Country Counting

I’m Terry and I love to travel.

A good group trip to study English Gardens at Oxford University

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PS. I figured out how to save $3500 on this group trip, too!

Merton College grounds were stunning. Lots of flowers and unusual plants were all over the property.

As you probably know, I’m not a big fan of group trips. Too orchestrated, too many people, too little freedom – you know the drill.

But I recently found a trip that proved enticing. I’ve buried the lead in this story, so you’ll have to go to the end to find out how to save big time on this trip, so read on!

I received the Smithsonian’s brochure of trips, flipped through it and mostly said, “been there, done that.” But then I saw a section on Oxford University and it listed classes you could take for a week. When I read on, I found a class on English gardens. Um, that got my interest. As a Master Gardener Volunteer in my hometown, I love learning about gardening, garden design and all the how-to’s of gardening. I pulled up the website for the trip and called the customer service folks for more details.

The most disturbing fact was that the housing would be in student dormitories where there was no air conditioning and no hair dryers. After a quick check of the weather in Oxford in July, I decided I could handle 70-degrees and would purchase a small travel hair dryer to take on the trip. The price for the trip seemed reasonable and after consulting my friend who lives in England, we arranged for me to visit her for two days prior to the class.

My brother-in-law, Lynn, was planning a trip to the UK and had purchased tickets for the British Open or The Open as it is called in the UK. He invited me to join him after my class. Pouf, I had a plan and easily booked my flight to London and found train schedules to get me from my Winchester friend’s home to Oxford and then onto Edinburgh, where I would meet Lynn. Leery of group trips, I decided I would go into the experience with an open mind.

I arrived in Oxford after an easy train trip from Winchester to Basington and then onward to Oxford. As I left the train station, looking for a taxi to take to the college, I saw a long line at the taxi stand. Well, this may be the time to try Uber, I decided. After 3 minutes, my car arrived and the driver told me I was lucky to get him, because today was a visiting day at Oxford and the town was crowded with people. Most taxis were taking an hour to get to a waiting passenger.  I found out later that I paid two times the normal rate for my ride, but at that point, I was glad to get a taxi as the walk would have been at least 30 minutes.  I didn’t feel like dragging my carryon all that way.

My arrival at Merton College at Oxford was pretty easy. Merton College is one of 39 colleges at Oxford. It was founded in 1264 and has about 650 students.

You are not allowed to walk on the grass, but wow, it was beautiful and green!!!

I found my way to the meeting room, where I signed in and was told a porter would bring my bag to my room. I got directions to my room and after a few wrong turns, finally got to Rose Cottage and my room on the second floor. I had seen photos of the dorm rooms but was pleasantly surprised to find a two-room suite. The outer room had a desk, dresser, bookshelves, mini-refrigerator and coffee maker. The small bedroom had a twin bed and connected to an even smaller bathroom, complete with shower, sink and toilet. There were two windows which I opened to let in a breeze. No hairdryer, as promised. But a standing fan, which I really didn’t use the whole week. Ian delivered my suitcase and I unpacked and explored my room. No hangers in the closet, so all my clothes went in the drawers. I set up my computer and connected to the wi-fi. I was ready to rock and roll. I found a detailed booklet full of helpful information about the staff, entrance hours, meals and drinks schedule, housekeeping and a map of Oxford. Also included was a detailed schedule of every day’s activities.

The bathroom was tiny, but worked quite well.
Here’s the small bedroom. A twin bed was plenty for me. Housekeepers cleaned the rooms every day and changed sheets and towels once during the week.
The main room worked well to store clothes. I also had a desk with wi-fi access for my computer.

An evening orientation session was followed by a welcome reception on the lawn of the college garden. I have to admit, for a garden enthusiast, the grounds at Merton were pretty fabulous. Lawn was green and trim. There were numerous and voluminous plantings of flowers, shrubs and all kinds of gorgeous plants – most I would never attempt to grow in Florida. But, beautiful, nevertheless. In fact, Merton probably has one of the nicest gardens of all the Oxford colleges.

Peter, the Merton College bartender, took great care of me. He found a bottle of Bourbon and some ginger ale.

The reception offered wine only. So I slipped away to the college bar and met Peter who found a bottle of Bourbon and some ginger ale. I was set! With drink in hand, I ventured back to the reception to meet some of my fellow students.

