Cotswolds Cute

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  Stow-on-the-Wold, England, United Kingdom
Tuesday, September 23, 2008

I was sad to leave Conwy, as it was so beautiful in northern Wales, and I knew the landscape was going to change.  I had been looking forward to the Cotswolds, as I'd heard how beautiful they were.  They are beautiful villages, with the warm Cotstwolds sandstone everywhere.  However, it was a little sad to see how many of these villages have become half-deserted weekend villages for Londoners and others, who have sadly driven up the price of all the housing in the area, forcing out a lot of locals.  It reminded me too much of what's happening in northern Michigan, where my family vacations.  Very sad. 

That said, it was lovely, but we finally got a rainy, cold day...and I was VERY glad I didn't go on the walk in the afternoon with everyone!  I needed a day off to rest my ankle from when I twisted it at Caerfarnon, and I just frankly needed an afternoon to be quiet.  I walked around Stow-on-the-Wold, where we were staying.

Our room in Stow was a trip!  It was up about half a dozen small flights of steps, all turning odd directions.  Then you got to the door, and the walls closed in around you - I dubbed it the 'Hobbit hole' :)  It was actually a cute little garrett room.  However, as in many of the older hotels, it only had a bathtub, no shower, and that drove both Catherine and I crazy, as it added a lot of time to our ablutions in the morning. 

The proprietor of our hotel, Jason, is a trip.  Very funny and chatty.  We hung out in the bar late one evening with our tour guide, our driver, and several fellow tour members and had a lot of laughs. 

The best part of our trip to the Cotswolds was the evening in the pub in Broad Campden - we were entertained by local folk artists known as the Baker's Dozen - they were very good.  They included a young boy, the son of one of the members, who was learning the violin and played quite nicely, and a young man in his early 20's, also the son of another member, who sang beautifully, played the drum, and danced Morris dances for us!  Very fun, very funny, a bit bawdy (fun!).  The eldest gentleman of the group, who read some very funny and slightly bawdy poetry as his contribution, spoke to me afterwards and said 'you seemed to be having a good time'.  I told him that we'd had a lovely time, and that I loved folk music and often attended folk concerts, etc.  He was very impressed that we do such things in the States, too.  We boarded our coach, and the sang us down the road!  Very charming.  I bought their CD, recorded some years ago. 

Off to Bath tomorrow - I'm really looking forward to Bath! 

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