Visiting Oxford

After a late start (about 8.30am for me!) Sophie and I drove to Oxford, to visit the Ashmolean Museum. We had an easy journey to the Pear Tree Park and Ride and managed to get on a bus straight away.

We decided to get off at the bus stop we used before and popped into Waterstones to have a coffee and a cake. Their cafe was on the top floor and had beautiful views across the busy shopping street below and the lovely blue sky. I enjoyed a Flat White and a chocolate and hazelnut cake which was delicious!

It was a short walk to the Ashmolean museum, which was opened in 1683 and is thought to be the first modern museum of its kind. Entrance is free but there are a number of exhibitions which you have to buy tickets for. These were all sold out so it's a popular place!

After leaving our coats in a locker we wandered around the the ground floor of the museum and learned about its history. We came across some ancient cauldrons and saw some beautiful jewellery dating from 4000 years ago that wouldn't look out of place in a shop today. We also wandered through the Ancient Egyptian displays and saw some mummies, which were fascinating:

There was lots to look at and a lot to read about the history of the world. It was like a mini V&A and a mini British Museum combined. As well as Egypt we saw displays of items from India, China, Iran, Greece and Cyprus as well as Roman objects.

By about 2pm we were flagging so we went down to the basement and enjoyed a sandwich and a drink. Suitably refreshed we wandered around the shop (I bought a small easily accessible history book) and then went up to the 3rd floor to see artefacts from England from 400AD to 1600AD.

Looking at the objects it was difficult to believe that some of them were so old, especially the spear heads and small figurines.

Buddha

At about 3.30pm we decided to call it a day and emerged into the late afternoon sunshine to go and catch a bus back to the Park and Ride.

Before long we were seated on the busy bus and heading back to the car. It had been a lovely day and we'll definitely go back to explore some more.

The journey home was uneventful and we picked Mike up from Abbie's house on the way. Keith was home when we arrived and had been to see Sileby play. After a quick drink Sophie and I made dinner of stir fried chicken with noodles and then it was time to relax and watch two more episodes of Wisting!