Sunday Day 1 Departure!
Smooth sailing - no delays - no sleep either but what can you expect? Our spirits were very high after four months of planning and waiting. We couldn't imagine taking this trip without our hubbies and buddies, and apparently neither could they.
TLA, we knew you'd changed your mind!
Darryl's bike trip canceled so he joined us too.
Tom was off having a pint somewhere no doubt, and lord knows where Jon was!
A little background...
Our plan was to fly in to London and head straight for Bath spending a night there and then picking up a 'hire car' and driving to the cottage we had rented in Ilmington in Warwickshire. From there we would tour the Cotswolds for a week then drop the car in Oxford before taking a train in to London. Visit our travel planning page for some tips on suggestions for websites we found useful and what we really ended up doing versus what we planned.
Monday Day 2 Heathrow to Bath
Arriving at Heathrow we took the Express Train to Paddington Station to catch our train to Bath. and WHO should pop up? Ever the joker...where the heck is Tom?
NOTE:: Check out the logistics pages for numerous tips regarding buying tickets in advance and online, as well as our observations about trucking your luggage around.
Also take a look at the page on driving in the Cotswolds as we were both a little nervous about this - everything being reversed - but it went very smoothly.
Oh my, we are so exhausted. It's 8:15pm and Joanne has already crashed and I am about to do the same. So far all has gone extremely well.
We arrived The Henry Guest House in Bath about 1:00pm. It is just perfect - small, intimate, and well appointed. Great location - bravo Joanne!
The weather is cool and the sun was mostly hidden today; good walking weather.
These are a few pictures in and around bath, but we'll do better tomorrow.
What a lovely town, and with a beautiful abbey. Some of the typical sites seemed a bit touristy to us so we gave them a pass and opted for walking about.
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| Bath Abbey |
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| Doors to Abbey |
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| Some interior details in the Abbey |
Gardens are still in bloom even though the temps are quite chilly.
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| Wider shot of that lovely garden |
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| My weary friend |
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| TLA, this shot is for you. Some very cool cowboy boots! |
I think we ate at least 5 meals today - not counting the half pint of Otters Ale we thoroughly enjoyed at a tiny pub in the middle of town. And guess who showed up - very happy at that.
That was followed up by a tasty dinner at Thai Balcony - one of those overly formal restaurants, but it was very good. We are ready to crash so it's an early night for both of us.
Tomorrow afternoon we pick up the rental car - YIKES! - and head on up to our little cottage in Ilmington. Nighty night all.
Tuesday Day 3
Bath, Hire Car, stop to see Liz, Cottage
Spent the morning in Bath partaking of the free historical walking tour guided by the .Mayor's Corps of Honorary Guides This was a tip from one of the owners of The Henry Guest House, and it was well worth it. A walk of the town highlighting the history of the original center, the architecture, and some of the people instrumental in making Bath the city it is. The guides are all volunteer, it takes about 2 hours but you can drop out anytime. We stayed with it for about an hour but wanted to tour the interior of #1 at the Royal Crescent so we left the group about midway through the tour.
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| Royal Crescent and the Haw Haw |
Decision time. We are picking up the car. Who will drive? It would start raining wouldn't it? Patti ended up taking the wheel and Joanne manned the maps All I wanted to do was concentrate on which lane I was supposed to be in and not get mowed down in the round abouts so Joanne had to figure out where we were going. Good god, there are a lot of roundabouts! Got terribly lost getting out of Bath mostly due to poor directions from the rental car company I'm sure.
We stopped for lunch at a funky little placed called Dick Willows Farm and Cider Shop and purchased some of their local hard cider and some weird looking wild nuts which we never ate because you had to crack them open with your teeth. The loos were papered in colorful pages from graphic novels.
On to Cirencester to let Liz know that we arrived safely and drop off her riding gear; a very brief visit as we were running late as we didn't want to be looking for our cottage in the dark.
The Royal Agricultural College is a real gem. Small, only 1200 students, and full of old world beauty - not to mention really really cute boys. Really cute. Liz seems quite happy there.
Lost again getting out of Cirencester and we both got cranky. Those @#$!! roundabouts! Though we found ourselves on some very very narrow lanes, clueless to where we were we arrived in tact at Sansome Cottage in Ilmington . Felicity is in Ireland for a few days but has left a key for us. We are on our own until she returns. The cottage is absolutely perfect. We are officially in the Cotswolds!
