MAYBE A MAY TRIP?? 3 WEEKS SAPPHIRE FALLS 2021

we have been to most places over the years, and one of the places we really loved was an area known as The Cotswolds.

I have heard that area mentioned so many times in books...would love to visit! Your cottage looked adorable as did the pub you went to for dinner! Too bad your dessert wasn't stellar!! At least you were able to dine indoors...here they just shut down indoor dining again...:(

I look forward to hearing about the rest of your trip!
 
I have heard that area mentioned so many times in books...would love to visit! Your cottage looked adorable as did the pub you went to for dinner! Too bad your dessert wasn't stellar!! At least you were able to dine indoors...here they just shut down indoor dining again...:(

I look forward to hearing about the rest of your trip!

Oh no....we seem to be going backwards now......closing indoor dining isn`t good news for your area. Hopefully it will turn around again for your area. It`s mixed in so many places over here.....some places pubs and restaurants are still open and in others there are restrictions........so sad for businesses.

We felt very fortunate to be able to eat where we wanted during our trip, that area is doing ok it seems.

The Cotswolds is truly one of the prettiest areas in England, and yes, written about and seen in many tv shows including the eccentrically funny Agatha Raisin......but, my goodness, that area is so busy in the summer months. But, we did love it and would happily go back again.

Glad you`re enjoying it...... :wave2:
 
Your dinner seems to have been a lovely experience! I’m glad you skipped the tea shop with the poor reviews. No need to go some place that looks sketchy 😉

That Cotswolds stone is very pretty. Just beautiful surroundings in general— I know you enjoyed your lovely little getaway!
 
Your dinner seems to have been a lovely experience! I’m glad you skipped the tea shop with the poor reviews. No need to go some place that looks sketchy 😉

That Cotswolds stone is very pretty. Just beautiful surroundings in general— I know you enjoyed your lovely little getaway!

It really was Maria.......to be honest we could have eaten there and one other place every night if we could.

Yes, it would have been ideal being right next door, but we had several other places all within a few minutes walk too. I did peek in one day, and no, not for me 😁

Yes, we did love the whole trip and poor Tom......now I’m thinking when we move homes again, which we will, couldn’t we just build our own this time with that stone........lol........poor guy! It is beautiful :wave2:
 


TUESDAY OCT 6TH




We slept reasonably well last night. A strange bed in a strange house, well, you never get the best sleep. I always say the strange noises around you take some getting used to. But.....there wasn`t a single sound around....not one. It was the quietest place for being in the centre of a town, albeit a little town.


The bed was certainly cosy! But, it was ok, not the most comfortable bed we`ve ever slept on but it was fine, I think we got used to it.

The shower was also interesting. It was an old building and although the shower was new, the water pressure wasn`t the best and it was an over the bathtub type shower which isn`t my favourite, but it was immaculately clean, all we could ask for.


The town had many options for a breakfast and this morning we had decided to go to one that was actually a very small chain in the South East region of England. It was called the Cornish Bakery and looked nice from the outside, tables inside were seperated by huge plastic screens draped between them that would have looked in place in an operating theatre........







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We saw they did bacon rolls, so we asked for two of them and tea for two. The lady wasn`t exactly the friendliest and when I saw the bacon rolls I wished we hadn`t bothered.

They were all premade and had been sat out, I expected her to heat them up but she didn`t. So, got them to the table and felt them....they were very cool. And the bacon was hard as nails. Tom said his would be ok, but I took mine back up and told her it was cold and the bacon was solid. She didn`t look very happy and told me they had just been cooked......doubt it........but I handed it back to her and said I`d choose something else, so opted for a cherry and almond pastry which looked nice, and to her credit she didn`t charge us for it, I thought that was decent of her.









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Tom said the bread rolls were nice, but there was no butter on the roll and that made it a little dry......my pastry however was lovely. Not the best first breakfast, but it filled a space.

We had decided today to spend the best part of the day around this place. And the sun was shining so we wanted some lovely pictures before the alleged rain was coming later this week. It was fresh but not too cold and the sun was lovely.

And just after 9am the place was still so quiet and tranquil.


The river runs all the way through the town and is very shallow and crystal clear. Over our week on the nicer days we saw many folks paddling in it and the ducks were and endless source of joy to the little ones who made the daily journey to feed them regularly.






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The picture below, the house to the left with the For sale sign outside, is the one in front of us as we look out, it was a beautiful home, but my goodness there was not one single piece of privacy where it was situated........the path in front is filled with a constant stream of tourists and even at the rear of the house which we face has tourists roaming around constantly. But, it had sold when we were there. And the first thing Tom noticed was how little parking the place had. It had a garage, but the space in front of the garage door wasn`t even deep enough to park a car in. Beautiful as it was, we`d never make that purchase.







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There were a few touristy things to do in the town itself, including a miniature village, model railway and the motor museum.

We had thought we might do that as we do have an interest in cars and their history, but we ended up not bothering. It seemed to be fairly popular though.








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This car we saw drive around the town regularly......the driver was a very friendly man who enjoyed chatting about his collection.......you don`t see many of those around today.

The bakery in the back of this picture was a real find for us a few days from now.








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We headed up some back streets and I agreed with what Keisha had said when I sent her and mac some of the pictures, it is very Harry Potter like. We were both completely entranced by this stunning place. Every building was prettier than the next, and this one I recognised.

The second home from the right was a rental from the same company we used for our cottage. I had seen it and it had parking, although not in front. Parking was at the rear of the property and maybe wouldn`t have been Tom`s first choice, but this was even prettier in real life. And it was much bigger than the one we had. Only reason we didn`t rent it was because it was already booked.








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The little cottages in this area were so cute, some stunning and some had quite a decent sized garden despite being fairly close together.







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This was another cottage you could rent in the image below. It was gorgeous, but there was no parking as it was only disabled parking in front, the nearest car park was around a quarter of a mile away.....not ideal.







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I think we bought something from each of the little stores in this town. Each had their own stock of cute and sometimes very beautiful items. There was a Cotswolds Kitchen store and I didn`t get a picture of it for some reason. We picked up some lovely little items in there including a local slate that we use for serving plates and a serving slate too. And the biggest mug in the world that had Hagrid on the front with the words "I shouldn`t have said that" on it.








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And with a lot of towns, the central point is the War Memorial where we lay poppies and have the Remembrance Day service in November to commemorate Armistice Day. We do read the names everywhere we go that has one, with the names of all the fallen soldiers from that towm permanently engraved on it. This one was very simple, but in a very beautiful setting.







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The Cotswold Distillery was one of our favourite places in the town!! All locally produced and made gins of all varieties. We had to go twice as the first time it was far too early to sample the ones they had out to taste. They were very nice!

