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.