wrong side of the road. Everything is very green here. There has been a lot of rain, and the hedgerows and fields around have had incredible growth. The rivers and canals are all fairly swollen. The Thames weir at Benson is overflowing and bubbling, and looking very healthy. Worlds apart from the current Australian weather.