On the Road (and Rail) to England

And we're off! We have a four hour train ride this morning through southern Scotland, and will arrive at the northern English city of York in the afternoon.We have a tour of Westminster Abbey planned and we'll get a chance to walk along the city walls.

After an overnight and a tour of the city itself (and probably a late night ghost tour too!) we'll take a bus to Oxford. David has a number of lectures set up here for the students, and that means that the kids and I get some time to wander around the city, visiting the fabulous free Natural History and Pitt River museum and walking along the bank of the river which will undoubtedly be full of daffodils and crocus at this point in the season. We'll take an afternoon tour of the university with the students at some point, and will see Christ Church, the Bodleian Library and Radcliffe Camera, pictured below.

After two nights in Oxford, we'll take another bus to London. We'll be here for the remainder of the week, staying in a cool hostel in Holland Park.

Our time in London should be pretty busy, and we have a packed itinerary. I'm a little worried about navigating the Underground for the students while dealing with a toddler and a stroller, but it's also always one of my favorite parts of traveling to a big city. Since I grew up in the midwest where we don't have a lot of public transportation, I love the novelty of it...and the challenge! However, I think a few times we'll use the bus system as well, because the kids are going to love riding on the top floor of one of those double-decker Routemasters!