The Magic Of England (Part 3): 1000-Year-Old…

...and that is the approximate age of the oldest university in the English speaking world – Oxford University. We ventured by train into the city of Oxford one beautiful day with clear, azure skies and white, cotton-puff clouds. We were struck by the antiquity of myriad buildings in Oxford, the intellectual and academic ambience of the town (so many university buildings around the train station!), and the fluidity in which Oxford University is integrated into the whole city. 

Bodleian Library

A thousand-year-old building in Oxford

We were also slightly flustered by the crowds of tourists milling around town. I hope Oxford students are still able to gain a little privacy and tranquillity behind those high walls of the many gorgeous residential colleges!

We were most impressed by the sprawling meadows near Christ Church College. With the girls being such huge Harry Potter fans, it was just natural for them to imagine the signature, honey-coloured stone spires and gothic, arched windows of Christ Church College hailing straight from Hogwarts! 

As we were strolling along the meandering paths of the various residential colleges in Oxford, we kept hearing Singaporean accents! Turned out that a group of Singaporean students had gathered for a Singaporean food festival in one of the meadows. Just like Singaporeans to celebrate our local culinary delights anywhere in the world!

It was really easy to amble lazily all around Oxford, visiting courtyards of old colleges where well-known alumni like Oscar Wilde, Lewis Carroll, Margaret Thatcher, Rupert Murdoch and more, once roamed the same courtyards and dusty libraries. We loved the indelible and dense atmosphere of knowledge, curiosity and intellect all around us. We were struck by the consistent beauty of all the residential colleges, although it disturbed me a little when we could secretly sneak into one of the courtyards of a residential college, where only students should wander. 

We sneaked into a cathedral, and it was so peaceful and tranquil after madly mingling with tourists outside

I started to dream about the what-ifs of an overseas education, something that was financially out of my family’s reach back then. And wondered if my children should indulge in an overseas education, for the sheer freedom and opportunity to live an independent life away from home - although I will always be a huge advocate of our local universities. 

At the end of a wonderful day of getting lost in narrow, cobblestoned alleys and wide boulevards framed by stoic, gothic buildings, we accidentally slipped into one of Jamie Oliver’s restaurants, and had the most delicious pasta dinner ever! The train ride back was a continuation of knowledge seeking, with all of us respectively reading our books on the 1-hour train ride. Reading on trains is so therapeutic and restful! 

{100 Places}: Labrador Park

The light was ephemeral yet celestial - with the setting sun sending its last burst of arresting, sublime rays up to the heavens. The expansive sea to our left was calm and placid, its serene waves reaching the shores which led to mysteriously lush rainforest.

And we were ambling on a beautiful boardwalk, situated right in the middle of the sea and rainforest, with the dazzling golden light above us. What a sight to behold.

Welcome to Labrador Park, a little-known sanctuary that our family has taken to visiting more often lately. We love everything about Labrador Park - from the fun play stations scattered around the park (which included a "maze" made purely out of vertical logs!) to the rustic BBQ pits by the sea which I used to visit with my own family and cousins when I was a teenager.

We love to amble along the board walk, just letting it guide us to wherever it wants to lead us. We love discovering little nooks and crannies that only Labrador Park can provide - old, historical war monuments dating back to World War 2 buried deep in the rainforest, the juxtaposition of a see-saw beside a gun fortress and a tall cliff, a small cafe in the middle of nowhere, with an amazing view of the surroundings (not sure if it is still there!)...so many surprises!

The beauty of Labrador Park is that it is not permeated by crowds of people, so we get our space to explore and be carefree!

Previous posts about Labrador Park:
Close To Nature

The Magic Of England (Part 2): The Cotswolds

If you are nestled in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by lush countryside, senescent minuscule towns, antiquated thatched cottages and medieval parish churches, you might just think that you are living in a fairy tale. 

A true-blue, real living tiny village filled completely with thatched-roof cottages nestled deep in the Cotswolds!

You may wander along the meandering country lanes, or down quaint cobblestoned paths in honey-coloured towns, wondering if time had stood still. You may be cramped in a small thatched cottage with low ceilings and diminutive rooms, suspicious that you had inadvertently entered a dwarf's home, right out of the pages of a Snow White story.

And that was exactly how we felt every second of the 4 days that we spent deep in the Cotswolds. We stayed in a beautiful cottage in a tiny town called Moreton-in-Marsh, whose shops are all closed by 4.30pm! A sleepy, quiet but exceedingly tranquil town, draped in a delicious golden shade of the famous Cotswold stone.