All the 64 people in the large group were from the US. They seemed to be well-traveled, bright and interesting folks. Most seemed to be retired or close to retirement age. My class, The History of English Gardens, included 12 ladies, led by our amazing instructor, or tutor, as the Brits say.  Richard Bisgrove was full of detailed and interesting information about English gardens, famous designers and all kinds of fascinating tid-bits about the plants, garden construction and famous historical gardens.  

Our typical day went like this. Rise for hot breakfast in the dining hall from 7:30 to 9:00. There was always some egg dish, ham or bacon, potatoes, grilled tomatoes, baked beans. A cold buffet included cereals, yogurt and fresh fruit. Coffee, tea, juice and water was also available.

After breakfast, we all joined our classmates for an hour and a half lecture, followed by a 30-minute coffee/tea break. Classes then resumed until 12:30 when we ended for the day. We had lunch every day, a hot buffet, at 1 pm. Lunch included a meat/fish, starch, vegetable, salad and roll/bread. Dessert was also served. I found the ice cream stash and a small carton of ice cream was my preferred choice.

The afternoons included a tour of Oxford and a tour of another college – Pembroke College. We also had a couple of free afternoons, where we could join tours of various sites in Oxford or just have free time to wander around by ourselves.

My favorite activity was an afternoon tour of one of the historic gardens we had studied. Our class joined our instructor at Rousham Gardens in Oxfordshire, a country house with walled gardens and herbaceous borders, built in the 1600s and still occupied by descendants of the original family. It was a treat to have our instructor point out all the design elements, the kitchen garden , water features and pergolas throughout the 80-acre property.

Richard, our instructor, explains the details at the Rousham Gardens in Oxfordshire.

Dinner each night was a sit-down, served affair. You were invited to sit at the high table (think Harry Potter’s dining room with an elevated platform and a large table) one evening during the week. You were asked to dress up a bit – jackets for men and dresses for ladies. Most people just looked like they did on any other night. Dress code was pretty casual. So, I had brought a dress for really no reason. (You know, I hate over-packing, right???)

The dining hall resembles the one shown in the Harry Potter movies. So historic and beautiful.

We were served three courses: an appetizer (or starter as the Brits say), a main course and finally dessert and coffee. I thought the kitchen did a pretty good job of getting a decent meal out to everyone and serving it nicely. For the UK, I thought the food was pretty good. Nothing to rave about. But better than the standard fish, chips and mash (green peas – not my favorite Brit dish).

Here I am sitting next to the Shakespeare instructor, Dr. Priscilla Martin.

After dinner, most folks went back to their rooms. One couple in the large group did not stay in a dormitory, but had rented a hotel room at the best spot in town. They did eat their meals with us and attended all functions. So, I guess that is an option if the dormitory just doesn’t do it for you.

Every night at dinner, I met more and more classmates. I have to say, there weren’t very many I didn’t connect with. Most were interesting, curious, had been on some great travels and were excited about learning. Classes for the week included my History of English Gardening, The Rise and Fall of the British Empire, Myths and Legends of the British Isles, The Archaeology of Anglo-Saxon England, The Age of Winston Churchill and Shakespeare’s English History Plays. I was told the smallest class was the four in the Shakespeare class.

I’ve saved the best huge money-saving tip for the end. After I got home, I did a bit of digging and found out that you can take one of dozens of classes at Oxford every summer – without going through the Smithsonian Journeys folks. They were really great and I appreciated all the service they provided. But for $3500-4000 less, you can book directly with Oxford  https://www.conted.ox.ac.uk/about/oussa and save a bundle!!! Here are the caveats. You’ll need to pay for your own transfer from London (or wherever you start out). For me, that was about $85 for train to Oxford and the same for return to London when I left. You may not get the tour guide service that we got with Smithsonian. They were there to help with onward reservations, got COVID tests and care, when needed. We had three guests come down with COVID. They had to stay in their room and the college brought their meals to them.

I don’t know if the receptions or any of the afternoon trips are included when you book directly. But, for a lot less than $3500, you can hire a car and driver and do whatever you like in the surrounding areas.

I may or may not go back. Probably depends on if I find a course that looks appealing. For the lower price, it is definitely enticing. Hopefully air fares will go down in the future. I paid $1900 for an economy ticket from Gainesville to Charlotte and direct to London and return. I know I could have gotten something cheaper by flying out of Orlando, but didn’t want to make the drive.

I violated my own shoe rule for packing and suffered the consequences

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Shoes on the left are my favorite traveling shoes. On left are the snow boots.

