On Friday, we spent the morning exploring Bourton-on-the-Water and Stow-on-the-Wold in the Cotswolds. The villages are beautiful and full of old-world charm. Most of the buildings are built of typical, sand-colored, Cotswold stone. Ivy, climbing roses, and other plants cover many walls. Bourton-on-the-Water has a river that runs through the village and is crossed every few yards by foot bridges. Elizabeth noticed that the ducks were fake floating. It looked as though they were floating on the water but the water was so shallow that they were actually standing on the river bed instead.
We spent the afternoon at Warwick castle. It's a unique place because they've reconstructed many of the rooms, filling them with furnishings and Madame Toussaud models. Some areas are done up the way it would have been in Medieval times, other parts are done up they way they would have been in the early 1900s when the last noble family lived there. We climbed the battlements (and I remembered how much I hate heights) and the girls had fun posing with some of the models.
It took us longer than we'd anticipated to drive to Chester, thanks to hitting rush hour around Birmingham and having the GPS send us off the motorway too early. We were grateful to arrive safely and in enough time to do a quick run to the grocery store for breakfast food. The flat is really nice and within walking distance of the center of town.
On Saturday, we walked into town along the canal path. At least four barges went by. There are English flags being flown everywhere--out of windows, on car antennas, on shirts, etc, in support of the English football team playing their first game in the 2014 World Cup tonight. We stocked up on food for the weekend, then headed back to the flat for a quiet evening. After our busy few days, it was nice to have a catch-up day today.
Bourton-on-the-Water
Anna's and Elizabeth's first "99" (an ice-cream with a chocolate flake inside)
Kent would have a hard time getting through the door at the dentist's office
Warwick Castle
Our Rental Car
Inside the Chester Flat
The flat looks nice...
ReplyDeleteAnd is that a young Winston Churchill hanging with Anna at Warwick Castle? (I know he's there, though it may have been too long since I was :) )
Glad you're having so much fun
xx