This is a throwback post to my trip in Oxford in 2016 and photos posted go back to then.
The Covered Market is a historic market with permanent stalls and shops in a large covered structure in central Oxford, England.
The market is located to the north of the High Street towards the western end between Cornmarket Street and Turl Street. To the north is Market Street. Most of the entrances are from the High Street and Market Street (with four entrances from each street). It is also possible to gain access from Cornmarket via the Golden Cross alley, with its small up-market shops.
The Covered Market is home to numerous traders, around half being food retailers, including market shops selling fresh food such as greengrocers and butchers (including some producing the Oxford sausage). There are also other shops, such as gift shops, bakeries and sandwich shops.
The market opens daily with the opening times stated below. Yet, we recommend checking with individual shops for their specific trading hours.
Monday
8:00 AM – 5:30 PM
Tuesday
8:00 AM – 5:30 PM
Wednesday
8:00 AM – 5:30 PM
Thursday
8:00 AM – 5:30 PM
Friday
8:00 AM – 5:30 PM
Saturday
8:00 AM – 5:30 PM
Sunday
10:00 AM – 4:00 PM
Below is a link to the Oxford-Covered Market and list of traders.
This is a throwback post to my trip in London in 2016 and photos posted go back to then.
Explore the British Museum, a public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture on Great Russell St in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is among the largest and most comprehensive in existence. It documents the story of human culture from its beginnings to the present. The British Museum was the first public national museum in the world.
The Reading Room and Great Court
Upon entering the main entrance, you’ll be greeted by a big round building in the middle of the museum. The domed Reading Room at the heart of the Museum was completed in 1857 and originally housed the Museum’s library.
The Reading Room is now enclosed by the Great Court, which was added in 2000. Lord Norman Foster designed the space, which transformed the Museum’s inner courtyard into the largest covered public square in Europe.
Reading RoomGreat Court
Explore more than 60 galleries in 5 sections in the museum: Africa, Americas, Ancient Egypt, Ancient Greece and Rome, Asia, Europe, Middle East, and Themes.
Due to time constraints, I could only cover a few galleries.
Ancient Egypt
The Ancient Egypt section is in Room 4 on the ground floor or level 0.
The collection from ancient Egypt and Sudan illustrates every aspect of the ancient Nile Valley culture from Neolithic times (about 10,000 BC), down to Late Antiquity when Christianity became the main religion in Egypt (around AD 400-800).
Statue of Ramesses II
Middle East
Next to Ancient Egypt on the ground floor is the Middle East section. Rooms 6 to 10 hold collections and galleries from the Middle East.
This collection covers the ancient and contemporary civilisations and cultures of the Middle East from the Neolithic period until the present. There is a wide range of archaeological material and ancient art from Mesopotamia (Iraq), Iran, the Levant (Syria, Jordan, Lebanon and Israel), Anatolia (Turkey), Arabia, Central Asia and the Caucasus. Highlights of the collection include Assyrian reliefs, treasure from the Royal Cemetery of Ur, the Oxus Treasure, Phoenician ivories and King Ashurbanipal’s library of cuneiform tablets from Nineveh in northern Iraq.
Statue of a human-headed winged lionThe Black Obelisk of Shalmaneser III
Ancient Greece and Rome
Moving on from the Middle East in Room 6 is Ancient Greece and Rome galleries.
The Greek and Roman galleries display objects from the Bronze Age until the fall of Rome (about 3200 BC to AD 476). They show the expansion of the Greek world across the Mediterranean and beyond the growth of increasingly powerful Italian cultures, and their coming together in the Roman Empire.
The displays of Greek art span over 1500 years. They illustrate the development of sophisticated ceramics, showing scenes from myth and daily life, and the emergence of realism in sculpting the human form.
Greece: Minoans and Mycenaeans in Room 12Greece: Minoans and Mycenaeans in Room 12Athens and Lycia in Room 15Greece: Bassai sculptures in Room 16Nereid Monument in Room 17The world of Alexander in Room 22
Asia
From the North stairs and the lift, we head up to level 2 and 5, where a part of the Asia section are.
