Travel: England's Cotswolds & Midlands

We had the pleasure of staying with friends during our week visit to the UK. The flight from Nice to Birmingham was just under 2 hours - easy as pie. We travelled light: one roll-aboard bag and small matching duffle bag. Over the years we've learned to pack smart - with the cost of checking a bag these days, it is well worth it! Our friends had a whole itinerary planned for us: a Shakespeare play at the Globe Theatre, a mid-week trip to the Cotswolds, including Bath! Monday, late afternoon, we headed to Straford-on-Avon for a Pre-Theatre dinner at The Church Street Townhouse (www.ChurchStreetTownhouse.com).

Church Street Townhouse Restaurant

Since it is such a lovely town, we decided to arrive a bit earlier than our dinner reservation so we could walk around and take some photos. Dinner was delightful: we started with a "Pimms" cocktail and made our menu selections. From starter to dessert it was only 16pounds (approx $22.40) and it was delicious! We strolled to the Globe Theatre for the evening's performance of "As You Like It". It was an excellent performance and the whole theatre was on its feet for the high-energy finale. Well done!
Next day, an easy morning start for the Cotswolds. If you don't know exactly what are the Cotswolds, following are opening lines of the official website: "The Cotswolds is an area of England about the size of greater Tokyo. Popular with both the English themselves and visitors from all over the world,the Cotswolds are well-known for gentle hillsides (‘wolds’), sleepy villages and for being so ‘typically English’." www.the-cotswolds.org
Our drive took us along winding roads shaded by thick forest on either side, opening up to fields of wheat and hay before coming upon acres of graze land with happy cows basking in the sun. The gentle rolling hills brought us to our first Cotswolds village: Chipping Campden. High Street (aka Main Street) stretched for a distance and the many storefronts offered a glimpse into English life: tea shops

Thatched Roof Cottage - Chipping Campden

and cake shops, butchers and bakers, bric a brac next to antiques, quaint hotels and pubs. Tourist office map in hand, we walked along and read about some of the interesting buildings and the history they told. The tourist office mentioned that if we took a bit of a detour we would find some of the loveliest thatched roof homes in the area. I've only seen them in pictures, movies or TV. To see it in person was totally different: I felt compelled to stare, to admire, to wonder and to think about the craftsman who create and maintain these beautiful pieces of art - because it is art! After a brisk walk back dodging rain drops, we settled into a pub for lunch. Here we are in England and we all ordered Burgers! Darn, they were good! A round of beers, burgers and "chips" (aka steak fries) and we were off again to another town. Before too long, we arrived to Bourton-on-the-Water. And as the name implies, the

Bakery - Bourton on the Water

village is on the water! It was so pretty! The shops all had flowers - I mean showers of flowers from every window and door. The shops all looked so inviting - I felt as if I was walking through a storybook. Multi-paned windows with displays of dolls or collectibles, tasty treats and cakes, coffee and tea shops with outdoor seating overlooking the gently babbling waterway (more like a meandering creek with pebbled "waterfalls" and relaxing swans!). The little streets of the village gently turned about as if taking its cue from the waterway. It was the most relaxing way to walk off a hearty lunch. A good stretch of the legs and we were off to our hotel: Wyck Hill Hotel, Stow-in-the-Cotswolds.
As we came upon the hotel's entrance the winding road led us to a grand manor house. First impression: wow...manicured lawns, grand building and fabulous views. Our rooms were in the "Orangery" and breakfast and dinner were included in the room rate (150Pounds approx $240). Wow again. With keys in hand, we went to our room: it was a king sized room with an equally king sized bath. We had a huge slate patio with wicker seating and quickly made use of it as we

Wyck Hill Hotel

popped the bottle of champagne that came with the room booking! Wow again! Our friends had the room next to us and so decided to sit outside and enjoy our "bubbly" together. Dinner reservations were for 8pm and we took the opportunity to walk around the property beforehand - the dining room was in the conservatory. How "English" is that?!
After a hearty breakfast, made to order, we were off again, sadly leaving behind this wonderful hotel. We drove to another charming village, Bibury...quiet, lovely Bibury. With hardly a tourist around, we walked up a country lane and came upon a row of old stone houses - so beautiful in fact, that it is said that when Henry Ford visited he wanted to buy them, take them apart and then reassemble back in the US. Thank goodness they were not for sale and are still standing today for everyone to enjoy. As we made our way back down another lane towards town, we smiled as we saw this:

Bibury

Back on the road we headed to our next destination: Bath! The Ayrlington Hotel has a great location - and parking! We walked into town after dropping off our bags; the 10 minute walk was easy. Bath is a big town - lots of streets to investigate, sights to see and food to eat. By the time we walked into town it was midday and lunch beckoned. We quickly found a pub and enjoyed traditional fish and chips in their garden. Another

Roman Baths

thing "checked" off the list! Bath of course is famous for its spas and the Roman Bath. We did a tour of the Roman Bath and the water is still hot and flowing...while it is no longer used for 'bathing', plenty of other "spas" have 'sprung' up! Well worth the tour. There were so many streets we walked and walked and had gazed upon so many storefront windows, that we had not realized how tired we were getting...back to the hotel for a bottle of wine and put our feet up. Dinner reservations were set for 8:30pm - we were having a "curry". It has been said that "curry" has replaced fish and chips as the national dish! The restaurant, Rajpoot (www.Rajpoot.com), has won choice awards for over 3 decades - and no wonder! The atmosphere was a "10" as was the food and service. Sadly, we did not have dessert because the portions were so large! Thank goodness we had a 10 minute walk back to the hotel!
 We departed Bath the next morning but not before taking a walk along Royal Cresent, that most famous of sights in Bath:

Landmark Buildings in Bath

the semi-circular townhouse buildings along a vast green lawn. It was a pleasure to finally have visited Bath, a town full of history and charm.

The next few days were spent with our friends walking about their town in the Midlands. So full of history, charm and the quaint style of architecture that has lasted through a century or two! The village still has a town crier, announcing important town events. Pretty shops dot the High Street and volunteer gardeners make sure that every storefront, every nook, every corner is in bloom with a profusion of colorful flowers. No shortage of pubs, cafes, restaurants, bakes shops and specialty stores - a walk through town was always a pleasure.

Well, all travelling adventures have an end and ours was no different. We boarded our flight back to Nice and recounted what a wonderful trip we had, courtesy of our friends. How lucky are we to have such wonderful friends....