Day 10 -- 3 May 2013, Friday - Travel Day

Just so you know, there are no photos from this day. Why? Because I had no opportunities to snap anything noteworthy. I will insert some photos of flowers I took at Sudeley Castle, just to break up the monotony of my monologue.

After a delicious breakfast of pain au chocolat and muesli and smoked salmon with creamy scrambled eggs, it was time to pack up and check out of the Bibury Court. I honestly did not want to leave. The only thing that pushed me on was the knowledge I would be meeting up with (and meeting, period!) my friends Amanda and Judith back in London, and tomorrow morning we would be on our way to Paris. The trip back to Milton Keynes in the Corsa was uneventful. I did realize, though, that I had purchased enough stuff while I was with HM and when shopping in the Cotswolds that it was time to ship some things home. Before I turned the car in, I found a box and ship place in Milton Keynes and took advantage of lightening my load. It was not cheap but necessary. The next time, I'll simply bring an empty suitcase to carry back purchased goodies.

Turned the car in to Hertz, then a nice young man drove me to the train station. We had a great conversation on the way over. Turns out he was from Latvia. He, his girlfriend, and another friend had come to England to find a better way of life. Evidently, there weren't many opportunities for young adults in that part of the world. At the Bibury Court, I had spoken with the young man who carried my suitcase to my car--he was from Romania. He had a degree in electrical engineering but couldn't use it in England. They required him to work in the hospitality industry for two years before he could apply to do anything else. Then he had to take additional schooling in England before they would let him work as an electrical engineer. His fiancée was still back in Romania working as a dental assistant until he was able to send for her. He told me when I had the opportunity, I should visit his country as it was very beautiful and the dollar would go far there.

These stories really touched my heart about how it is so difficult in certain parts of the world that young people will leave everything behind in the country they love to go elsewhere in search of a better life for themselves and loved ones. They all asked me about the United States, and said they would love to come visit one day. These conversations with various people were some of the best highlights of my trip.

The train ride from Milton Keynes to London was uneventful. I claimed my excess baggage and hailed a taxi to take me to the B&B (Euro Hotel) where Judith, Amanda, and I would spend the night. Amanda had texted me that they would arrive around 8:30 to 9:00 that evening. I enjoyed an early dinner just around the corner and down the block from the Euro. The name of the place was Yo! Sushi. The food was decent enough, but the portions were small for the money paid. Yep. I was back in London. Don't get me wrong! London is wonderful. London is also very expensive. After I finished my overpriced sushi, I returned to the Euro and sat on the front steps to wait the arrival of my friends.

A few minutes after 9:00, here came two wonderful ladies down the street, both pulling medium suitcases behind them. I recognized them from their photos I had seen on various postings online. What a special, special moment!! We had been looking forward to this trip for months, and now the time was suddenly upon us. I had the key for their room; we went up so they could get settled. They were starving, and I was tired from my long day. I explained where some fairly close restaurants were. Then they headed off to eat. I went back to my little room to sleep. A 4:45 am alarm was going to ring all too soon for me. We had a 6:15 am EuroStar train to Paris to catch.

Day 9 -- 2 May 2013 -- Arlington Row and Bourton-on-the-Water

From the amazing dinner I had enjoyed the night before, I just knew that breakfast would be excellent. I wasn't disappointed. In addition to the full English breakfast (eggs cooked to order, English bacon, sausage, sautéed fresh mushrooms, grilled tomato halves, beans--I always passed on those--and wheat or white toast, and sometimes potatoes), Bibury Court also offered muesli, fresh fruit and pastries. Enter pain au chocolat. It's the most flaky French croissant with injections of chocolate hidden inside. With all my traipsing across the countryside and here and there, I made sure to fill up each morning with a hearty breakfast. Especially since it was included at most all the places I was staying. In addition to the pain au chocolat, and instead of the traditional English breakfast, you could choose smoked salmon and scrambled eggs at Bibury Court. Which I did the second morning of my stay. But the point is that I ate well first thing in the morning and never passed on pain au chocolat if it was available.

The first day I showed up at Bibury Court, the nicest young man (cutie, too!) carried my bag up to my room. I learned later that his name is Dan. Anyway, my second day there, I asked Dan if he knew where Arlington Row was. Well, of course he did. Only a short walk away, he said. His definition of short and my definition were totally different. When I arrived, I realized then that it was the very place I had stopped the previous day. This is the bridge over the River Coln that you have to cross to reach it.

And this is the official Arlington Row itself. The creek feeds into the river.

 

These are the world-famous Bibury cottages that are photographed by thousands of people.

 

It took a whole lot of patience on my part to get these photos without scads of tourists in them. At least two tourist buses had let off about 30 people each, fifteen minutes apart. Fortunately for me, the driver must have had them on a strict time schedule because they didn't waste any time getting their shots and heading back to the bus.