Gin. Lots of flavoured gins and we managed to get a load of Christmas gifts from there. And maybe, just maybe there may have been one or two bottles for us in that purchase :rolleyes1







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The Dial House was a beautiful building and a small boutique hotel. They only served food at lunch, or we would have definitely eaten there for dinner. It looked stunning. I could imagine sitting out there in the summer evenings enjoying a refreshment or two.

It did look like the quintessential old English manor house in it`s day. We often felt we were meandering through a long gone era of style and class. I could almost sense the wonderful literary character of Miss Marple wandering along such graceful and timeless streets. My imagination runs a little wild at times ::yes::









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The Rose Tree was where we were dining tonight. It was very small and intimate, and more important, it had a wonderful reputation. Getting a reservation is like gold dust according to locals, so I was very happy to have managed to get one. And being it was the row in front of us, it would take us about three minutes to walk there.







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This one below was on the same row as us, but it was a chain pub which was such a disappointment. It was a menu we could get anywhere they had a pub. Lovely building though and as a hotel it was very popular. We didn`t even pop in here for a drink as we had planned for some reason.







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Heading back along that row, we came to the buildings that were almost beside us......the candlemaker store was quaint to say the least. We did purchase several candles, some of which will be used as stocking fillers for friends, and I didn`t purchase one or two for us.......I think I suffered from brain fade that day! They also had some lovely jewellery and other decorative items, and I`m sure if I had gone back in I would have purchased more!







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The antique store and the perfume place weren`t really our thing.......perfumes weren`t to my taste, or sense of smell I should say......it was a beautiful little store and were now operating the traffic light system of folks lining up and when the light goes green, you could go in. It did mean there were small lines outside most days.

We had to turn down that way to get out of the driveway as we didn`t have enough room to trun right straight away, so we came down this way to turn......and seems people do forget cars will hurt you if you don`t move out their way!!! I swear some folks leave what intelligence they have at home sometimes.

We were just to the left of this set of buildings.








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More of the town coming up.........
 
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Excited for this trip update! The cottage looks so sweet and inviting! Looking forward to your next update - hope all is well.

Hey Jocelyn......

So good to see you!!!

It really was the cutest place and yes, very inviting. Glad you`re reading along again and more updates coming up real soon.......

We`re all doing great, hope the same for you and yours too.....:wave2:
 


Wow, the town is so beautiful and peaceful! I love the river running through it. It absolutely looks like a place Miss Marple,would go to visit her cousin and stumble across a murder plot ☠

I’m sure you picked up lots of treasures. It looks very inviting to shop 👜 I have a hard time resisting local candles, candy, and sauces. Small batches are delightful!

Very disappointing to be served a cold hard breakfast when you were expecting something warm and filling to start your day.

I am always surprised at how quickly not great properties go in coveted areas. Some people just want to be there so much, they decide to live with the downside.

I am feeling the Harry Potter vibe in a big way. I bet you kept looking out of the corner of your eye for a twinkle of magic! 🧙🏽‍♀️
 
Wow, the town is so beautiful and peaceful! I love the river running through it. It absolutely looks like a place Miss Marple,would go to visit her cousin and stumble across a murder plot ☠

I’m sure you picked up lots of treasures. It looks very inviting to shop 👜 I have a hard time resisting local candles, candy, and sauces. Small batches are delightful!

Very disappointing to be served a cold hard breakfast when you were expecting something warm and filling to start your day.

I am always surprised at how quickly not great properties go in coveted areas. Some people just want to be there so much, they decide to live with the downside.

I am feeling the Harry Potter vibe in a big way. I bet you kept looking out of the corner of your eye for a twinkle of magic! 🧙🏽‍♀️

Isn`t it just gorgeous!!! The houses there are all beautiful. I didn`t see many we`d turn down, but far too busy an area in the summer months. Even the upcoming weekend we were surprised just how busy it was......

Those little stores know how to tempt for sure. We came home with more local chutney`s sauces, marmalades and jams than we`ll ever need.....but so tempting. There was a gorgeous little old fashioned sweet shop.......it had so many "sweets" or candies as Americans call them from our childhood. Very tempting......

We didn`t go back to that bakery again. It was disappointing, but the pastry was so good, however the other bakery was just as nice if not nicer.

It did feel very Potter like. One of the villages we go to later in the week was very reminiscent of Dumbledore`s village.

Lovely to see you`re still enjoying reading along....... :wave2:
 
I'm back!!!!!!!
So happy to see you are doing a mini TR of your time in the Cotswolds. Looks positively idyllic :love:
Pictures are truly stunning!

Welcome home Lori :cheer2:.........I am looking forward to the 2nd installment :thumbsup2

Thank you! I`m so glad you like them, it really was the most idylic week........more to come then promise to go back to Halloween pics........

Glad you`re back........:wave2:
 
We kept wandering round the town, I keep wanting to call it a village as it had more a village feel than a town. Town`s always seem less cutesy somehow......and this definitely felt warmer and cosier than it should do.

At the end of our row where our cottage was, there was an Italian restaurant. Not my favourite type of cuisine if we`re going out for dinner, but Tom quite fancied going there and as it was only about 25 steps along from the tea room next to us, I suspected we`d go one evening. Might as well take advantage of a restaurant that was so close to us......






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Back along to the other side of the town we headed down along the water passing The Croft where we planned to eat in one evening also.






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We didn`t have ice cream today, but at some point I was planning on having a tub with some of that blackcurrants and clotted cream, that appealed to me a lot.






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We were wandering very slowly around and now there were more people milling around. The walkways and paths all had little feet imprints to show you which way you should be walking.....as we are in the UK it was to the left.......but many people didn`t seem to want to adhere to this......and a few times I stopped as someone tried to walk the wrong way....there were enough signs around, but they look at you as if you have two heads!

The Little Nook was a little gem of a place that had an assortment of gifts of all varieties. But their best gifts for us were the choice of chutney`s. We came home with a massive selection from many stores, I doubt we`ll need to buy chutney till next year now. But, the ones in here were a little different and looked amazing, so we didn`t buy any today, but I knew we`d be back another day.






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I loved this house! And on the riverside setting and managed to have a large-ish garden too was a winner for me. I think I could live in that one as it was fairly private with the lovely greenery around it.






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It really was so beautiful and quite serene walking along this side of the town, I was always trying to picture it mobbed as it had been described to us, but for now we were enjoying how quiet it was.






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When we drove into the town my eyes lit up in divine anticipation of the wonderful and very traditional looking Christmas Store. I adore very traditional shops like that and would relish wandering around there on another day. We didn`t go in today as it was nearly lunchtime now and there actually was a line to get in. They were only allowing several people in at a time, and as we looked in the window, we could see it was tiny.







