My views do not necessarily reflect the views of my employer.
When I visited Rose before, she lived in Shepherd’s Bush, a neighborhood in London. Now that the world had shifted, she was working more from home, so she and her partner, Danny bought a house ‘further outside London’ as she described it to me. This place is Banbury Cross. They also adopted two kittens: Inky (the girl with the pink collar) and Bear (the boy with the blue collar). They slept on the top bunk while I slept on the bottom bunk.
This house was so Rose. I’d seen how she decorated the flat that she rented, but now that she owned the place, every corner was lovingly decorated. It felt homey and full of personality at the same time (like a monkey toilet roll holder). I just loved looking around to discover new details that had yet blended into the background. This closed in porch looked out over the huge garden:
And there is a nice spot in the back for the fire pit or a nice morning coffee.
Saturday was another beautiful day so we set out to explore Banbury Cross. Rose’s partner Danny joined us this time and started the walk by handing each of us ice cream for the road. Rose picks good people.
In the town center there is a statue of a lady on a horse (that I neglected to take a picture of). Banbury Cross is most famous from the Nursery Rhyme. Rose had to look it up on her phone.
Ride a cockhorse to Banbury Cross, to Banbury Cross
To see a fine lady upon a white horse… Wait! I know this song!
With rings on her fingers and bells on her toes! She shall have music wherever she goes!
I do not know what a cockhorse is, and I’m pretty sure I would have questioned that, but I know the rest of that song! Did I sing the beginning differently? This question is still unanswered.
We wove through the pedestrian only maze of streets and I was smitten. Then we got to the newly renovated food court at the pier where all of the food was excellent and beer was served by released criminals (supposedly). We came out the other side to yet another canal!
We decided to walk along the canal because it supposedly led to something interesting that Rose hadn’t explored yet. We met all the characters along the way. There were lots of people who lived on canal boats and were out on their ‘porches’ to socialize with passersby. We met a man with a scraggly dog who was really happy to talk to us, we met a lady with no teeth with very friendly kittens, and we waved at the people slowly driving their boats down the canal. After a while we came to this bridge with lovely flowers:
With a bunch of cows vying for shade. We looked at Google Maps to see if there was anything cool nearby, but we couldn’t figure it out. Going back seemed like a more adventurous decision than crossing the bridge so that’s what we did.
On the way back we took the path through the forresty park that snuggled up to the canal. This is where we met Neil who was very interested in talking to us. Once he heard my American accent he told us all about the nearby points of interest. One of them was probably just beyond where we had turned back!
By the time we got back to the town our feet needed a rest and the best place to take care of that was in a Beer garden that Rose and Danny had heard good things about but hadn’t been to. It was delightful, with a wonderful patio. We enjoyed it so much that we stayed, chatting and people watching, until it made more sense to go directly to the Thai place we were planning on going for dinner than to go home first.
Thai is absolutely one of my favorites, and this place did not disappoint. It was just slightly different than the Thai I was used to in the US. The Pad Thai was tastier, the green curry was spicier and the yellow curry was absolutely delicious. They also had a dessert cart. I’d seen dessert carts before, but they were mostly for display. This one they wheeled around and served people right off the trolley! We were too stuffed for dessert, but I thought I spotted the dessert that Matt’s friend had made for our barbeque!
On Monday, our last full day, I had to get a COVID test in order to get back into the US. I had scoured the internet and couldn’t find anywhere to do it in Banbury. I told Rose that the closest place to test was in Oxford. Would it be possible to go there? She said we should get brunch there and make a morning of it!
We went up to the rooftop and the place Rose had meant for us to go to was only taking people with reservations. We went around the corner and put our names in at another place that said they might have a table in about 30 minutes. We decided we’d see if there was anything else we liked better before they called us for our table.
We went down the escalator and I heard a sharp “MAM, MAM, MAM!” It was Matt! He was there taking a COVID test before joining the ship! He and Jarred agreed to join us for breakfast.
We found a cafe that sat us right away (on this, yet another, bank holiday). I was so happy! My British friends got to meet each other after I told them about each other. I marveled at how if we had gotten into either of the restaurants we’d tried first we wouldn’t have crossed paths with Matt and Jarred.
That evening I borrowed a dress and some shoes so I could be Rose’s +1 at her friend’s wedding reception. We got all dressed up and took pictures like we were going to prom:
The next morning I packed my bags, and had one last Full English with Rose and Danny.
I can never get enough time with Rose and this trip wasn’t an exception. I vowed to come see her the next time I have a break.
On the endless flight back, I peaked out the window and I found what looked like fiords:
And then finally I made it home to my own kitty. She misses me and is very cuddly for about three days before she assumes I’m back to stay and moves back into the barn.
I had 4 days to snuggle my kitty, repack my bags and then fly off to Miami to join the Coral Princess for my next contract.