 

When I walked back to the bridge, I noticed some ducks paddling along and occasionally dipping their heads under water to feed. So funny how they paddled their feet like crazy to maintain that position when they went under.

 

Isn't it cool that animals don't care what they look like when they're doing what they have to do?

 

My plan for the day (in addition to seeing Arlington Row) was to drive over to Bourton-on-the-Water, then take the scenic walk from there to Lower Slaughter and Upper Slaughter. The guide book said that it's an incredibly beautiful walk, and one easy to do. BotW was about a 35 minute drive from Bibury and I arrived there in no time. Again, through the country. I believe that it's also the River Coln running through BotW. This place is so much larger than Bibury and was somewhat crowded that sunny, warm day.

BotW's charm is that it has all these low bridges spanning over the shallow river.

How would you like to wake up to this beautiful view every morning?

A mother duck and several of her ducklings were feeding around this bridge by the house. I managed to capture her (in a photo only) with one of the young 'uns.

 

My plans to walk to the Slaughters changed when I'd gone about a mile and a half and my hip really started to bother me. As in limping pain. And I didn't feel too great, either. So I turned around and headed back to my car and returned to my room at Bibury Court. As the afternoon went on, I was feeling worse--kinda feverish, sore & tight throat developing. I sent my husband a quick email, asking him to pray for me. I said a few of my own, too. About 6 pm, I figured I had better eat at least some soup, so I made my way down to the pub on the first floor, where they were supposed to have lighter fare. Dan saw me and asked if he could get me anything (he had been my waiter the night before, too). I explained I wasn't feeling well, and just wanted some soup, and maybe some cooked vegetables. Did they have anything like that on the menu? He told me what soups they had; I gave him my request. He also said that he would have the chef prepare something else, too, and he'd bring it up to my room in about a half hour. Thirty minutes later, he showed up at my door with a large tray that contained a large bowl of soup, some fresh roasted vegetables, and crackers. He left it with a kind order to "get to feeling better, and let us know if you need anything at all."

 

Would you believe he added no additional charge for "room service" and only charged me seven pounds for all the food? The next day I told his superior what a fine employee he was, and how he had gone above and beyond for this guest.

 

And by the next morning, prayers were answered and no smidgen of illness remained. My room at the Bibury Court was not cheap, but I would not hesitate to return again for several more days given the opportunity.  

 

 

 



Day 8, Part 2 -- 1 May 2013 - Bibury, or I've Died and Gone to Heaven

After I left Sudeley Castle, I drove back to Winchcombe and found a little spot for lunch. My regret is that I can't for sure remember the name of the place. It was a pub, but they sent me to the back terraced lawn, where several picnic tables were already filled with people, their dogs at their feet. It was so bright and warm that a sun umbrella would have been nice. My selection for lunch was, of course, the "bacon" with melted brie cheese and avocado; no cranberry sauce this time.

After I paid, I asked the barkeep what the quickest way to Bibury would be. She replied that there was a beautiful country drive I could take but it was one lane in many areas, and twisty and hilly. She saw my look of consternation and so directed me another way. Of course I forgot what she had said as soon as I buckled up and started the car. NavMan to the rescue. Guess which way it directed me? You got it. The twisty, hilly, one-lane-in-most-spots beautiful country road. I would have been an idiot to go any other way.

A few hints at driving a road like that: when spotting an oncoming car, one of you is going to have to pull over, practically into the ditch, to let the other one by. For the next 30 miles, I encountered only one driver who "took" his right of way and barreled through. Oh, and a very large tour bus. I gave him his right of way, no questions asked, and silently cursed that there was no law forbidding very large tour buses from traversing that road. The other thing that I found is that when I gave the other driver right of way to pass first, they always smiled and waved at me. Always. And I smiled and waved back. Except for the bus driver. He was probably too busy keeping that yacht-on-wheels from going over the edge.

At several points, I drove on a normal two or four lane road for a bit, but most of the trip was the one-lane thing. And there were a few stretches that they had those dry stack fences for quite a ways on both sides of the road. Regret: I didn't get a photo. After a time, what with all the shifting up and down, I began to feel like a Grand Prix driver. What does that tell you about my speed . . . ?

I pulled over when I came upon this view. The little village way down below? Winchcombe. Shows how far the little Corsa and I climbed in a very short time.

 

Zoom in on Winchcombe.