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Heading back around, we had completed a circuit of both sides of the town......doesn`t take long......although we still had some other shops to visit over our week, but for today we wanted to go have lunch at Verne`s which was to the left of The Croft.







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It was a licenced tea room/restaurant and the menu was simple but looked very nice from the outside and several people were waiting to go in. We asked how long to wait for a table and the man said no more than a few minutes, so we popped our masks on and scanned the track and trace app Tom had uploaded to his phone and we got shown to our table a few minutes after that.

It was very clean and the staff despite several bad reviews we had seen, were very nice. He said he`d be back to take our order and we asked for a pot of tea while we waited. I knew I wanted a sandwich, Tom decided he was going to have a cream tea....

I opted to have the spicy chicken and lime toasted sandwich, and Tom indeed did have his cream tea......






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They were both lovely. The spicy lime chicken was rather unusual, but nice. There was a flavour I couldn`t quite distinguish among the others, but I`d have happily eaten it again. Tom enjoyed his Cotswold cream tea. Devon and Cornwall are most famous in the UK for cream teas, but most areas just tag the name of their particular area and add cream tea at the end. Clotted cream is more or less the same all over, and you may get a slightly different jam, but as long as the scones are fresh, you can`t really go wrong.

They did offer dinner at night, but, it didn`t feel a dinner place, it felt very much like a breakfast/lunch time coffee shop place and maybe a little too plain and simple to be offering dinner.


We pay and head back out and decide to drive to the town maybe a 20 minute drive away, Moreton in the Marsh. It had looked nice as we drove through it yesterday.

However it was market day in the town. And general everyday markets are not really our thing. We do like specialist markets, usually involving food in our case. We have some lovely European markets come to towns near us, but this one wasn`t worth visiting and took away from the look of the town which had some beautiful little shops. We did wander around a little and I eventually said let`s get back to the car as I was bored to be honest. We did take only a couple of pictures........







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We did like the old sign left up on what would have been the Tollhouse.





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The car park was maybe a 5 minute walk from where we were, and how lucky were we. We just sat down in the car and the heavens opened.....proper downpour type rain. Timing is everything.

Now we just headed back to our cottage, and the rain was off by the time we got there, so we wandered round to the pub that was in front of us just to have a drink. This was the chain pub that we didn`t plan to eat in but looked alright for a drink.

There was a line to get in, and we said we just wanted a drink which was fine as some places were only letting diners in during the day, there were a few folks just popping in for drinks, which we saw the food I wasn`t surprised.

It certainly wasn`t anywhere we would choose to eat in. Food was typical pre prepared stuff you pinged in the microwave, and most certainly all frozen. It was, well, not the nicest place to be, but ok for a drink. I looked at the drinks list and they had three wines.......red, white and rose......lol......so I opted for a glass of red, which wasn`t horrible, that was the best I could come up with, and Tom had one of their IPA`s which was one he wouldn`t order again.

I had a taste of his and it was like grapefruit.....which I hate.







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We sat in there for maybe an hour or so, we watched the rain at several points come down heavier and heave were glad we only had a very short walk to the cottage if it didn`t go off anytime soon.

We waited for a lull in the rain, and set off the 90 second walk back home.

I did put the kettle on and made us some tea and we had one of the lovely little biscuits we had bought this morning.....it was a white chocolate and raspberry cookie, and just nice with a cuppa. We put the tv on for a bit, we had a couple of hours before we were booked for dinner. It was nice just sitting in the cosy room watching the rain bounce down outside and it was fairly dark even for late afternoon, so we put the lamps on early. And to our surprise despite the rain there were still loads of tourists wandering around looking at everything and taking pictures of the cottages along the way. It didn`t look much fun in the rain to be honest.

I did some reading as I had brought down my book the Book Group were reading....The Canterbury Tales aren`t exactly light reading, but I would get through it. Two of the women had txt me to say they had given up after about 4 pages.....lol.....yes, it`s not for everyone. I was enjoying it more this time than when I had tried to read it before when I was doing my English Literature degree.


We enjoyed our little bit of down time, but once we were showered and changed we headed down to go for dinner in The Rose Tree.

I did like the fairly lights around the doorway as we went out..........






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The Rose Tree was busy indeed. As you went in the main door, it was straight into the restaurant.....I`d have hated the tables by the door in the winter, it would be freezing every time the door opened. I was glad we were though the back room where there were only three other tables and well away from a draughty door.

We had studied the menu profusely before we booked, so we roughly knew what we were having, but we did order a bottle of red wine before fully deciding.

The lady who owns the restaurant with her husband was taking care of us tonight and she was lovely.....I think maybe from Poland originally and had a lovely warm way with her. She brought the wine and left us to peruse the menu properly after going through the specials of the evening.

This little restaurant was lovely. And tables were well spaced apart, we did laugh as we walked in to the room at the back as one of the customers started coughing and looked at us waiting for us to run for cover.......we joked between us how we all feel guilty if we cough or sneeze now in public......poor man.







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Tom won the best starter again tonight.......he chose the one I was going to go for, shrimp and smoked salmon cocktail.......it looked delicious and I really wished I`d ordered it....but my head had been turned by the large shrimp special which came with a spicy sweet chilli sauce and satay sauce and the shrimp was done in shredded coconut.

I love smoked salmon......and we always share, so we each got a piece of the others dish anyway........







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Both were lovely......but the shrimp was maybe just a little overdone for me.......still tasty however.






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There was a lovely gap between courses which we liked and no time limit on the table tonight. Some busier nights in some restaurants they were giving you maybe 90 minutes or two hours before they needed the table again, but as we had booked for 7.30 and everywhere was now closing at 10pm due to restrictions, we could take our time. I hate feeling rushed when you just want to relax and enjoy an evening out. And this was lovely.

Entrees were an easy decision......although I had been tempted by their filet.....one of the tables closest to us had one and it looked lovely, but I had been craving what is one of my favourite dishes I cook at home....lamb shank. And I was glad to see it didn`t come with mint as so many places have it in mint sauce.....I hate mint sauce. It was just a red wine sauce which sounded beautiful.







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Tom went with the steak and kidney pie......I make a gorgeous steak and ale pie, but I never buy or use kidneys.....Tom loves them.......bless him, he never gets them unless it`s on offer in a restaurant in a pie like this, I just can`t get my head around offal and never cook it at home. I remember my dad eating weird and wonderful things like liver and kidneys when I was young.....not for me thanks.







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We had mash to go with mine, chips to go with the pie and a little vegetable medley.......






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It was all stunning. The lamb fell straight off the bone and melted, loved the red wine sauce and Tom adored his pie......I did taste a bit of the beef and was glad there was no aroma of kidney off it.....so very tender as it should be. The mash wasn`t something I`d choose again, but that`s just personal taste......everything else was gorgeous.