. Ready to sample the local brew we ask Tony (Felicity's husband) if we can walk to the Howard Arms, one of the two village pubs. He tells us there is a gravel footpath just two houses down that will take us directly there. Joanne and I don't bother to unpack and instead grab the two torches Felicity has left for us, and head out. We can't find the footpath to save our life and end up walking along the narrow road that curves around the top of the village. It's not a long walk but we are a bit giddy at this point and the torches are useless as the batteries are weak so it is a bit of an adventure . We have to hop on and off the road as cars come by not realizing there is a deep deep ditch just to the right of us - long grass, mud, two giddy gals; we might have had our own HawHaw moment. The Howard Arms was a disappointment because they were rude to us and it's a bit large for our tastes. It didn't have the local flavor we were looking for. The food, however, was very good (real bangers and mash!).
We are heading to bed. A short and safer toddle back - we found a sidewalk this time on the other wide of the road. Lots to do tomorrow.
Wednesday Day 3
Shipston-On-Stour, Hidcote Manor, Chipping Camden and the Morris Men!
Ilmington is a very small village in Warwickshire on the northern edge of the Cotswolds, just south of Stratford-On-Avon. The surrounding area is rural - we have cows across the way and sheep a few steps down. We plan a long walk later in the week.
Big day ahead of us. We need to buy a few groceries in Shipston, visit Hidcote Gardens, go to the cheese shop in Chipping Camden, back to Ilmington for a pint at the Red Lion and dinner at the cottage; and oh yes, tonight we are going to watch the Morris Men dancers rehearse - right here in Ilmington! This has been on our must-see list from the start.
On to the green grocer - almost like a farm market in presentation but very small. We chose lovely fresh romanesco and bought halibut steaks for tonight along with some arugula and tomatoes.
At the bakery, bought yogurt, and fruit and nut bars.
Back to the cottage for lunch and to drop things off and walk to Mabel's farm just down the road for eggs and milk on the honor system. The Cornish pasty is delicious. Such a practical solution to lunch on the run
At this point we both want to live here - right here. It is incredibly beautiful. All rolling hills, knitted together with wild hedges and wood fencing, and it's rural without being isolated. That's what strikes me the most. These are vibrant villages and people care about manners and tradition without being stuck in the past Even more important, they care about each other. Have I said that I'm enjoying the driving?? I'm not sure Joanne is enjoying my driving ;) but it's fun for me. The winding roads, which are all in perfect condition, wrap around hills giving JOANNE spectacular views. I wasn't that confident that I could look at anything but what was directly in front of us because whenever I did we ended up getting friendly with the shrubbery. Joanne on the other hand could barely contain herself "Look at that", OMG how beautiful!, Did you see the sheep?" She had her share of trials though with the maps and signage until she pretty much tossed out the map and just used the signage. See our info pages for some helpful hints.
Picked up a curious expression from two gals wide-eyed with the beauty of Hidcote - "isn't this just the bee's left knee!".
The autumn color began to change while we were here. We're not sure it's as brilliant as it can be in the States, but Hidcote was carpeted with ruby leaves.
On to Chipping Camden. Lovely town structured around a long high street but much larger than Shipston (we preferred Shipston). We had heard the cheese shop was good so we bought some double Gloucester and another local cheese spiked with bits of ginger. A stop at the Court Barn Museum for a small exhibit of local arts and crafts as well as the Guild Gallery, more local artists.
We arrived at an antique shop awash in teacups and cheese larders. After a thorough look we needed to revive ourselves... with our first cream tea. Bantam Tea Room was suggested by the owner of the cheese shop and it was very sweet, local, not fussy . Joanne and I felt like truant schoolgirls out mischief making - it was that good. Is clotted cream a national treasure?
Sufficiently revived we went in search of THE thatched roof cottage, which Joanne had spotted in a travel magazine. I don't know which is more fantastic, the old world workmanship of the roof or those whimsical curvy hedges. Take a closer look and zoom in on the dogs at the front door (double-click the photo).
Not only are these peacocks a lovely detail, but you can see how these roofs are kept intact with an overlay of mesh. We also saw one being repaired and the thatch is very blond when first attached.
Very pleased with our day's adventure, it is time to head home to see the Morris Me!
Joanne would like it recorded that we did not get lost once today! She determined that it was better to follow the back road signage than a map. Patti would like it to be known that she did not run anybody down and was able to negotiate a u-turn AND parallel park on the left side of the road - remember the driver is on the right. Ha!
