Travel to... | Oxford

Living in London is awesome and I love it so much. I never feel like there is nothing to do, it's the opposite, too much to do, busy and non - stop which can make you feel a bit dizzy and tends to lead to me heading to the countryside to see my lovely parents. It's nice to have the break from the big smoke but this weekend was different rather than heading home I headed for the wonderful city that is Oxford. My sister studied at Brookes University so I visited her during that period but now around 4 years has passed since then and it was a delight to go back. 

Day one was all about relaxing to celebrate my sister’s birthday before an evening of drinks and dinner, more on that soon. If you're living in London you should really try explore other cities in the UK. This year I've really realised that there is so much to see right on my front door rather than a city break to Europe I should head to a city in the UK from time to time. For Oxford it's easy and reasonable to get to. I took the Oxford tube which take 1 hour 40 minutes. I'd say estimate just over 2 hours especially if you're getting dropped off on the High Street! On arrival my parents, sister and sister boyfriend had already arrived and we were all set to explore! As my sister and her boyfriend both lived in Oxford for 4 years they knew where to take us. We wandered down the high street and headed to Christchurch. Christchurch is one of Oxford University's Colleges the Christchurch garden is accessible to all and it is beautiful. We sat beside the river and tucked into our picnic. Which was nicely finished off with some champagne and strawberries and a toast to my big sister! By the river we watched people punting. And it looked so much fun, so after we packed up we headed to join the long queue of tourists wanting to punt. Going punting is a very English activity and very popular in Oxford. You take a small boat out along the river with a paddle and big long metal pole which you use to row the boat. It looks easy but wow it was so hard!!! You can opt to have a crew member come out with you and take you along the river. We wanted the challenge of doing it ourselves however reflecting on it, that was an error! Next time we'll know it's best to have someone take us out. 

After punting we headed for the high street and took a look at some of the brilliant sales. We didn't do too much shopping as that's what the next day was for. We headed for our hotel to freshen up and get ready for dinner. My sister chose to head to Browns as it is one of her favorites to eat at in Oxford. We started with some cocktails in the bar before sitting for dinner. For my starter I had, asparagus with prosciutto ham and a poached egg and for my main it was the Lobster Tagliolini, which were both delicious. I don't think I would go back to Browns however it was nice to celebrate my sister’s birthday at her restaurant of choice.  After dinner we didn't want the celebrations to end so we took a long walk (to walk off our dinner) to All Bar One where we enjoyed some of their house cocktails. I enjoyed their Wimbledon Cocktails which was Pimms, Prosecco, Lemonade, mint and Strawberries. There was a lot of it but it tasted delicious!! Day two was all about the shopping and we shopped till we dropped, okay not literally! I wanted to share what I got with you. 

What would Audrey do? 

This book is from Oliver Bonas and my mum got me this, each time it's my birthday she will get my sister a present too and vice versa. It's just a tradition and a nice one at that. As any of my friends know Audrey Hepburn is my inspiration, my bedroom at my parents’ house have little pops of Audrey all over! I can't wait to get stuck into this book. You can buy this here. 

Burberry Small Tote. 

This is such a dreamy buy, I am so completely in love with it. I was very lucky to get a Mulberry Bayswater, which you can read about here in my ‘What’s in my Bag?’ I love that bag and use it on a daily basis. It is however very large so this bag is an ideal size when I am going out and don’t want to carry such a large bag, because I am guilty to filling it up with as much I can physically fit inside. This is a cross body bag and it still is quite spacious. The style is the Leah small black grainy leather tote bag. They don’t seem to still have this on their website, I think there were the last few floating around some of their stores. There are some similar styles online, if you take a look at Burburry.com and I heard that Selfridges has a few of the Grainy Leather Tote Bags.

Burberry Coat

Such an investment but a great one, I am very much in love with my new coat which is ready for winter. Bizarre I know, to be buying a winter coat in the middle of summer but hey, we are in England. Grey is my favorite colour to wear and this style is also perfect for me and just what I have been looking for. lt it's such a nice style for a coat too. I'm not one to be wishing away summer but I really cannot wait to start wearing this!

Where's your favourite place go visit in the UK? Where should I go next? Do you like Oxford? 

Lots of love, 

N x