We said we`d like a bit if a gap before we decided if we had room for dessert.......not that there was ever any doubt!!!!

By the time we ordered we were ready for dessert.......I opted for the vanilla pannacotta which came with blackberries and shortbread crumble, Tom opted for the sticky toffee pudding and did say he doubted it would beat last nights offering from the Mousetrap.......high standard indeed.







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Mine was blissful. Creamy vanilla flavour with the sharp contrast of fruits was perfect and I think I could have eaten two of them.

Tom was slightly disappointed with his dessert. It was nice, but not as good as last nights. He said it tasted more like a ginger cake and the butterscotch sauce tasted more like chocolate. But, he did enjoy it but wouldn`t order it again.

Overall we had enjoyed another beautiful evening and the food had been excellent. We couldn`t praise this restaurant enough and the service was lovely too. So, we paid up and headed for the short walk back home.

And again, the place was deserted. It was around 9.30pm when we took those pictures.






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We were loving this place. It was mild tonight so we took a slightly longer route home and walked a little along the river, and met no one....not even a dog walker. Considering how busy this little place gets during the day, we did wonder where everyone was at night.

Back in the cottage, Tom made us a pot of tea and we settled in the sofa and chair, Tom with the remote control and Netflix, I think we were watching the Haunting of Hill House and I read my book at the same time with Tom asking if I was watching......yes darling, I can do two things at once......lol....

It was midnight before we knew it and soon we were heading for bed and still couldn`t believe how quiet this place was considering we were in the centre of a town.




 
Hello! I am enjoying your trip report on the Cotswolds. It is such a beautiful area, I could enjoy that as a trip one day. I have always areas like that. Your cottage is really pretty even though it was small for you. Brian and I have rented cottages in the past and do find them a nice change from a hotel once in awhile. The food looked really good and I would have spent a lot of time and money in some of those shops. Brian would have loved the distillery.

I also am enjoying your pictures of past HHN. We had never gotten to see it and was suppose to this year. Charlie wanted to do that for his graduation gift. I am hoping next year we can go whether we live in Florida or not. I know the guys would enjoy it at night. Liv and I would enjoy seeing it during the day.

I hope your next round of plans works out to visit Universal again!
 
Hello! I am enjoying your trip report on the Cotswolds. It is such a beautiful area, I could enjoy that as a trip one day. I have always areas like that. Your cottage is really pretty even though it was small for you. Brian and I have rented cottages in the past and do find them a nice change from a hotel once in awhile. The food looked really good and I would have spent a lot of time and money in some of those shops. Brian would have loved the distillery.

I also am enjoying your pictures of past HHN. We had never gotten to see it and was suppose to this year. Charlie wanted to do that for his graduation gift. I am hoping next year we can go whether we live in Florida or not. I know the guys would enjoy it at night. Liv and I would enjoy seeing it during the day.

I hope your next round of plans works out to visit Universal again!

Hey bobbie......

Yes, it is a stunning area and full of places you could stay in forever........beautiful little specialist stores that have so many gorgeous items you just want to buy. And yes, the distillery was a nice little place. We did mean to go to brewery, but never got round to it.

I‘m still very much a hotel person, but for a week this was perfect.

What a shame you never got to HHN this year......so many disappointments for so many. Next year is going to be different......I know it......hopefully you’ll get to go then.

Yes, plans are three weeks in May and then usual September and Christmas trip next year......it will happen! I’ve decided......::yes::

Good to see you.....don’t be a stranger.......
 
We were up with the larks this morning.

Sleep had been better last night, but during the night I looked and saw the huge gap between the top of the "not fitted" bedroom closets........my mind began to drift towards a fabulous but scary movie called The Conjuring.......where there is an evil horrible spirit that appears on top of their bedroom closet........and of course once it was in my mind........lol.......our closets at home are all floor to ceiling.......so I don`t have that thought at home. But, I wasn`t awake for long.

Today we were visiting three places and meeting some very old friends who live in this area. Tom used to be his boss, and he came home from Saudi after following Tom`s advice and took early retirement. They kept in touch after Tom retired and I knew his wife only a little bit. We had met maybe four or five times, but always with other people. But, we were looking forward to catching up again.

First off we went to the place we had lunch yesterday for breakfast. We had seen these huge breakfast baps that had bacon and two locally made sausages in them, they serve them all day, but for us, they are for breakfast only. We ordered one each and some tea.......they were delicious. I never snapped any pictures as we had eaten them before I remembered. I left most of the bread roll, as it was huge, but the sausages and bacon were delicious.

We walked the two minutes back to the cottage and collected what we needed for the day, we had brought our friends a few local gifts from our area and once we had them we set off for a town I wanted to see.


Has there ever been a place you had heard of......heard people speak highly of it......tell you how lovely it is........yes, I had one of those places too. It was called Chipping Norton and one of the folks who mentioned it was Jeremy Clarkson.......he lives locally to it and it did sound nice. It was in the Cotswolds.......how bad could it be.

We drove about 25 minutes through some lovely scenery and small villages, and reached Chipping Norton before we knew it.






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Biggest disappointment since Shrek 2!

It was not in the slightest bit pretty. I never even took a picture. We got parked up, went into Boots which is one of our largest pharmacies in the UK and bought make up removing wipes and left......we spent the grand total of 8 minutes in the place, and that included waiting and finding a parking space. It was like a regular high street town anywhere. There was nothing pretty about it, and apart from one or two little shops.....everything else you can find anywhere.......I did use my now famous phrase......Is this it!!!!

One of Meatloaf songs, I would do anything for love was in my mind......the line.....can you get me right out of this God forsaken town......sprung to mind.......we did indeed drive out of there as quickly as we could. Our friends when we told them later laughed and said they wished we had told them we were planning to go there and would have told us not to bother........

But, we drove to another place we wanted to see......Blockley.


This was more like it.

Public parking is a nightmare in these little villages, but there was a large car park behind the village which was wonderful with only a few minutes to walk back into the centre of the village from.

On the walk back, we passed the Church of St Peter and St Paul which is beautiful, and if you have ever watched a tv show called Father Brown, this was the church they used for filming the series and when we saw it we could see why....it was impressive. The show stars Mark Williams who is probably most famous for playing Arthur Weasley in all the Harry Potter films.

I would have loved to have seen inside, but it was closed for now. On our way into the village the gates were closed so we had to wait till the way back to get pictures.








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This was one of the buildings just outside the church, there is also a boarding school in the same area, so we didn`t know which the house belonged to, but it would be one of them.

I would love to have seen inside this one.......we had to wait to take a picture as there was a cable repair man and his huge ugly van parked outside.....it wasn`t really in fitting with the surroundings to be honest, so we waited.......