After a beautiful but uneventful drive home we stopped at the Red Lion Pub to see if anyone could tell us where the Morris Men were practicing this evening. The Morris Men are a traditional dance form that can best be understood by seeing them. We were lucky to have our very own 'side' , The Ilmington Morris Men right in the village. As you might imagine, the mostly men who do this are very colorful.
The pub was not yet open so we asked a gentlemen who happened to be walking by if he knew where they were rehearsing. Turns out he IS one of the Morris dancers! What a scoop. But but but, they were not rehearsing tonight because it is their annual meeting. Now THAT was a disappointment. We were really looking forward to seeing this wonderful and quirky tradition. Anyway, our Morris Man, Keith, proceeded to entertain us for two hours (the pub finally opened) with the history of the Morris Men, and a host of wonderful bits about, local authors, WWII and Cotswold lore. This was one of those moments when you are traveling and you can't believe your luck. How did we stumble in to this? He was so delighted that we Americans wanted to see the MMs that he toddled home quickly and brought back a book on the folk history of the Cotswolds. Keith had to run to his meeting so he suggested we meet here afterward at about 10:00pm.
A little bit about Keith. He is about as traditional and elegant as you could want - tie, wool cap, vest - and quite the historian. He was the 'publican' of the Red Lion in Chipping Camden before it became a chain and more recently has dabbled in hunting prints. As a book lover to the end he recommended several authors who wrote about the Cotswolds and the lifestyle in the 30s. He also told us not to miss a gathering of folk musicians on Sunday night at the White Lion in Treddington - so noted.
We duly went home, made our halibut steaks and romanesco dinner, then took the local walking path (which we discovered in the daylight) back up to the pub for our rendezvous. We waited, and waited and waited. No Keith. Stood up by a Morris Man.
A little bit about Keith. He is about as traditional and elegant as you could want - tie, wool cap, vest - and quite the historian. He was the 'publican' of the Red Lion in Chipping Camden before it became a chain and more recently has dabbled in hunting prints. As a book lover to the end he recommended several authors who wrote about the Cotswolds and the lifestyle in the 30s. He also told us not to miss a gathering of folk musicians on Sunday night at the White Lion in Treddington - so noted.
We duly went home, made our halibut steaks and romanesco dinner, then took the local walking path (which we discovered in the daylight) back up to the pub for our rendezvous. We waited, and waited and waited. No Keith. Stood up by a Morris Man.
Thursday Day 5
Gypsy Horse Fair in Stow, Burford, pick up Liz in Cirencester
We got a bit of a late start today. Felicity, returned from Ireland and stopped by to see how we are getting on. She warns us that parking for the Gypsy Horse fair will be a challenge.
We head out for Stow-On-the-Wold and the fair - a colorful event to be sure. The pictures don't do it justice, because it’s the people, not the horses, that provide the local color. We talked with several of them and found out that the caravans we associate with the gypsies are a British tradition going back 500 years. In fact the fair has been held in Stow for as long. The villagers do not welcome this event and all the shops shut down. Bobbies were in abundance, and shipped in from all parts to keep the peace.
Joanne deserves the kudos for bargaining a parking spot from the local BP station for 5 pounds otherwise we would have had to move on.
Mostly it seems to be a super-size clan reunion with a little horse trading and matchmaking on the side. The young girls were clearly dressed to find their match and we cannot do justice in describing their wardrobe. Suffice to say that sometimes there was very little wardrobe, and other times a lot of leather, fur and red lace.
In search of lunch two pensioners tactfully suggested we leave this village and go to Burford for a bite so off we went.
That was a great tip! Burford is just lovely.
We may try to go back there but now we were concerned about getting to Cirencester to pick up Liz who is joining us for a few days. We did find two lovely antique shops and The Wren Gallery of fine art pottery that warrant another look.
We pick up Liz, and on our return to the cottage find a small batch of tomatoes from Felicity and a note from Keith. You must see the note. He did it on a typewriter and signed it in a lovely caligraphic hand. It's quite the bee's left knee! Anyway, he apologized for not meeting us but his meeting went quite late. However, we are now formally invited to an evening of folk music on Sunday in Treddington at The White Lion pub.
We spent the evening in, broiled steaks and roasted potatoes, sitting by the fire, done in by another good day. Joanne really is a fire master.
Friday, Day 6
Back to Shipston, Chipping Camden and the Falconry
Back to Shipston on Stour to show Liz this lovely village. Joanne spotted the local thrift shop - we couldn't resist. Liz found several Harry Potter books to add to her collection and Patti bought a fine pair of French wellies for 4 pounds. Bonanza!
