Day Twenty-two - The Cotswolds

Photos: Top photo is our B&B for Saturday night. The rest are scenes from the various villages in the Cotswolds.

We woke to yet another beautiful sunny day. I think England wanted us to go home with fond memories. After one more delicious English breakfast we were on our way to the Cotswolds. My friend Pat said that this was an area we should not miss and was she ever
right.

We had a brief introduction to this area yesterday when we visited Bath. But where Bath was hustle and bustle the villages of the Cotswolds were definitely refined and typically English. With names like Chipping Campden, Moreton-In-Marsh, Castle Combe, Stow-On-The-Wold, Burton-On-The-Water and Upper and Lower Slaughter these age mellowed towns were definitely a step back in time.

The area itself is comprised of rolling hills and deep valleys. Over the centuries, the honey-colored stone have yielded building blocks for many Cotswold houses and churches and have transformed little towns into realms of gold. These were once great sheep rearing areas of England and even today sheep graze in abundance on the hillsides.
We visited each of the above mentioned towns, walking their town squares and visiting their shops. We stopped for tea and scones in Burton and ice cream in Moreton and just had a delightful day. Couldn’t have been better for our last day in England.

But all good things must come to an end. Around 3 pm we decided it was time to head back to Kent. Three hours later we pulled into Hever Castle and it was like coming home. Having spent two weeks here it seemed like home to us, and when we walked into reception and everyone was so excited to see us and wanted to hear all about our week, we definitely felt like we were home.

We had our “last supper” in the dining room of the hotel and I am proud to say that as of this writing, I am completely packed. I had my doubts that it was all going to fit, and I have to say that it was not easy to get it all in, but unless the suitcases weigh more than fifty pounds we are ready to come back to our true home in America.