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Blockley really is one large main street, and is on quite a steep hill. Like a lot of places here, they have some lovely individual shops and pubs, and this place was no different.






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I did think how bad this place would be in the depths of winter if there was a load of snow......or you got to the top and remembered you`d forgotten something at the bottom!!! Think I`d go without......it was fairly steep as we found out as we walked up to the top to see some of the cottages at the top.







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We headed back down the hill and popped into a shop called The Cotswold Cheese Company. They had a phenomenal selection, but we had gone into one the other day and noticed the staff were not the usual friendly and welcoming smiley faces most places had, and this one today was the same. No welcome as you walked in the door, no asking if you need any help and this woman actually looked as if she wanted to growl!!! We didn`t buy anything.

We didn`t stay here long, maybe around 30 minutes and left just after 11ish when we went back to the car park taking pictures of the church on the way, and we drove to a town called Broadway where we were meeting our friends.


It was another lovely drive and we struggled again to find a parking space. There was a large car park behind the village but it was mobbed.....we eventually managed to get a space when the tiniest car in the world left a rather small and tight space. Here we were glad of sensors and cameras again. The car beside us on one side was parked badly, and when Tom went to pay for parking the lady attracted my attention and said her husband would straighten it up. We got chatting and she said we were driving her husbands next car........she was German and had lived in this country for 30 years but she still had quite a strong accent. Nice couple and Tom opened the car for the husband to have a look inside as it was similar to the one he was planning to get without some of the upgrades we had added. She wasn`t interested funnily enough......lol.....

Again this is mainly a one street town with some beautiful buildings all done in my favourite stone and built like a little fairy town. I imagined these places would be magical at Christmas all lit up with fairy lights and Christmas decorations......






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Red telephone boxes are slowly but surely disappearing from our High Streets, and in most areas they have already gone. So, to see two together is quite nostalgic for us......yes, sad and nostalgic person moment.......lol........







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We met our friends just outside the hotel we were having lunch. It was so good to see them again, it had been a good few years since we had met up. And weirdly the last time we had met, we bumped into them at the pool at Royal Pacific!!! Neither of us had any idea the other was there, so we had seen each other briefly then But, it was as if we had just met yesterday.......we had so much to catch up on. And catch up we did. Not only on folks who used to work together but on what we both had been doing since retirement. They had spent a lot of time in California where their daughter lives and were amazed they didn`t realise we had each been in Orlando twice at the same time, albeit once we left the day they arrived.

Contact is usually Christmas cards and birthday cards. I think this was because the men were the main friends......although we did all get along well.







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We had lunch which was lovely and I didn`t get any pictures, but we all had different things and not too much as we were meeting for dinner later too.

After lunch we went through to the lounge area and had a mini afternoon tea.......which was very nice, scones were huge.

Yes, that is a glass of red too...........well, we are on vacation!







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They headed off after tea, they have dogs so didn`t want to leave them too long. We were meeting up later in our town for dinner, so we`d see them again tonight.

We wandered round a little more before heading off back to the cottage, but we had liked Broadway and would consider staying here if we came back. They had loads of cottages that were both pretty and practical with regards to parking. But, when we spoke later, I think we`d really prefer to stay in Bourton. But, again this place has some gorgeous little shops unique to the area.....

Didn`t take too long to get back to the cottage and again, we chilled out for a while before heading back out. We were eating in a pub about a two minute walk away the other direction, we had looked at the online menu and it suited all of us, and tonight was steak night........

Our friends had parked on the main street and were already there when we got in, which was nice timing as the rain was just starting. But, when we sat down the menu was completely different and nothing on it I could eat. Tom`s friend has a few allergies and he was struggling too. They apologised and said the company who update their menu`s had also been furloughed, so nothing they could do and said they had lost a fair bit of custom through it, lots of folks check the online menu`s before visiting a place, we always do.

Our friends suggested a place just the other side of the cottage on the river called The Croft. Well we had planned to eat there anyway, so we all hoofed on down and managed to get a table.....well two tables but we were right next to each other. You can have four at a table, but the way they had it set out there was only two tables left and they were both for two. We would be ok with that.

It was a nice place, friendly young lady serving and it seemed nice enough, we could all get something off the menu here.







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We got in before all the tables had filled up which meant we could get some pictures of the restaurant without it looking like we are taking pictures of people themselves.






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We each ordered a bottle of wine, not the biggest selection, but most people would be able to enjoy something........and to start I had their special appetiser of the evening, smoked salmon with blasamic dressing and Tom had the fish cake, our friends had exactly the same appetisers and we all enjoyed them.

I thought the fish cake needed more seasoning, but it was nice and well cooked. You can`t really go wrong with smoked salmon, but it was very nice.








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I opted for the steak and Tom went for their steak in red wine pie. I should have had that too.

Steak. It`s either perfect, or it`s going back. It got sent back. It was overcooked and cool to the touch, very disappointing. I think the steak was ready first and it had waited while he plated up the others food, and there were a few tables filled up around us now......so she was very apologetic and said she`d have the chef reheat it......er, no....it`s already overcooked, I didn`t want it cooked anymore!!!

So, I got a fresh one. But by the time it arrived, everyone else had finished. Not good. And to be honest, it wasn`t the best steak, quality wise. I fully admit to being incredibly fussy about steak, but I won`t accept any steaks that aren`t cooked as I ask.......a good chef shouldn`t struggle. I will say however, the chips were delicious, but the peppercorn sauce tasted of nothing.







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Tom loved the pie as did the others......should have had the pie!

We decided to share an apple crumble for dessert, it was just ok, but Tom did remind me I make an amazing crumble and there`s not many I enjoy as much as mine, so maybe I was being unfair, but, it wasn`t homemade custard either.

She didn`t charge for the dessert as a way of making up for the steak. I`d rather have had a good steak and paid full price. But, overall it had been a lovely meal and evening.








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We had coffee and then we said goodbye to our friends again. I`m not sure when we`ll see them again, but we would be passing through their village soon. They had said to pop in, but we didn`t know when exactly, so we said we`d leave it to another visit. It had been lovely all the same to see and spend some time with them.

It took us two minutes to be back inside the cottage......and it was still raining, and quite heavy now. iI was glad I had an umbrella.......

We watched some tv for a bit, then headed up to bed and tonight we were shattered....and we hadn`t done that much!
 
Continues to be such a great TR...quaintness overload :flower3:

Love the barn board interior of the restaurant! My DH finished off our garage interior with old pallet boards that he disassembled. Turned out very rustic!
 
Continues to be such a great TR...quaintness overload :flower3:

Love the barn board interior of the restaurant! My DH finished off our garage interior with old pallet boards that he disassembled. Turned out very rustic!

