Adam didn’t have to be at his conference until a little later this morning, so we got to sleep in! We started with breakfast at the hotel again.

I went back to the room to nap (again)…no A/C up in this joint, and it’s too warm at night…doesn’t bode well for me, so my sleep has been crappy. Once up, I headed to the Botanic Gardens downtown. It was about a 30 minute walk. I’ve gotten used to the main drags already, as well as the walking.

Fair warning…today’s post is a bit of a photographic overload.

 

 

 

I’ve crossed Folly Bridge several times already, but finally stopped to take a picture of the restaurant bordering the bridge and River Thames. I actually ended up stopping here on the way home for a late lunch/early dinner.

 

 

At the Botanic Gardens, it was easier to not have to dodge around people on the busy sidewalks. There were some beautiful flowers and plants. One of the exhibits I particularly liked was devoted to plants and modern medicine. The area was divided up into “systems” (hematology, cardiology, gastroenterology, etc.). There were several plants whose names I actually recognized, including ones for Warfarin/Coumadin, plants that contained L-dopa (Parkinson’s medication), and opium plants. The gift shop had a little booklet on this topic, so I purchased that on my way out. I like to say that I’m “X pounds lighter” each time I make a purchase over here. I feel like I’m achieving weight loss goals!

 

 

Now begins the bit of flowers, or “botanicals” of the day:

 

 

 

 

On the way home, I pretty much just aimed for the general direction that I needed to go. As a result, I encountered some little side streets, as well as a popular shopping street that seemed to have some kind of festival going on today.

 

 

 

 

 

Continuing on my way home, I decided to stop at the Head of the River for a burger and dessert. Both were delicious.

 

 

 

Cheeky Bastard came  back for seconds when I had dessert. I thought it was funny (he didn’t actually try and eat it this time, he just wandered around the table). The waitress shooed him away and apologized. I laughed and said that it was entertaining. She replied with, “It’s entertaining until he steals the rest of your cake!”

Back to the hotel for an early night. We are probably going to get up early to go to the Bodleian Libraries and the Tolkien exhibit before Adam has to go to his conference again tomorrow.

Total steps: 12,409

 

ttfn

Emily and Adam