What happens when two of us are flying and there’s only one upgrade left on United? Naturally, I gave it to Jane. While she enjoyed a meal on real dishes, drinks in glassware, and most importantly, a flatbed seat, I was back in Economy Plus. At least I had an empty seat next to me. A happy wife makes for happy travels! Plus, we were heading to London to watch my Cleveland Browns.
We’re actually in Europe because Jane’s junior year abroad program in Vienna is celebrating its 75th anniversary. To be clear, Jane didn’t study abroad 75 years ago, the program is turning 75.
Since we decided to attend the celebration, we figured we’d stretch our time in Europe. Originally, we were going to start our trip in Paris, but when the NFL announced its schedule and I saw that the Browns were playing in London the same weekend, we switched plans and flights. Jane used to travel to London 8–10 times a year for work back in the mid-2010s, so she wasn’t too excited about going back so she planned a two-day side trip to Oxford and the Cotswolds.
We landed at Heathrow on Friday morning, picked up our rental car, and hit the road for Oxford. Driving in New Zealand and Australia last year gave me the confidence to handle the left side of the road, but this time I took it a step further and got a manual car, my first time shifting with my left hand.
We arrived at our hotel in Oxford around 9:30 a.m., dropped off our luggage, and grabbed breakfast. At 11:00, we joined a two-hour walking tour led by a University of Oxford student studying Mathematics and Philosophy. He explained the admissions process and the structure of the different colleges. Much of our walk was in the rain. Afterward, we visited the History of Science Museum, whose most famous exhibit is a blackboard Einstein used during a 1930s lecture at Oxford. Our guide told us that after the lecture, several blackboards were saved, but one evening a cleaning woman, unaware of their importance started erasing them. Thankfully, someone stopped her before she reached the last one, which is now preserved behind glass.
After the museum, we wandered through The Covered Market, full of small shops and food stalls, and had lunch at a tiny Thai restaurant. We returned to the hotel around 4:00, and since I’d barely slept on the flight, I crashed. We relaxed and watched Netflix for the evening.
Saturday we were up early, had breakfast, checked out, and set off for the Cotswolds. Jane planned a route with five villages. The first stop was Burford, the largest of the bunch, where we enjoyed sunshine, galleries, and cobblestone charm.
Next was Bourton-on-the-Water, called “the Venice of the Cotswolds.” Let’s not get carried away, it had a few pretty creeks, but definitely not Venetian canals. When it started drizzling, we ducked into Green and Pleasant Tea Rooms, where Jane had tea and I had a latte. Then came Lower Slaughter, a lovely hamlet with the sun shining again.
Our fourth stop was Bibury. Aside from one photogenic row of old cottages called Arlington Row, there wasn’t much to see. Finally, we reached Stow-on-the-Wold, the second-largest village, where we had dinner before heading back toward London.
Since we weren’t spending any time in London beyond the football game, we stayed near Heathrow. After checking into the Sheraton, I dropped off the car and walked the 1.5 miles back along a path parallel to one of the airport runways, a surprisingly cool walk, even with a fence and road separating me from the action.
Sunday morning, after breakfast, we set out for Tottenham Hotspur Stadium to watch the Cleveland Browns vs. Minnesota Vikings. We took a bus, then the Tube, and arrived a couple of hours before kickoff. The streets were closed off, so we grabbed beers and soaked up the atmosphere. Viking fans outnumbered Browns fans at least 20 to 1. I guess a quarter-century of losing doesn’t build much of a fan base.
As we enjoyed our drinks, I opened the new NFL OnePass app to pull up our digital tickets. After ten minutes of frustration, we found some Ticketmaster reps who also couldn’t get it to work. Turns out the entire app was down, it was the NFL’s first time using it for a London game. We joined a massive line at the box office, but after an hour of little progress, Jane asked a stadium employee about showing proof of purchase instead. I had our email receipt, so we decided to test our luck. A woman at the first checkpoint didn’t know anything about that policy, but we kept walking up the stadium steps and she didn’t stop us. We cleared security, and at the turnstile, the usher just waved us over and told us to jump it. Thanks to some good old American assertiveness, we got in before kickoff!
About twenty minutes into the game, the NFL finally texted fans saying that anyone with a ticket receipt could enter. We beat them by an hour. The next morning, I even got an apologetic email from the NFL with a 50% off coupon for a future Ticketmaster purchase, hopefully valid in the U.S.
The Browns actually played well for most of the game. The running game was working, and the defense held strong. It looked like we’d get our second win of the season and our second time this year witnessing a Browns victory in person. But with three minutes left, conservative play-calling and some ill-timed timeouts handed the Vikings the ball back. They marched down the field and scored the go-ahead touchdown with 25 seconds left. As I’ve said many times: it’s tough being a Cleveland sports fan.
After the game, we took our time leaving to avoid the Tube rush. We grabbed doner kebabs and strolled for a while before catching a train from a quieter station.
Despite the Browns’ loss, and some Oxford rain, we had a great three days in England.
This morning, we caught a 10:30 a.m. British Airways flight to Prague, where we’ll spend 48 hours before taking the train to Vienna.
Traveling Walters 