Thanks Lori........yes, more quaintness coming up.......lol.....

Oh I`ll bet that is lovely......and quite unusual. It`s nice to be different :wave2:
 
This morning it looked a little dull outside. It had rained most of the night, but had stopped just before 6am.

Tom walked the very short walk to the Bakery on the Water this morning for breakfast. I made us a pot of tea and he came back with a couple of fruit pastries and two savoury one so we could try a piece of each. I wish I had taken pictures as they were lovely.....but we were hungry.

One was a Cornish style Pasty.....and nothing like the ones they serve in the Harry Potter areas of the parks......they are genuine and lovely. And we wished we had eaten here the first morning as they do have a small sit in area too. Tom mentioned there was a large line already forming when he arrived a few minutes before he arrived, it was a very popular bakery with tourists and locals alike which was good to see. Anytime we passed there were always people lined up waiting to either get take out or have lunch, and always workmen and police officers which is always a sign of a good place!!


We took our time and had a leisurely breakfast this morning watching Frasier on the tv through the oddly placed staircase.

The house was built early 18th century and I would have loved to have seen it in it`s original style, the kitchen here now was a much later addition, so goodness knows how they managed back then.

The town itself of Bourton on the Water was built to the side of The Fosse Way which was one of the most important of Roman roads running from the West Country to Lincolnshire in the straightest most direct was possible due to the terrain of the times. The Romans considered the crossing place on the River Windrush which runs through Bourton, to be so strategically important, the area on the outskirts of the now town is where they built a camp now known as Landsdowne where the Mousetrap pub is. The historical influences of this area are so interesting.


The church, the original church was built in 708AD and the later church was 1110. The bridges across the river were built from 1654 onward. Charles I was known to have visited in 1642.

But, today we were heading to another village called Chipping Campden. Or as I kept calling it, Chipping Cleghorn which is the fictional village in one of Agatha Christie`s books, A Murder is Announced. I couldn`t get the name out of my head for some reason.......felt a bit silly typing Chipping Cleghorn to the satnav :blush:

Took about 25 minutes to get here, and I think we got the very last parking space right at the far end of the village. Initially we drove through and didn`t see a space at all, but heading out we did find the last one.


People who work here must have a nightmare time parking when this place is heaving if their workplace didn`t have assigned parking.

One thing Britain does exceptionally well is churches. Even the tiniest of places can have a church and sometimes just as elaborate as some of the larger ones. And we do like a wander round some churches, but a lot are closed most of the time now due to the virus.







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Again, more of the quintessentially cute Cotswold stone buildings......I never got bored of looking at them and how traditional they are. Lots of these buildings which once had been beautiful homes and now many were businesses, and dull businesses like solicitors offices and similar.






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I understand the need for parking, but my old fashioned persona would love to see this as it was when it was originally built and imagine it would be much more peaceful. And I say that as a car person who wouldn`t be without a car. But, it`s easy to romanticise and think of the Charles Dickens Christmas images of how a village should look.

A Christmas Carol is one of my favourite literary works ever, and the books I have which have been illustrated portray my image of a perfect Christmas village. And I could see this when it would be snow covered and looking very festive in my mind.

The reality though is, we need cars.

We also felt quite lucky, as the weather forecast had predicted we would have rain all day every day and at one point they had claimed we would have high winds too......but so far we had avoided most of the bad weather as it had come at night.








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In the centre of the village was the Market Hall built in 1627 which would have been the central point of the village over the years when merchants and farmers would bring their wares to be sold on various days of the week and also used it as a shelter on their travels.

It is a stunning building, and was damaged in 2017 when they were putting up the village Christmas tree. It was struck by the JCB putting the tree up and the man who had volunteered his time felt awful apparently. As he would have I`m sure. It was repaired by donations and the National Trust.







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And very reminiscent of the Owlery in the centre of Hogsmeade from the inside......






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We had wandered around some of the stores and most were very unique to the area for longer than we realised and as is normal for us, our tummies began to rumble......

There were many places to choose from, and we didn`t want a regular pub lunch today as it was too much with eating out at night. There were several tea rooms to choose from, and one we originally saw and liked the look of was far too busy to consider, so we walked further along and found Badgers Hall.

To say it was traditional was an understatement. Low slung doorways and small rooms were the order of the day here.

Usually you`d go in through the little front door, but with Covid, they were using the si door which was even lower to be honest. You rung the bell outside and the lady came to let you in after checking you had sanitised your hands and of course had your mask on till you sat down.







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The lady was so warm and cosy, you could wrap her up for Christmas! She was everything a lady who runs a traditional tearoom should be. We sat down and she brought us a paper menu with lunch offerings on. We really only wanted a small sandwich and we found this place to be ideal for our needs today.

It really was cutsie overload with the original beams which we love, and the huge oversized fireplace. They were also a small hotel, with I think 3 bedrooms, and I could imagine you were treated like royalty here.








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Tom immediately eyed the chocolate cake!!

It is nice seeing all the home baking still laid out the way traditional places have always done, and they were all covered of course. I had spotted a treacle tart sliced up which might tempt me after my sandwich......I do find that hard to resist. But, everything looked delicious.







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The sandwiches were very traditional and offered on granary bread, I did ask if she could do mine as a wrap as I can`t eat granary, she said she did have white, would I like that instead. She said she had white as guests obviously had toast for breakfast and white would be an option. I said yes and Tom asked for the same. I had chosen a chicken, brie and mango chutney, Tom opted for smoked salmon and prawn.

I guess it looks a little dry in the picture, but it was very juicy and the brie was beautiful. I did give Tom my onions from the side salad, and he loved them.....poor soul doesn`t get onions at home.

His smoked salmon and prawns were also lovely. Both were very fresh and tasty.







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They were dainty. So we did have room for a little dessert.

I chose custard to go with my treacle tart which was most definitely home made......and gorgeous.








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Tom`s chocolate cake was one he really enjoyed, and rather cruelly, took a picture and sent it to Kyle who did indeed agree it did look good. I wish I liked chocolate cake as it looked beautiful, but, not for me.







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We enjoyed a second pot of tea and then paid the bill before wandering out to visit the last of the stores we hadn`t popped into yet. And we only bought one little thing here today.......

Back up to where the car was, I liked the look of this cottage a lot. But on the main road would be a big no no.






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We got in the car and had a general drive around. The sun had come out a little more now so it was nicer than the morning had been. We saw some lovely little places and in some places the hills rolled for miles which were gorgeous. Most of the roads had nowhere to pull in and take pictures as they tended to be smaller roads.

Where we live now it`s known for being relatively flat, so I do love seeing larger areas with hills around. We do have some hills, but not like this.

