July 20th - Chipping Norton
Welcome back to another entry!
Today was another interesting adventure, this time returning to the Cotswolds!
I started the day with breakfast before meeting up with a small group: just me, John, Ben, and my world religions professor. Our plan was to take the bus out to the charming town of Chipping Norton and hike from there to visit the Rollright Stones, a set of mysterious Neolithic and Bronze Age stone monuments.
There’s a legend behind the stones:
A king and his army were marching through the Cotswolds when they came across a witch. She declared,
"Seven long strides shalt thou take, and if Long Compton thou canst see, King of England thou shalt be."
But on his seventh stride, a mound rose up and blocked his view. The witch reappeared and turned the king and his men into stone. She herself became an elder tree, and, according to legend, if someone ever cuts it down, the stones will return to human form.
Once we got off the bus at Chipping Norton, it immediately started pouring, so we took shelter in a local restaurant called The Old Mill. We decided to get comfortable and order some food while the rain was passing. I ordered the Sunday roast lamb with a hot chocolate. It was delicious, and don't even get me started on the gravy, which was so good I joked it could make garbage taste gourmet.
Once the rain stopped, we started our hike. Our first stop was St. Mary the Virgin Church, a beautiful and historic Catholic church. We stepped inside to admire its beauty before continuing on.
After the church, we simply walked for a while.
We finally got to the Rollright Stones. I spent time admiring them, snapping some pictures, and reading their history.
From there, we wandered through wheat fields, meadows full of wildflowers, and past flocks of sheep and cows, eventually arriving in the small village of Salford. We stopped for a break at The Black Horse Inn, where we shared pints of Stiegl lager and rested our legs.
Then we went all the way back to Chipping Norton and caught the bus back to Oxford. According to my pedometer, I hiked about 12 miles and gained roughly 200 meters of elevation. Definitely earned my dinner.
Back home, I cleaned myself up a little before meeting with Connor and Giulianna for some dinner. Tonight, we were in the mood for some Japanese so we went to a place called Ramen Kulture. I ordered the Teriyaki Duck Ramen, which was rich, savory, and excellent. We also went to George & Danver, an ice cream shop, where we got a couple slices of ice cream cake.
And that's everything I did today. See ya in the next entry!