I admit, I am a packing snob. I take only a carry-on roller bag and a big tote bag purse when I travel. In order to do that, I have a rule of taking two pair of shoes — only. My rationale is: shoes take up a lot of space and if you pack with one color of clothes only, you really don’t need gobs of different colored shoes on a trip. I’ve followed this rule for years and found it to work perfectly.

I thought I was going to be extra cool when packing for my recent trip to London and Moscow. Since the weather in Russia would be super cold, with possible snow and ice, I opted to wear my black suede boots with a rugged rubber sole. Heck, I thought, that’s all I will need and I can avoid lugging along another pair of shoes. Smart, huh?

Big mistake. As it turned out, after several days of wearing the same boots, they rubbed a big old blister on my foot and made walking a bit of a challenge. Had I brought another pair of shoes, I could have switched off for a few days and not had to suffer.

So, take that extra pair — even if you are convinced you won’t need them. Shoes can get wet, muddy or just uncomfortable. Of course, you know never to take a new pair of shoes on a trip. Break them in first, so you can be assured they will be fine.

My favorite travel shoes right now are the two shoes on the left. Go to Pinner’s Shoes for the Isle Jacobsen in bunches of colors. They’re only about $79. The tie-shoes are Cole Haan Zerogrand and they come in various colors, too. Both are super lightweight and very comfortable for walking those 10,000 steps a day. What are your favorite travel shoes?

To cruise or not to cruise? That is the question.

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I’ve never been a big fan of cruises. I’ve always felt too confined, controlled and not able to “do my thing” on a big ship. Add to that the mandated community dining and it was just too much for my rebellious self.

But, I recently saw a Viking cruise that went to two countries I wanted to visit: Algeria and Tunisia. It had been twenty years since my last cruise, so I thought, why not give it another go? Heck, thousands of people go on cruises every day. Maybe I had been wrong about my earlier assessments. After a little persuading, my hubby, Ken, agreed to accompany me.

I’ve been on three other cruises and none of them wowed me. My first experience was a spring break cruise to the Caribbean with three college girl friends. We thought we were going to have a wild and crazy time with all kinds of gorgeous guys on the ship. I can remember my Mom laughing her ass off as she dropped us at check-in. All we saw were masses of senior citizens. Suffice to say there were no ship-board romances on that cruise!

Our second cruise was with my in-laws to Mexico. That trip included hoards of loud New Yorkers and their kids running around the ship and lots of mediocre food. The third cruise was with my parents who wanted to be glued to our sides. Loud announcements on the PA every fifteen minutes were beyond obnoxious: ping pong on the Lido Deck; lecture in the auditorium and volleyball on the sports deck. Soup every night changed colors from white to gray to yellow to green. It all tasted the same.

My husband quickly adopted the name “prison ships” and we thought our days of cruise ships were dead and done.

So here we were, booked onto a one-week cruise ship leaving from Rome and returning to Barcelona. My sister reminded me: “keep your expectations low and you’ll have a good time!”

Things started out poorly. We received an email from Viking telling us that the Tunisia stop was being cancelled due to demonstrations! I quickly went online to read what was happening and as usual, things weren’t as bad as folks made them out to be. I called Viking upset about this change and threatened to cancel the trip. Of course, cancellation would mean a 100% cancellation fee. To sooth my savagery, they offered me a $200 credit. So I took the money, vowing to drink myself sick as compensation for missing Tunisia.

Once on board the ship, we had a few pleasant surprises. Our state room was much bigger than any of the previous three we had experienced. The bathroom had a separate shower, so you didn’t have to worry about showering over the toilet. The public areas of the ship were beautifully designed — modern and comfortable, with numerous options for sitting, chatting, and watching the waters go by. There was a three-story atrium area, complete with Steinway piano for afternoon concerts and an indoor pool with plenty of upscale lounge chairs and sitting areas. One of our favorite spots was the forward two-story bar, surrounded with shelves of books, ship models and sailing paraphernalia.

There were no “old school” required dining partners or times. You simply went to one of the two dining rooms whenever you liked or booked a reservation at one of the other two “special” restaurants. Our first night, we dined at the “Chef’s Table,” a special restaurant. Food wasn’t bad — but the chef had clearly not gotten the message that foam was over. Every course had some kind of foam. But it was a pleasant experience and we couldn’t really complain.

Breakfast and lunch were whenever you liked within designated times. Breakfast was from 7:00 to 10:00 and lunch from noon to 2:00. Room service, with a limited menu, was available 24 hours. You could eat as much as you liked and fortunately, the food was decent, there were healthy options and plenty of variety.