Our little cottage in Moreton-in-Marsh

Time slowed to a grinding halt in Moreton-in-Marsh, where we sat around in our cottage playing card games all evening, where we spent quiet afternoons reading, where we spent many hours in the kitchen cooking and dining together.

It is a charming 2-level cottage with 2 bedrooms upstairs, and the living and kitchen areas downstairs

Such quaint finishing inside!

Moreton-in-Marsh is a lovely old town situated right in the middle of the Cotswolds, a magnificent pastoral area of outstanding beauty and historic significance. One of the most memorable experiences in the Cotswolds was the privilege of meeting 2 of the friendliest natives who brought us on a tour off the beaten paths in the countryside.

Imagine a good friend bringing you around her village, showing you all the nooks and crannies of the region. Imagine her bringing you home to her warm, cosy cottage - numerous times - where you sat around the fireplace, chatting with a group of equally contented friends, sipping on tea and gorging on some of the best English food we had ever tasted. Imagine leaving her company at the end of the day, totally contented and reluctant to part with the beauties of the Cotswolds. 

The "secret cottage" of Becky and Robin. The interior of their home is so cosy and magical, complete with a warm fireplace, low ceilings and amazing nooks and crannies!

And that was exactly how we spent the day with Becky and Robin, a husband-and-wife team who founded The Secret Cottage tours. Despite the drizzle on our day out, the beauty of the Cotswolds - with all the secret thatched cottages, tiny villages and beautiful rolling meadows - was showcased to perfection by Becky, who has an amazing knowledge of the most beautiful places to show us!

One of the houses in the villages around Cotswolds - doesn't this look like Snow White's house?

It is hard to believe that real families really live inside such resplendently beautiful houses!

Magnificent English countryside filled with animals just roaming around - curious horses, stubborn bulls who refused to give way to traffic, hippy sheep (see below!) and even hedgehogs!

Robin, her husband, was so hospitable and prepared multiple feasts for us back in their home. We would drive and walk around different villages in the Cotswolds, before returning to their home numerous times for morning tea, lunch and tea! This is, by far, one of the most intimate and cosy tours I had been on! The hosts were warm, friendly and put all of us at ease. The company of the other 8 guests was excellent, and we all chatted around the fireplace like good friends. 

Lunch - what a spread!

The Bees were thrilled by the underground wine cellar of Becky and Robin because there was a magic trapdoor which led them downstairs!

We were brought to quaint villages, majestically old country manors and archaic, serene parish churches in Becky's comfortable SUV. We went on charming country walks in the gentle drizzle and mist, feeling almost like we were characters in a Jane Austen novel!

Smelling and picking flowers along quiet, bucolic country paths

A pretty pub with beer mugs hanging all over their low ceiling!

Chastleton House - which has been around since 1612!

Oooh, I want to live in this house! So charming!

An old mill in Great Tew, one of the villages we traipsed through

A lovely, tranquil parish church with a small cemetary on its grounds. We looked around the tombstones that dated back centuries ago, and remembered a time long gone...

The Bees were delighted with the food and found everything to be so fetching and memorable. That day provided us with the most indelible experience indeed!

We simply love their tea spread! What alluring tableware and the most scrumptious of English scones and tea cakes!

If anything can fascinate picky Little Bee in terms of food, it must be superb!

Other than our very captivating day off, we took long country walks on our own, stopping to literally smell the flowers and just to admire our enchanting surroundings.

We had numerous meals in delightful, whimsical restaurants, cafes and pubs, indulging in some very delicious English food! Here are some excerpts from a selection of restaurants we visited...

Lunch inside "The Marshmallow Cafe" - a very small and winsome cafe with excellent English food

Breakfast in "Mrs Potts Tea Room" - what a delightful tea room indeed!

Winsome finishings in the tea room

A traditional English breakfast which all of us love!

We browsed in quiet, alluring antique shops, and waved to friendly locals in their homes. It was an invigorating change for typical city souls like us to stroll down perfectly empty streets after 4.30pm and the whole of Sunday, revelling in a slower pace of life, understanding that life is so much richer beyond the silly frantic things we futilely chased after every day.

This is a community farm plot at the edge of Moreton-in-Marsh! We were captivated by the different types of vegetation, crops and flowers in various plots.

Most of all, we spend so much time with each other, laughing, eating, ambling and chatting ....  far far from the madding crowds :)

A splendid field of gold (likely to be rapeseed plants) just a 20-minute walk from our little cottage!