The British Museum holds one of the richest collections of Chinese antiquities in Europe, containing many examples of Chinese painting, calligraphy, jades, bronzes and ceramics. The Chinese collection ranges from 4000 BC to the present.
The Japanese collections are particularly strong in paintings, prints and decorative arts from AD 1600 to the present.
Chinese ceramics – Sir Percival David Collection in Room 95Korea in Room 67Korea in Room 67Korea in Room 67Japan in Rooms 92-94Japan in Rooms 92-94Japan in Rooms 92-94
This is a throwback post to my trip in the Uk in 2016 and photos posted go back to then.
If you did not know, now you know. Madame Tussauds is a major tourist attraction in many cities, displaying the waxworks of famous and historical figures, as well as popular film and television characters.
We visited Madame Tussauds in London, which is on Marylebone Road.
Other Madame Tussauds around the world are in the US, Europe, Asia, Middle East, and Australia.
Zones
Explore the different zones to find your favourite celebrities, role models, or superstars! Here are some of the notable wax figures in the Madame Tussauds London.
This is a throwback post to my trip in the UK in 2016 and photos posted go back to then. On one of the days, we visited the Cotswold and Stratford via a 1-day tour package.
The first stop was Burford town. The second stop was Arlington Row. The third stop was Bourton-on-the-Water. The fourth stop was Anne Hathaway’s Cottage and Gardens. The next and fifth stop was Shakespeare’s Birthplace.
Shakespeare’s Birthplace is a restored 16th-century half-timbered house situated in Henley Street, Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, England, where it is believed that William Shakespeare was born in 1564 and spent his childhood years. It is now a small museum open to the public and a popular visitor attraction, owned and managed by the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust.
The house itself is relatively simple, but for the late 16th century it would have been considered quite a substantial dwelling. John Shakespeare, William’s father, was a glove maker and wool dealer, and the house was originally divided in two parts to allow him to carry out his business from the same premises.
The building is not outstanding architecturally, and typical of the times was constructed in wattle and daub around a wooden frame. Local oak from the Forest of Arden and blue-grey stone from Wilmcote were used in its construction, while the large fireplaces were made from an unusual combination of early brick and stone, and the ground-floor level has stone-flagged floors.
The plan of the building was originally a simple rectangle. From north-west to south-east, the ground-floor consisted of a parlour with fireplace, an adjoining hall with a large open hearth, a cross passage, and finally a room which probably served as John Shakespeare’s workshop. This arrangement was mirrored on the first-floor by three chambers accessed by a staircase from the hall, probably where the present stairs are sited. Traditionally, the chamber over the parlour is the birthroom.
The view towards Henley Street from the upper floor of Shakespeare’s Stratford upon Avon birthplace.Upper floor of Shakespeare’s Birthplace“Birth Room” of William Shakespeare
This is a throwback post to my trip in the UK in 2016 and photos posted go back to then. On one of the days, we visited the Cotswold and Stratford via a 1-day tour package.
The first stop was Burford town. The second stop was Arlington Row. The third stop was Bourton-on-the-Water. The next and fourth stop was Anne Hathaway’s Cottage and Gardens
Anne Hathaway’s Cottage and Gardens is a twelve-roomed farmhouse where Anne Hathaway, the wife of William Shakespeare, lived as a child in the village of Shottery, Warwickshire, England, about 1 mile (1.6 km) west of Stratford-upon-Avon.
As in many houses of the period, it has multiple chimneys to spread the heat evenly throughout the house during winter. The largest chimney was used for cooking. It also has visible timber framing, typical of vernacular Tudor architecture.
This is a throwback post to my trip in the UK in 2016 and photos posted go back to then. On one of the days, we visited the Cotswold and Stratford via a 1-day tour package.
The first stop was Burford town. The second stop was Arlington Row. The next and third stop was Bourton-on-the-Water.
Bourton-on-the-Water is a village in the rural Cotswolds area of south central England. It is about 90 miles west of London.
Straddling the River Windrush, Bourton-on-the-Water is known for its low bridges and traditional stone houses.
Chestnuts Fashion FixThe Dial HouseOld Manse Hotel
The Cotswold Motoring Museum features vintage cars and a toy collection.
This is a throwback post to my trip in the UK in 2016 and photos posted go back to then. On one of the days, we visited the Cotswold and Stratford via a 1-day tour package.
