Weekend in The Cotswolds ( Gloucestershire & Warwickshire, England)

2nd January 2009

Ken and I drove to the beautiful Cotswolds, in The Heart of England, on Friday 2nd of January, to meet some friends that had invited us down, to the B&B where they were staying, for the weekend. On the way down we had plenty of time as it's only 2 1/2 hours from home. We visited a few villages and took a few photos and had a yummy lunch in a charming old village called Chipping Campden. I was starved so I was ready to eat! My favorite part of going places is eating out! LOL

From there, we drove on to Bourton on the Water, where the B&B was. We first walked around the village a little while, as it was getting dark, and Ken took a few photos. Then to the B&B we went and got settled in and then joined Brenda & Jack downstairs for the evening meal which was very nice and then we all sat and talked for ages. For our meal we had: a nice soup for a starter, then roast lamb, roasted potatoes & a vairety of veggies and for dessert we had a delicious apple crumble with vanilla ice cream.

Saturday we ate breakfast at 9:00 and headed to an outdoor market, even tho it was very COLD. It was interesting so I could ignore the bitter cold for a little while. Later we drove in the countryside a good deal and ended up at a very small village called Bibury - a VERY CHARMING place! Got back to the B&B, had a rest and shower and then a nice meal again and a nice long chat with our friends. That night for our meal we had: for a starter I had prawn cocktail and Ken had soup, then we had roast chicken, potatoes and veggies and homemade toffee sponge cake. (The landlady/hostess was a very good cook so we would definitely go back!)

Sunday we ate breakfast and headed to a car boot sale in the FREEZING COLD temps but only stayed there about 30 minutes and left....TOO COLD and not a very good car boot either. On our way back home, we headed to Stratford upon Avon, where Shakespeare was born and lived when he wasn't in London and other places. We ate at a charming VERY VERY OLD tea room (most likely originally a house built back in the 1400's - 1500's) and just browsed around the town. Fun place to visit but expensive because of it being Shakespeare's birth place. We then headed on home a little after lunch.

I realize this album has more photos than normal but I just decided to put them all in one album instead of making two.

I have written descriptions under most photos so using the slide show, you may not get it all read in time. I always recommend just using Next to go to each photo, then you can go at your own rate to enjoy the photos. Just click on the first photo thumbnail and it will come up, then Next....

Ken and I hope you will enjoy our weekend with us. It was cold but nice.

Janie & Ken

tiny village of Pebworth	St Peter's Church, a charming little church in Pebworth	old house in tiny village of Pebworth	Family butcher shop in village of Mickleton
close up of fresh pheasants at butcher shop in Mickleton	community grocery store in Mickleton	row of thatched cottages in Mickleton, probably 500-600 years old!	old hall in Mickleton
Methodist Church in Mickleton	Mickleton	Old Manor house in Mickleton	for sale in Mickleton
house in Mickleton - I'll take this one!	St Lawrence Church in Mickleton	Parish Church of St James at Chipping Campden and old gates to ruins of a great old hall (home)	Chipping Campden Village
Parish Church of St. Catherine in Chipping Campden	house I liked in Chipping Campden	pub in Chipping Campden	Chipping Campden
street sign pointing to PUBLIC CONVENIENCES	Ken coming down steps (had been to the "toilet" to wash up) in restaurant where we ate lunch at Chipping Campden	Ken in little restaurant	Ken had a cheese & ham toastie (boy, did that look good!!!)
Janie had pepperoni pizza and it was delicious!	the outside of the restaurant where we ate	Butcher Shop in Chipping Campden	Chipping Campden
a pub in Chipping Campden	Olde Market Hall built in 1627	inside Market Hall	Janie & Ken in Olde Market Hall
	Chipping Campden Town Crest	my favorite view of the village	Janie looking at post cards
Janie inside a little shop	in the shop	Janie about to buy some candy!	inside a little shop at Chipping Campden
inside the shop	Ken at a tearoom with lots of yummy looking sweets! Too bad we had already eaten at another place!	The Olde Market Hall in Chipping Campden - built in 1627	Town Hall in Chipping Campden
back at our car at Chipping Campden, after a good walk around!	Thatched roof house near Chipping Campden	Thatched roof farm house - there were sheep but they ran off in the field!	Bourton on the Water (I was looking in shops while Ken took pics.)
Bourton on the Water	Bourton on the Water	couple of shops (one a cafe) at Bourton on the Water	Bourton on the Water
Ken relaxing at the B&B at Bourton on the Water (we forgot to get a pic outside!)	B&B room	Anyone for tea??	Ken, Janie, Brenda & Jack after supper Friday night
Ken and Jack looking at the road atlas	Janie & Brenda	village of Bibury	row of houses in the distance at Bibury Village
Bibury village (post office)	THE TINY VILLAGE OF BIBURY (PRONOUNCED BYBURY)	Arlington Row (famous row of houses at Bibury)	Arlington Row again
Ken and Janie at Bibury - BOY WAS IT COLD THAT DAY!!! Brrrrr!!!	house at Bibury	Bibury	another house at Bibury (I loved the charming homes there!)
home at Bibury	our friends, Jack & Brenda, at Bibury	old mill at Bibury	Church of St. Mary the Virgin at Bibury
inside the church building	Brenda & Janie after supper Saturday night	Ken and Jack	Ken relaxing again!
a thatched house in the tiny village of Long Marston	another thatched roof house	May Pole in Long Marston	Stratford upon Avon
Stratford upon Avon	Shakespeare's birthplace in Stratford upon Avon (he was born in 1564)	A worthy fool from Shakespeare's "As You Like It"	Stratford upon Avon - Shakespeare's birthplace on left
Stratford upon Avon (Avon is the river)	Stratford upon Avon	Stratford upon Avon Town Hall	old houses and businesses in Stratford upon Avon
inside the tea room where we had lunch at Stratford upon Avon	Ken waiting for our lunch in Hathoway's Tea Room	inside tea room again	Janie & Ken eating soup and a roll in Hathaway's Tea Room
coming down from the tea rooms to leave	Hathoway's Tea Rooms - dates back to 1610, Stratford upon Avon	goodies in window of the bakery below the tea rooms	Hathoway's Tea Rooms & other shops