London – Day Five

I am in love!

If I doubted the fact that I had absolutely and totally fallen in love with England there were no doubts after our day in the Cotswolds!

The Cotswolds is a hilly area in west-central England, sometimes called the “Heart of England.”  The  meaning of the word Cotswold is said to mean “sheep enclosure in rolling hillsides.” During the Middle Ages the area became very prosperous as a result of the sheep/wool industry.  The area is famous and known for its lovely homes and shops built from Cotswold stone which is a  yellow oolitic limestone.

Our tour took us to 3 Cotswold villages.  Our first stop was Burford.

There is a lovely little church and cemetery in the village.

I think I mentioned before I have a bit of a thing about cemeteries.  I love them!  I think it must be those family history genes my mother gave me!  I love reading the tombstones and imagining what the lives of those people must have been like.

OK, enough of the tombstones.  Just one more!

The church in the cemetery was quite lovely.

While in Europe I also began quite a love affair with doors.  Doors can be so mysterious.  What’s behind them?  Where do they lead?

From Burford we headed over to Bibury which was a very small but a VERY charming and picturesque village.  Probably my favorite of the three we went to.

I would take one of these pretty little cottages over Buckingham Palace any day!

I loved the beautiful flowers and found many of the same flowers I have at home in my garden.

And then there were some lovely little doors too

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We enjoyed lunch at a small little hotel in Bibury.  The main local business in the village today is perch farming so we were served perch for lunch which I decided I don’t really care for.  Besides the fact that it has a million bones it is a little too strong of a fish for me.  But the rhubarb crisp with clotted cream ice cream was yummy!

Such a pretty place!

Our next stop on the tour was to Burton on the Water a larger Cotswold Village.  There were lots of little shops and tea houses.

I found this darling little bakery and picked up a few goodies, including a jar of lemon curd and orange marmalade to bring home with me.

And then I found a few more doorways to take pictures of….

and fell in love with the streets.

Our final stop on the tour was Stratford Upon Avon which s the birthplace of Shakespeare,

Basically it is just one big tourist trap. It was full of loud tourists and after the loveliness of the Cotswold Villages I couldn’t wait to leave Stratford.

We arrived back in London in time to grab some fish and chips for dinner and head over to the West End to see Jersey Boys – a fun musical about the life and music of Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons.