Originally we had planned to go to Salisbury for a 4 day weekend but Mirinda decided there’d probably be more open in Oxford so the plans were laid for our second trip to the university town. Of course I’d completely forgotten about it until we drove by a sign saying Salisbury which prompted the little old drunk who looks after the office in my head to suddenly roll over and remind me by jumping up and down and waving big banners behind my eyes.
Anyway…I managed to get away from work a bit early and Mirinda was working from home so the puppies were taken to the Forge and we hit the road at a reasonable time.
Now I have to admit something quite shocking. Many years ago we made the mistake of going to Little Chef – the infamous services restaurant chain – and have joked about it and given the sign of the cross whenever passing the signs, ever since. The main problem was the level of service. It was non-existent really. Tonight, however, we pulled into a Little Chef, for some reason giving them another chance.
I have to report the service was fine and the food was ok and, maybe our opinion has changed. There WAS only 4 other customers so they were hardly rushed.
We arrived well fed at the Oxford Spires Four Pillars hotel at around 8, checked in without a problem then hiked the 30 miles to room 137. It seems nice enough and comfortable but, most importantly, it was very quiet. I then trekked back to the car (once Mirinda had determined we were staying) and unpacked. We watched some TV, had a drink then crashed.