Back on the street we stumbled on a town meeting to raise money for the Poppy Fund. The mayor, all decked out in his medals, delivered a few words about the need to support our veterans followed by school children reading short poems they had written.
Yes, I think we could live here.
Liz was craving eggs so we made another trip to Mable's to restock. The milk is exquisite.
Back on the street we stumbled on a town meeting to raise money for the Poppy Fund. The mayor, all decked out in his medals, delivered a few words about the need to support our veterans followed by school children reading short poems they had written.
Yes, I think we could live here.
Chipping Campden - lunch at the Eight Bells. Showed the thatched roof house to Liz.
If you love used books, the Campden Bookshop is a gem. We rummaged around looking for the authors Keith recommended and found two of the three. The owner was curious how we Americans came up with such a good list. When we told him about Keith he understood immediately because he knew Keith. In fact he owned a copy of the third title and offered to sell it to Joanne!... if it wasn't a signed copy. Fair enough, they exchanged numbers.
If you love used books, the Campden Bookshop is a gem. We rummaged around looking for the authors Keith recommended and found two of the three. The owner was curious how we Americans came up with such a good list. When we told him about Keith he understood immediately because he knew Keith. In fact he owned a copy of the third title and offered to sell it to Joanne!... if it wasn't a signed copy. Fair enough, they exchanged numbers.
Next stop is the Cotswold Falconry and Bird of Prey Centre. This is something Patti really wanted to do and it was so interesting. We saw about 5 different flying demos - eagle, falcon, hawk, and two owls.
Dinner at the Red Lion - vegetable puree soup and steak pie. Both of these were just delicious - well seasoned and a beautiful crust on the steak pie.
Saturday, Day 7
Ramble in Ilmington, Cirencester, Lower Slaughter
A note for the next trip to make more time for walking AND to be better prepared. We didn't have water or a snack to refuel us when our energy flagged.
More driving...
Lower Slaughter is quite charming, along a narrow river, complete with water mill. However, we were losing the light so we headed home.
Too stuffed from lunch we passed the evening watching X-factor and enjoying another of Joanne's fires.
Sunday, Day 8
St, Mary's, Stratford, Burford, Blockely, White Lion Folk Music
Today a quick visit to St Mary's in the village - what a lovely little church.
We decide to buzz back to Burford. It was very busy on a Sunday and we had difficulty finding a place to park but on our last attempt up the high street one opened up. We enjoyed another cream tea, at The Lamb, and though very good not quite as scrumptious as our first in Chipping Campden.
While at John Nash's home in Stratford the docent had suggested we visit a small town, Blockley, where Patton and Eisenhower secretly met during WWII.
Very charming town; small and hilly. Village news is posted on this wall. 
Again, the sun was setting so our visit was short, but this village would be worth another walk around. We ducked into the local church where evensong was just beginning. About four people in the choir in maroon robes, maybe half dozen parishioners, and, of course, the organist. All of these little churches seem to have huge pipe organs. You won't see much in this clip but you can hear the singing.Headed back to the cottage to get ready for our evening of folk music. We were a little concerned about finding our way at night, so earlier in the day we did some reconnaissance and drove by the turn off. No problem. Treddington is about 5 minutes from the cottage. But, somehow we managed to get lost - but now we are much better at getting un-lost too.
It's 8:15pm and The White Lion is empty - are we in the right place? The publican assures us we are. We planned to eat here, however, the chef had burned her arm that day so no dinner was available. We settled for olives and chips with curry sauce - again, how do people not weigh two tons!
They played all different types of folk songs including some sea shanties. We believe the group is loosely called The Ranting Cats and they play around the villages every Sunday night.
One of the fiddlers got up and did a fantastic Appalachian clog - which she apparently learned in the States.
It was an enormously fun evening. The gentleman who sat with us had come down from Manchester to see his daughter - the penny flute. He sings in a choir so he was a hearty voice tonight. Keith also showed up is clearly well known in these parts.
When we arrived we talked with another fellow who does some documentary work, and just finished producing a CD of Shakespeare's works, combined with period music so we will have to look for that. I thought he mentioned that Judi Dench narrated some of it. We must watch for it.
Monday, Day 9 London
What a disaster!
Well, the morning was a little success in that we arrived at Enterprise in Oxford to drop the car off without much trauma. However, after that it was downhill.
