I am always surprised at how close we are to other countries in Europe. The first week of January we accepted an invitation from our friends, Kathy and Steve, hopped on a jet, and flew into London. Kathy and Steve were waiting for us as we exited customs. The drive to their home in the Cotswolds took longer than the flight from Basel to London!
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Sheep and the four of us in Chipping
Campden |
Steve and Kathy live in Chipping Campden, a bucolic little place filled with honey-yellow brick homes, most of which were built over two hundred years ago. Cute just does not do the town justice. Adorable, quaint, charming all seem better adjectives for Chipping Campden. The four of us walked through town, enjoying the sights, and searching out a lovely little tea room for lunch. Scones, clotted cream, and tea should be on the menu every day! Kathy surprised us with American steaks for dinner. We had not been in England twenty-four hours, but found ourselves very spoiled!
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| Shakespeare's Home |
The following morning our friends took us to Stratford-upon-Avon. Coffee at the local Starbucks got us started, but we spent the bulk of the morning and early afternoon at the William Shakespeare house/museum. I am motivated to read Shakespeare again. To think that we were wandering through the home of a man born 450 years ago! Lunch came later-at another tea room. I could get used to tea rooms.
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Smitty, Steve, and Kathy at Broadway
Tower |
The last full day we spent with our friends they took us to the Broadway Tower, a folly built not far from Chipping Campden, by an aristocrat who had money with which to play. Amazingly the tower became home for a family in the late 1800's. Just thinking of climbing the stairs to the fifth floor where the potatoes were kept made my breathless! And the views from the top of the tower were amazing. All of us found the groups of villagers meandering up the hill from the town of Broadway somewhat remarkable. Those English really enjoy their walks! Later, strolling through Broadway, we all toyed with going to another tea room, but opted to wait for the lovely pub dinner we would have later. Yep, we ate our way through three days in England with engaging friends who always find enjoyable activities for our time together.
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| Church in the Cotswolds |
We flew home on January 6th to prepare for BFA opening on the 7th, but we have enjoyed reliving the fun we had visiting the Tidys in England.
Great to see your trip and the Cotswolds again! So lovely. I can almost taste the clotted cream. :)
ReplyDeleteJen, et al