Hello World! England 2011: Day 5

Day 5 begins with a surprise: We're having a cuppa in the office of the Lord Mayor of Oxford!

The Lord Mayor is totally funky, firmly committed to the Green agenda and very interested in meeting young student visitors to her city.

We get a briefing about Oxford's policies regarding urbanization, environment and tourism in the Council Chambers.

Briefing over, we're ready to break for lunch.

Lunch for me is a traditional steak and kidney pie from PieMinister in the Covered Market. Hmm... kidney. Hold that thought.

City Council member, Nualla, takes us on our walking tour through Oxford's colleges, beginning with Christ Church, home of Lewis Carroll.

Apart from the historical commentary that Oxford U is so rich in, Nualla also shows us locations where the Harry Potter movies were shot, including this ilex tree in New College.

A better view of the ilex tree. Does it look familiar?

Dinner for staff was in Jamie's Italian. This is my Humble Green Salad topped with parmesan cheese shavings. So light, so fresh!

The main course is this skewer of British lamb on a bed of minted potato salad. The lamb included not just the meat that was tender and flavourful, but also lamb heart, liver and kidney. My meals today contained more exotic innards than I've ever had on a plate but I really enjoyed it all. This trip, I've been indulging my inner carnivore. Best holiday, ever!

And a tip of the hat to our excellent coach driver, Kitch, who has been awesomely helpful, friendly, amusing, knowledgeable, and above all, gorgeous. The kids will miss him now that he's dropped us off in London and we'll be travelling by tube from now on.

Day 5 concludes in the Travelodge, London Ealing, where we will be staying put for the duration of this trip.