Happily Ever After
Life in The Rural Retreat with a beautiful wife, three cats, garden wildlife, a camera, a computer – and increasing amounts about running
Earlier posts can be found on Adventures of a Lone Bass Player, where this blog began life. Recent entries can be found here.
At Large in the Cotswolds
by admin - 18:27 on 23 November 2010
Memories can be very unreliable, I learned today, when Matchgirl and I toured the Cotswolds.
I remember Bourton-on-the-Water, which I last saw many years ago, as a small and pleasant village, but today found it bigger, bland and forgettable. Past visits to the villages of Upper and Lower Slaughter left little impression, yet today we found beautiful Cotswold-stone cottages, two impressive manor houses, a chuckling stream and an air of serenity.
You really should visit. If I had a better internet connection I'd post some pictures (not mine – the Pentax has been woefully under-employed) so you'll have to make use of Google instead.
Burford, however, was as picturesque as I remember it, even on a cold and intermittently grey day. Matchgirl was impressed too, for she found the perfect pair of red winter boots there – she's still incapable of walking past a shoe shop.
There's talk of us returning next year, for a week, when the weather's improved. The bike's been mentioned too, although that would hamper Matchgirl's footwear acquisition.
The day out ended with a brisk stroll around Stratford upon Avon – a town that's changed much since I last saw it, mostly for the better – before a magical mystery tour that took us to our accommodation in Royal Leamington Spa via Warwick. The road signage around here is rubbish.
Our host is Richard, who's enjoyed the hospitality of The Rural Retreat on several occasions and is now returning the compliment. Shame he couldn't get out of his day job. So we caught up with gossip yesterday evening over curry and red wine. I'm glad I'm not the one who had to be off to work at 7am.
Yesterday, before pointing Mr Ford in the direction of Leamington, Matchgirl and I played tourist in Oxford. Highlights were a visit to Christ Church College, where a bowler-hatted guide showed us the Hogwarts School dining room, and a trip around the streets in an open-top tourist bus – not a wise idea on a cold day. We'd hoped to do the Inspector Morse walking tour (I'll admit it) but this treat happens only on Saturdays. And Matchgirl was delighted to walk past the athletics track where Roger Bannister ran the first sub-four-minute-mile. She been re-inspired, she says.
The day before that, the day after Dianne's 60th bash, we shared with the birthday girl. Tomorrow we head to the outskirts of Wigan to catch up with more old friends. We'll need a holiday to recover from this holiday.
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