The Lime Tree Hotel in London is admittedly in a VERY ritzy part of town, but our rooms are shoe boxes; and Joanne has to walk up about 7 flights! Another reminder to pack light.
Well, the morning was a little success in that we arrived at Enterprise in Oxford to drop the car off without much trauma. However, after that it was downhill.
The Lime Tree Hotel in London is admittedly in a VERY ritzy part of town, but our rooms are shoe boxes; and Joanne has to walk up about 7 flights! Another reminder to pack light.
However, that's not the whole of it. After settling our bags we took a walk and thought we were headed for the Thames. We walked in a complete circle and ended up right back at our hotel. How stupid is that!.
Undeterred we set out again as we needed to get our tickets to War Horse. The hotel receptionist suggested we take a bus - very wise - as it helps to get your bearings. The tube is efficient if you life there, but the buses are fine for visitors. We caught the #24 at Victoria Station over to Trafalgar Square and from there walked to the discount ticket booth in Leicester Square. Of course, they don't sell the tickets anymore because there has been a boom of interest in the production so you have to go to the theatre directly. Where might that be? Oh not far at all, just over to Covent Garden. Follow the signs. That didn't get us too far. We asked three different people for directions along the way, and ended up at the wrong theater. When we finally arrived at the right theater they had absolutely no tickets for the whole week BUT if we wanted to have a go at return tickets we could line up tomorrow morning and hope. Joanne was determined - I was flagging. We are not afraid of walking, but the amount of walking we did today taxes both of us.
At this point what we really needed was a stiff drink and a bathroom. We ended up at Maharaja for dinner, a bit cranky no doubt, but they were absolutely rude. Then again, our heads were still in the Cotswolds. A bottle of red took the edge off, and the food was actually quite good, but we it had been a very long day and we were desperate to get back to our shoe boxes and crash.
After having spent the week in exquisite countryside with outstanding food and engaging people it's a bit overwhelming, and underwhelming at the same time, to be in London.
So, that's it for today.
Tuesday, Day 10 London- Churchill War Rooms, War Horse and Birdsong
A better day - in spite of the rain. We managed to get to the theater before 10am and were granted our tickets to the matinee for War Horse. Bravo Joanne! We also bought tickets for Birdsong for this evening which was recommended by an Australian couple we met while waiting in line earlier. From there we went to the Churchill War Rooms. You don't have to be a history or war buff to find this fascinating. The bunker had been left as it was with the addition of information displays so you can see the map room, conference rooms, sleeping quarters, kitchens etc. It must have been thrilling and dreary at the same time to live in these conditions.
We had a little time to spare before Birdsong so we shopped for books along two streets off Long Acre hoping to find more of the works Keith had suggested. Alas, they were too specialized for our interests.
We headed back over to Piccadilly/Leicester Square and had a lovely Thai dinner at Blue Lagoon right around the corner from the Comedy Theater. Birdsong was not what we expected - which was a comedy. It too was about WWI and Joanne and I both thought that the play was very well acted, but couldn't really do justice to the complex themes. We bought the book - which is about 500 pages so maybe that will fill in some gaps.
Funny little side note: at both theaters during the intermissions they set up ice cream concessions in the aisles. It's quite charming actually and Joanne and I enjoyed some during Birdsong.
So, much war stuff today, a lot of walking, and plenty of eating. We seem to always be hungry. Late night as we got back to the Lime Tree about 11:30pm.
Wednesday, Day 11 Last Day! St. Paul's, Tower of London, Globe Theatre
The day started out rainy but quickly cleared and was almost balmy. Our heads are starting to think about home so today is mostly walking about. We have not taken the tube once because we wanted to see the city, and that helped us get our compasses set early on. So we visited St. Paul's Cathedrall. Sorry, no pics allowed of the interior, but the link will take you to a virtual tour.
On to the Globe Theater. This isn't the original theater as it burned down several times, but Sam Wanamaker (American actor) was the inspiration and benefactor who saw this theater rebuilt - sadly he didn't live to see a performance in it. It is open on the top, no electric, so all performance must be held in daylight hours. We will have to remember this for the next trip.Now what to do?? We have covered a lot of territory but it's still early in the day. We wanted tea but couldn't find a suitable place - that seems bizarre. In my map book I have a note that there is a Southbank Book Market nearby. Suffice to say that I took Joanne on a very long goose chase and we never caught the goose. We collapsed in a modern pub and gathered strength from a pint and basket of chips.