For being over 30 miles away, I reached Bibury in around 45 minutes. In Bibury there's a place called Arlington Row that sits off the road, and it's quite the internationally known tourist spot to photograph. Parking on both sides of the road is abundant for cars and tourist buses alike. I didn't see Arlington Row right then. All I saw were many cars pulling off to park, so I pulled off, too, but only to make a phone call to the Bibury Court Hotel to find out where they were. A quarter mile down the road and excellent signage led me right to them. I remember thinking, I feel like royalty because I've just arrived at my castle. (Little green Corsa sure stands out, doesn't it?)

The wall just beyond the large evergreen establishes the north boundary of the property, and the lane to the left of that tree is the one coming in from the main road.

 

And where the person in the red coat is standing? That's the east boundary. This was also one of the views out the window of my room.

To the right of the view above, the property extends to the River Coln, which is just beyond that large, leafless tree.

 

You can see a bit of the river here as I turn back toward the south side of the Bibury Court.

 

Original structure was built in 1633.

 

They had a number of umbrellas for guests to grab if it was raining. Nah. Seems like I brought warm sunny weather all the way from Florida.

 

Each room had a name. Mine was Barebone's. It was anything but.

 

When I came through the door . . .  the window to the right overlooks the front entrance and courtyard where my car was parked. The other window looked out onto the expansive lawn and beyond. With the windows open, I could hear bleating sheep in the pasture beyond the lawn.

And if you followed my trip on Facebook, this is the bathroom I raved about. Well, the bedroom, too. All of it actually. Now you get to see it secondhand.

 

 

Sure got used to those towel warmers.

 

I insert this photo here because it has an interesting story. On one night table was Blenheim Palace still mineral water, on the other was sparkling water. Blenheim Palace was the birthplace and boyhood home of Winston Churchill. The water was excellent.

 

I have to admit that sleeping in all of these very, very old places gave me the willies just a tad. You know. Ghosts? Starting from when I stayed at Russells of Broadway, I said a prayer every night that if there were any evil spirits around, they would be banished while I was there; and if there were friendly yet mischievous spirits, that they would leave me alone. Or better yet, banished also until I had left. Honestly, I felt at times that God placed guardian angels to watch over me while I slept. In any event, I never had one bad dream or felt an unexplained touch or had any of my stuff mysteriously moved.

 

From the outside looking up to my room.

 

It's the window on the right -- the one with no lamp on.

 

 

For my first day there, I (surprise!) did a ton of walking. The hill full of sheep beyond the hotel's lawn intrigued me, so I set off for there first.

 

See the lane to the left coming from the main road? After gazing upon and listening to the sheep, I followed that lane behind me back up to some houses that I'll post below. Let's take a closer look at the sheep, especially the lambs, first. Aren't they adorable?

Close up detail of the dry stack fence.

 

A much better look at the River Coln. The sheep and pasture are way to the left (obviously out of the photo). This bridge is an extension of the lane seen earlier. And with such intriguing buildings beyond the river, of course I had to walk and explore. Of course.

This is a tributary leading into the river beyond the wooden bridge.

So further down the lane I go.

 

Then I found a spot to sneak peek back over the lane and into the pasture.

Walking onto the arched bridge.

 

One shot I did not get was the pasture fencing running parallel to the river, about 20 feet away from it. When I came back to this spot from my extended walk up the lane, a lamb was bleating its heart out for its mama. The lamb had somehow gotten outside of the pasture fence. When it saw me approach, it ran up to the gate, which had a sign reading, "Private Property. No Trespassing." I thought, if I'm trying to get the lamb back over the fence to its mother, how can they fault me for "trespassing." So I climbed over the gate and tried to approach the lamb. Mama ewe was having none of it, though, and ran back the other way, bleating the entire time to try to draw the lamb away from me. She succeeded. The lamb was too fast for me to chase. The only time I panicked is when the lamb was about 40 feet away from me and suddenly took an interest in the river. Mama bleated at it again, drawing it back. All I could do was say a prayer that the lamb would find its way back through the fence into the pasture.

 

I walked back to the hotel and then on around back of it, where I found acres of beautiful gardens. I can't imagine how different it will look during the summer with everything in full leaf.

The stone wall is the boundary of the hotel, and this church set on the other side. I loved the bells that chimed the hour.

The back of the hotel. The extended glass solarium is where I ate breakfast both mornings I was there. Who wouldn't love that view back out to those gardens?

 

That first night I dressed up somewhat and dined at the hotel in the formal dining room. When I sat down, there were more forks and spoons and knives in the place setting than I had ever seen, anywhere. I didn't know what half of them were for. If I had had my camera, I would have taken a photo. The food was excellent, all gourmet with combinations I never would have thought of. The wait staff acted like they couldn't do enough to please you, your wish was their command. Service? They had it in spades.

 

When I returned to my room for the evening, I was one happy, happy girl. Couldn't wait for what the next day would bring. Hopefully, though, no more stranded lambs.