I must admit that after a week of eating on the ship, I was ready for a change. All food came from the same kitchen so it was a bit similar. The “special” restaurants did give you something slightly different, although service could be slow. In addition to the Chef’s Table, there was an Italian restaurant that was pretty decent.

Shortly after leaving Rome, the captain announced that the seas were too rough to go to Naples, the substitute port to make up for missing Tunisia. A number of fellow passengers were hoping to visit Pompeii and were thus unhappy about this development. Of course, all was supposed to be for our safety, so you couldn’t complain too much!

After a stop in Sicily, we headed for Northern Africa and our stop in Algeria, only to be told by our captain that, once again, we had rough seas and high winds and could not get into Algeria. ERRRR. I was NOT happy. So off we went to another substitute port, Mallorca.

The rest of the cruise progressed as advertised, but after talking with a number of other passengers, it appeared that many were distressed about missing the two North Africa stops.

So what is my bottom line on cruises? Here are things that are positives. You’ll get:

  • A small taste of a country or area
  • A controlled environment with food provided, tours offered and “no thinking” required
  • A one-price “all-inclusive” vacation. Viking charged $105 per person for a week for gratuities and alcohol was additional. Wine and beer were included.

However, to me the negatives outweigh the positives. I don’t like:

  • The total loss of control over where you go
  • The possibility of getting seasick (I had two bad nights on the Viking cruise)
  • Being on a large ship with a lot of other people you may or may not like. Luckily, two friends were with us on this cruise and they were fun to be with.
  • Food that can get boring after a week of the same thing.
  • Being subjected to tours that are not individualized or private. We rode busses for most of the port cruises.

If you are a cruise fan, I can highly recommend Viking. The ship was beautiful and all the staff were top-notch, helpful, friendly and kind.

Bon voyager or NOT!

 

 

 

Solo travel: what are the pros and cons

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In all my travel to 100-plus countries, I had never traveled alone (except for a few business trips) until my recent trip to Egypt, Turkey, Northern Ireland, England and Ireland.

Niece Kelly and I spent a fabulous week together in Egypt and then she had to return to work (poor thing). I couldn’t waste a trip to Europe without an extended stay, so I decided to try going solo.

Here’s what I learned.

THE PROS:

  • It’s really fun to be in total control of your schedule. You get to do exactly what YOU want. I shopped all day in Istanbul and dashed around the Grand Bazaar making all kinds of deals to buy jewelry for friends, family and myself. I was free, unfettered by an schedule and was able to eat, drink and rest when I wanted.
  • You don’t have to worry about finding someone to go with you. You know how it is when you ask friends to come with you on a trip. They don’t have the money, or the time off or they have to take care of the kids or grandkids. There are all kinds of excuses and you really don’t care. You just want a travel companion. When you go solo, you don’t have to navigate someone else’s logistics. You simply make your reservations and head out.
  • You don’t have to worry if your companion is having a good time. It can be a daunting task to try to keep someone else happy. They have expectations and you want them to enjoy themselves. But when you’re alone, there’s no stress about a good time. You control your destiny and you can do whatever you like.
  • If you get lonely, book a tour with a group. I’m not much of a tour group person, but half-day and day tours are a good way to see a lot in a short amount of time. You also meet interesting people on a tour bus and get to bond over the experience. I took a Game of Thrones tour in Northern Ireland and LOVED it. Met other Game of Throne junkies and we had a great time seeing the locations for many of the scenes in the show.

THE CONS:

  • There’s no one to share your adventures. Sure, you can chat up some stranger on the street, in the hotel or sitting next to you in the restaurant. But, that may be a bit too familiar for some of us. The way to get around this is to use FaceTime to chat with family back home.
  • It’s a bit more expensive to travel solo. Hotel rooms aren’t split with two people. Meals and taxis can’t be shared. You get the idea.
  • Some people may not feel safe traveling alone. I have to admit, I’ve never felt scared to be alone. I am very careful not to overdress, wear any jewelry or carry expensive luggage. I try to blend in and stay under the radar. Ask your hotel front desk if you are concerned about walking at night. They can tell you if it is safe and where are the best places to stay away from.

So what is my conclusion? As an extrovert, I’d always prefer to travel with a friend or family member. I do enjoy the companionship of another person. But if no one is available, I’m not staying home!

Grab your suitcase and hit the road – alone or with a friend!!