The first stop was Burford town. Next and second stop is Arlington Row. Arlington Row is 10.6 miles South-West of Burford and about 90 miles west of London.
Arlington Row is a nationally notable architectural conservation area in the parish of Bibury, Gloucestershire, England.
Arlington Row was built in the late 14th century as a wool store and converted into weavers houses in the late 17th century. Today, it is a Grade I listed building, owned by the National Trust. It is also a popular visitor attraction,probably one of the most photographed Cotswold scenes.
River Coln
The River Coln flows through Bibury, sandwiched between the main street and an expanse of boggy water meadow known as Rack Isle. The Rack Isle is so called because wool was once hung out to dry on racks after it had been washed in Arlington Row. See more information at the National Trust website.
This is a throwback post to my trip in the UK in 2016 and photos posted go back to then. On one of the days, we visited the Cotswold and Stratford via a 1-day tour package.
TheCotswolds is a region in central-southwest England. It is about 90 miles west of London and 32 miles west of Oxford.
The Cotswolds, designated as an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) in 1966, covers a huge area – almost 800 square miles – and runs through five counties: Gloucestershire, Oxfordshire, Warwickshire, Wiltshire and Worcestershire.
We started our tour at Burford – a town on the River Windrush, in the Cotswold hills. Burford is often referred to as the “gateway” to the Cotswolds. The starting landmark in town is the Cotswolds Arms.
We walked through Church Lane to Warwick Hall and Parish Church (Burford Church).
Then, we came back out to the main road (A361) via Lawrence Lane.
The area is defined by the bedrock of Jurassic limestone that creates a type of grassland habitat rare in the UK and that is quarried for the golden-coloured Cotswold stone. The predominantly rural landscape contains stone-built villages, towns, and stately homes and gardens featuring the local stone.
Cotswold stone is a yellow oolitic Jurassic limestone. This limestone is rich in fossils, particularly of fossilised sea urchins. When weathered, the colour of buildings made or faced with this stone is often described as honey or golden.
Here’s a throwback post to my trip in the UK in 2016 and photos posted go back to then.
There are so many attractions to cover in London. If you want to explore London by foot and with a guide – give Strawberry Tours a shot.
Free Tours of London take you on a journey through the city’s colourful and sometimes dark history. They are both informative and fun; no boring lectures! Explore London’s busy streets and discover 2,000 years of fascinating and entertaining history. London walking tours guarantee plenty of laughs through fun facts and anecdotes, as well as the promise of hidden gems to visit. They are far more entertaining than your history teacher! At Strawberry Tours we believe that everyone, no matter what one’s budget is, should be able to experience and enjoy what London has to offer and we also believe that the price of a tour should correlate with your budget and how much you enjoyed it. Therefore, on all tours you decide how much you want to contribute, should you want to, at the end of the tour, depending on your enjoyment and possibilities. Come rain or sunshine (this is England after all…), these free walking tours in London offer something for everyone!
Even though it goes by the line of “free walking tours London”, the tours are solely tips based so you can decide to contribute as much or as little as you feel the experience was worth.
We spent 2 hours with a Strawberry Tours guide bringing us across London to selected landmarks.
1. King George VI & Queen Elizabeth Memorial
2. St James’s Palace
3. Buckingham Palace
4. Horse Guards Parade
5. St James’s Park
6. Westminster Abbey
7. Big Benand Palace of Westminster
8. Downing Streetand Cabinet War Rooms (Churchill War Rooms)
Here’s a throwback post to my trip in the UK in 2016. On one of our days in England, we visited Stonehenge in a 1-day tour package.
Stonehenge is a prehistoric monument on Salisbury Plain in Wiltshire, England. Stonehenge is regarded as a British cultural icon. Stonehenge has been a UNESCO’s World Heritage Site since 1986.
It consists of an outer ring of vertical sarsen standing stones, each around 13 feet (4.0 m) high, seven feet (2.1 m) wide, and weighing around 25 tons, topped by connecting horizontal lintel stones. Inside is a ring of smaller bluestones. Inside these are free-standing trilithons, two bulkier vertical sarsens joined by one lintel.
