Our dreaming spires

Sophie and I set off for Oxford this morning at about 9:30 a.m., taking Olive as she was fully charged from yesterday. Our journey was a bit stop-start, especially on the M40, and the traffic was heavy. We parked easily at the Pear Tree Park and Ride and managed to get on a bus straight away.

As we alighted, we were shocked to see that Waterstones was no more... how on earth can that happen in a university city like Oxford? We were upset, to be honest, as we'd planned on having a good look at the books, and coffee and cake at the third-floor café.

We decided to head for The Ashmolean Museum, and on the way, discovered a lovely little bookshop selling brand new books for ridiculously low prices. Sophie bought two, and I could have bought loads, but the thought of carting them about for the rest of the day put me off!

We decided to have a coffee at a small outdoor stand right by the entrance to the museum. The woman serving was a bit ditzy, and Sophie had to repeat our order three times. She then managed to forget my flat white! I took a seat at a table shaded by an umbrella as it was now very warm in the sunshine.

We enjoyed our coffee and brownies, chatting and people watching at the same time. Once finished, we made our way straight up to the third floor to look at the paintings. It's one of my favourite things to do: wander around gazing at gorgeous art! I particularly liked Pissarro's work, and we saw one by Van Gogh, which I looked at closely. It was amazing to see his individual brush strokes on the canvas!

Pissarro

We wandered about, and Sophie saw the two paintings she loves. One was from about 1510 and showed a man holding a skull. She's fascinated by it!

We were really only interested in the art, so after seeing what we wanted, we crossed the road to The Randolph Hotel and sank into comfortable seats in the Morse Bar. After a great deal of deliberation, I chose a Detective Lewis cocktail while Sophie went for The Riddle. Both drinks were delicious, and Sophie's was spicy with chilli!

We ordered a bowl of nuts and olives to go with our drinks and settled back to chat and watch the various comings and goings of the hotel. There were some slightly odd people about today, and the bar was just starting to get busy when we left to walk to the restaurant.

Before eating, we called into the Jericho Cheese Company opposite and asked for a taste of a Cheshire cheese. It was delicious and milder than a Cheddar, which we both liked. A man and his son were already in the shop, and the father was pontificating about all the cheeses he loved, no doubt boring the poor woman who was serving! We bought a chunk of the cheese and a box of Irish crackers and fled!

So many cheeses!

No.1 Ship Street was quiet, and we took our seats right next to racks of wine bottles. I deliberated over what to have, tempted by the mussels as a main course, and grateful that the waiter had informed us which fish was served on the bone!

After mulling over the options, we both decided to choose the set lunch menu, with the chicken, bacon and tarragon terrine to start, followed by pappardelle with pine nuts, basil and confit tomato for Sophie and fish and chips for me. We made a mistake by ordering bread, but we gamely worked our way through the starters, and I gave a few mouthfuls of the terrine to Sophie. 

I was dreading a huge fish as a main course, but my fish was beautifully crispy and small, served with about six chunky chips and tartar sauce. Sophie's pasta looked like it was swimming in oil, and she didn't finish her meal. She said it was tasteless.

We'd ordered a carafe of Rosé and a bottle of sparkling water, and the service was friendly and attentive. The table opposite us was occupied by an older couple, and we both got the impression they were on an early date. The woman looked like Liza Tarbuck, and I was fascinated by their conversation, which we couldn't help overhearing!

We had room for the lemon posset dessert, and it was so sharp we made a face as we first tasted it. I'm not sure we're going to be going back to No.1 Ship Street again, as Sophie was so disappointed with the meal. On our previous visits, we've been in quieter months, so maybe the chef was a bit weary from the summer rush!

The meal had made Sophie feel a bit queasy, so we paid the bill and made our way back to the bus stop, narrowly missing one going to the Pear Tree Park and Ride! We waited for the next one, and before long, we were back in quiet, cool Olive and heading home.

We had another stop/start journey on the M40 and around Towcester, but made it home just after 5pm. I bustled about tidying the kitchen, making porridge for breakfast tomorrow and my lunch before relaxing. There was no mention of dinner for us, and Keith had had a fruitless journey trying to get fish and chips for his own lunch today. When I told him about my crispy fish, he was very jealous!