Back to the cottage around 5ish, not quite sure how we managed to pass an afternoon just driving around. Tom did grimace at filling up our very thirsty car again.....lol......but it was amazing how you could just rack up the miles just roaming around, and every village you saw was prettier than the last.

Last night when we got in we had called the Italian four doors along from us and booked a table for tonight, so we didn`t have far to go again. This really had been a winner for us location wise with so many walkable options nearby.


This place wasn`t really on my radar, but Tom fancied it so I was happy to go. The menu looked ok, but pasta isn`t something I tend to choose on a night out, it`s something you fling together for an easy dinner. But, they had steak and offered specials too, so I was sure it would be fine.

I wish we had taken a picture of the restaurant and hotel at night, but we didn`t get around to it, so this is it again during the day.







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The restaurant itself was in two parts, and they also had people eating in the bar area which did look a little cosier than the main restaurant, but it was ok.

Staff were very nice and we had George looking after us and he was a gem. We ordered a bottle of malbec and studied the menu we already knew so well.







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The appetisers were limited for me to be honest, but the shrimp did stand out for me and reminded me of one of the shrimp dishes from Red Lobster when they do endless shrimp......it was beautiful.







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Another thing I don`t eat is mushrooms.......and again, it`s another thing that Tom loves.....but doesn`t usually get at home.....so he pounced on the garlic mushrooms when he saw them on the menu. I dreaded the aroma later, but it was fine, no nasty garlic smell which suited me fine. He loved it and got it all to himself for a change......I did share some shrimp with him......it may or may not have been with some reluctance 😈







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This evening was better than I expected. The place was lovely and we were enjoying the food and wine a lot, I`m not sure why I expected to not enjoy it as much.

Entrees were easy.......Tom saw one of the specials was lamb shank with the oddest dauphinoise potatoes ever......he checked it didn`t have mint in it, which it didn`t, so he ordered that for him....I was tempted I have to say to order the same, but went with the steak which I asked for rare and it came with skinny chips, so I asked to swap out the chips for the same potato as Tom, no problem. I had seen reviews the skinny fries weren`t good, so I`m guessing they were just generic frozen fries and not freshly made. I also asked them to leave off the onion rings and mushrooms that usually accompany steaks on menu`s.








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Both were delicious. I think my lamb shank from the second night was better, but I`m being picky as this was just as tender, but maybe just not as seasoned as the one I had. Tom loved it which was all I wanted to hear.

My steak was rare......very rare.......our waiter saw me look twice at it and asked if I wanted it cooked a little more.......not a chance....this was perfect!!! Not my favourite cut of steak, and not normally one I`d choose, but as it was rare it was lovely. And the pepper sauce had a lovely taste unlike the one from last night. The steak was also tasty which I had hoped it would be.

The potato was well cooked, but not what I expected, but it was very nice.

This had been lovely. Tom even said he`d like to come back, but we didn`t have any free nights left. I know what he meant, it was lovely, but I was happy to leave this as a one and done....which sounds as though I didn`t like it and I did. But, I was happy Tom enjoyed it so much as he had really pushed to come here.


We paid the bill and walked the forty or so steps (if that) back to the cottage, and I was glad it wasn`t far as it was raining again and quite heavy now. First thing I did was take my shoes off.....I had new shoes and they were fine, but well, they were new. Ladies, you`ll know what I mean.......::yes::

Tom went to make some tea and I went up to put my jammies on....I had deliberately brough proper winter ones to befit the look and feel of a cosy cottage.......yes, I was boiling in them as it wasn`t really winter and.........the cottage was like a furnace most of the time!!! They didn`t last long.........

Another night we sat up late watching scary things on Netflix as I read my never ending book......

Tomorrow we were visiting one of the most picturesque and most famous little village in the whole of The Cotswolds........
 
FRIDAY OCT 9TH



Again we had a mixed sleep.......once I woke around 2am and couldn`t get back over, but once I did, I slept well. Tom said last night was the best sleep he`d had since we arrived. This bed was small.

Again, once we were showered and dressed I stayed in and Tom walked the few stept to our now favourite bakery for breakfast. I made up a large pot of tea while he was gone and set the table. It was nice just having a little selection for breakfast, everything was completely unhealthy, but delicious.

Today we were planning to drive to one of the most visited villages in the whole of the Cotswolds. I had seen images of this little place for many years, it was a mixture of classic chocolate box cottages mixed with episodes of classic Agatha Christie Miss Marples set in the 1950`s. We had been told it would be busy, very busy, but today looked a little gloomy and we were off season, so we hoped it wouldn`t be too bad. Our friends had also told us not to plan to have lunch there as both options available there weren`t the best which was a shame considering their prime location.

Time wise it was supposed to take just over an hour, so we set off and I have to say, it did not look nice today at all.


We drove for what seemed like ages to get there, but on the way I said to Tom...I think I just saw a Jumbo Jet.......now, he did laugh........but , I was only correct.

There was a parking area opposite what is Kemble Business park and it is a fairly small airport and home to a load of out of date planes awaiting scrapping. It used to be RAF Kemble a few years back.

I was glad I wasn`t hallucinating.


This was an area to park, but I had seen a British Airways plane I was sure and thought it had been a Jumbo Jet.......






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I wasn`t wrong.

What a sad sight to see. I love the Jumbo Jet and I`m so terribly sad to see them all being shelved because of so called environmental impact........I can`t say what I really think. But, they are the most majestic of aircraft despite their magnificent size, and to see them rot in an airfield awaiting flying to their demise, I found incredibly sad. We should be forging forward for bigger and better means of aircraft, more powerful engines and faster. We haven`t increased the speed of flying much in the last 50 years. We seem to be going backwards despite modern technology.







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And to see them parked so close to a main road and accessible for pictures for so many was quite something.

I genuinely had no idea they were here. Ironically when we got home one of the main papers ran a story of the place.








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It certainly was a place that drew many folks to take pictures of these wonderful but sadly redundant planes.






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As we got nearer our destination, we began to disappear down some rather narrow lanes......there were very few spots for pulling in if a vehicle came the other way. We only met one other car and thankfully he was going as carefully as I was.

Then it got narrrower, darker and very dense..........and yep, another car appeared and I had to reverse a fair distance backwards down a very winding, uneven and twisty road....that was fun!!! Again, I was glad of sensors and cameras from every angle.......It felt like a five mile reverse, but only took about 3 minutes......and not a single scratch on the car....I`d never have lived that down.







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We thankfully reached our destination and you have to drive all the way through the small village. We found a place to park with other cars to the side of the road just out of sight to the right here. there was a full proper car park about 3/4 mile up the road.....glad we hadn`t parked there as it was all uphill going back. But, we were ok parking where we had parked.

It was a shame it was so dull, as this was such a gorgeous place and looks so much better in the sunshine......but it was still pretty and we were glad to see there weren`t too many other people around.

Basically this is a one street village......but has been the centre of many television shows depicting a by gone time through various periods.







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Yes, the rain made an appearance, albeit briefly.....






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One of our beautiful churches again, sadly closed due to the virus. One of my cousins had said this was a little gem of a church to see, so I was sad to miss it.






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One of the cottages had produce for sale, with an honesty box as a way of payment. You popped the money through a letterbox. There are some areas of the UK where this is common. The farmer next to us does it with eggs. And the box sits beside the eggs as opposed to being hidden behind a letter box, fortunately it`s never been stolen and people have always been honest.

This one had little cakes, full size cakes, bottled water, juice and little jars of honey.....Tom couldn`t resist and bought one jar of the honey. He does love his honey. I loved little places that operated this type of place and that it worked. It`s also very common down in Devon and Cornwall areas and you see all sorts of fresh produce for sale there, usually down country lanes away from main roads.








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Wandering a little, we discovered a beautiful row of cottages and it was so peaceful. But, add in hordes of toursits like us in the summer months, and it wouldn`t be half as quiet.







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History is all around this place, and the building with the white on the front was The Old Court House......I could envisage all sorts of rogues and vagabonds trawling through the doors over the years and being fined something ridiculous for a crime as unique as cattle rustling.....lol......







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Loved the look of the Old Post Office too, and happy to see they had kept the original signage above their door.






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There is an image that is always associated with this village, you can see the bridge, the church is in the background and the street.......when we got there we saw it was taken from the other side of the river and those houses had a pull back gate to keep their privacy intact. Couldn`t say I blamed them as folks would wander right by their home and gaze in.

It was still beautiful.






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It didn`t take long to "do" the village. I was glad we went, it was a box ticked for me but don`t see the need to go back again. I told Tom it would take us longer to get there than we would spend there, and I was right.

We walked the short distance to where I had parked, and as we drove up that hill where at the top we saw the large car park, I was so glad we hadn`t had to climb that!! The car made light work of it, but again, small winding lanes that really shouldn`t even be considered roads were what we travelled in for a while, before hitting much better but still smaller roads.

I drove back to our town where I had wanted to do a bit of shopping in the cookware store they had, I had seen a few things I might like so I parked the car and we wandered round where we were going to have lunch in Small Talk, a little cafe/tea room that looked nice when we passed by the other day.







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A group of six had just gone in, so the lady asked us to wait a few minutes while they got seated, then asked us to use the sanitiser and then showed us the table we were sitting at.......again, it was a very small and cosy, and very traditional tea room.

This area brings a lot of walkers around as there are some beautiful walks in the Cotswolds. We are very fairweather walkers and like a proper path....these guys looked like serious hikers with all the gear on and their mountain sticks to help them. No thanks.......far too healthy!








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We adored places like this. Classically beautiful, bursting with tradition and charm, and best of all everything home cooked and baked. And it all looked wonderful.






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Tom decided his lunch would be another slice of chocolate cake......well, on vacation it`s allowed......and it did look nice. I did take a picture of the cake to send to Kyle but it would have to wait.

One of the things we liked about this place was, it had no wifi. The owners had made the local papers a few years back when they refused to get wifi for their business. They preferred people speak to each other rather than gaze down at their phone which we thought was a good idea.






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I had chosen a toasted sandwich which was lovely, but the pictures I took are far too blurry for some reason. And again, a lovely pot of tea to go with it.

Prices were so reasonable in these little places, we almost felt guilty for paying so little for the food. We were less than £20 for our lunch today and it had been so good. Again, the ladies who ran this place were exactly the type of people you expect to be hosting such a place.

There were people waiting for tables now, so we finished up and headed out walking quickly past the gin place we had enjoyed so much the other day and went to a cookware store I wanted to peruse.


I have to admit to having a weakness for kitchen gadgets/bakeware/dishes/utensils.....you name it, I`ll buy it.

So, we did leave this little store laden with goodies and Tom looking rather bemused as to why we needed more of things he was sure we had.......well, you can never have too many lasagne/pie/cake dishes and tins. I may have a problem.


Back in the cottage Tom placed all our purchases from this afternoon on the rather long table. When it was completely engulfed he noted that his contribution to all our acquisitions, was a single jar of honey....and a small jar of honey at that.....lol......bless him.

At least we had the car and I wasn`t worrying about how I`d fit all these purchases into a suitcase or three.......

Tonight we were eating at a place that was opposite the Italian we went to last night. It was called Smiths and again, I wasn`t fussed but it looked ok. The menu was only burgers for main meals which wasn`t really my thing, but I had read they were good burgers.......


We got our table and it was a nice enough place, but lacked atmosphere and personality somehow. The staff were nice enough, but couldn`t quite put my finger on it.







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Bottle of wine ordered, we had a look at the menu and decided to start with boneless wings with spicy sauce and stuffed jalapenos........those sounded good.






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They were delicious. The chicken was spicy as heck and the jalapenos even more so....down side is.....sometimes with spicy food, it catches your throat and you need to cough.

Well. No one, but no one wants to be seen coughing in public today.......so we both stifled a little cough or two.......then we felt better when the lady beside us coughed too......we gave each other a knowing sympathetic look.......lol........

Tom had ordered a bacon double cheeseburger something or other........and he loved his burger.....meat was moist, juicy and the onely downside was it didn`t have very much flavour.








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Mine was a chimichurri with no cheese and add jalapenos (yes, I needed more spice...not) But, down side was mine had no moistness, no juiciness, no flavour and crumbled like minced beef........I did laugh for some reason.







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The sides we had chosen were fries and coleslaw.....they were both delicious.....one of the nicest fries we had eaten.






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The waitress noticed before I said anything that the meal was basically untouched. I described it to her and she asked if I wanted it cooked again, I declined and just ask it be removed from the bill. She said she`d do that.

I was glad we had shared the chicken and jalapenos.

Not a complete disappointment, Tom had loved his.....I think he was winning the best of the meals this trip. I think I was just unlucky, as everyone else`s food looked lovely, just one of those things.


The rain was bouncing down again, and again, we were so glad we only had a few steps to walk home. As soon as we were in we poured ourselves a glass of wine and settled down again for another late night in front of Netflix........it was so cosy here, we were loving this time here.
 
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It was a licenced tea room...
Not familiar with that term?

Well, wasn’t much hungry today until caught up here :) yum

One picture is absoutely prettier than the next. First thing i thought of th eone was the owerly!

Many of those cottage are quite grand as to size. The water so close to those houses makes me nervous but it is beautiful. Is flooding not an issue?
 

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