After our morning in Minchinhampton and Winchester, we headed over to Chawton, Hampshire, to walk around the village and arrive in time for our scheduled unguided tour of Jane Austen’s House.  This is the home that Jane lived in during the final eight years of her life (aside from the months of illness just before her death, when she lived in Winchester to be closer to her doctor).  It’s also the home where she completed all six of her novels and published four of them.  The other two, Persuasion and Northanger Abbey, were published posthumously. The village of Chawton is charming, with its mix of thatched and tiled-roof cottages and shops. The home where Jane lived with her sister, Cassandra, mother, and friend, Marth Lloyd.  The house was a thatched and timber farmhouse when it was first built in the 1500s, and then a coaching inn, before it was bought

With some degree of sadness that it was our last morning in the Cotswolds and our last day together, Julia, my mom, and I packed up our belongings, tidied up the thatched cottage that had been our temporary home, and set off to see more of the English countryside before heading to the airport to catch an early flight the next morning.  We had a bit of business to take care of before we could start the sightseeing.  My camera card was almost full, and I felt paranoid about deleting the photos, even though they were already uploaded to my laptop, before I got home and could back them up properly.  The photos felt like my most valuable souvenirs, and I wasn’t prepared to lose them in case something happened to either my laptop or the memory card while traveling.  So, we stopped into Cirencester, one of the towns we

After visiting Cotswold Farm Park and taking my fill of photos of rare breeds—cows, sheep, goats, pigs, and more —we went to meet Julia’s sister-in-law, Carol, at Daylesford Organic Farmshop.  Even after spending only three full days in the Cotswolds, I feel confident recommending this shop as a destination to add to your itinerary when in the area.  It’s not just a farm shop, but a beautiful store with lots of inspiration and eye candy, local British specialties, a garden center, and several different places to eat (my mom likened it to a high-end food court).  Julia thought it would be a nice spot to grab some refreshments and to do a bit of shopping, if we wanted.  As much as I enjoy shopping, I found myself disinterested in most of the stores we window-shopped while touring various villages.  It’s not that there was a lack of beautiful, enticing things

In case you haven’t ascertained this for yourself, I basically traveled across the ocean to take pictures of sheep and cows.  Not really, but that was a highlight for me.  Animals are among my favorite subjects to paint, and I couldn’t help but pull out my camera whenever we came across a cow, sheep, horse, dog, cat, quail, or pigeon.  Julia knew this, so she arranged the perfect field trip for our third morning in the Cotswolds: Cotswold Farm Park, a rare-breed farm and petting zoo.  I should point out that this park is really geared towards families with small children, but it was an ideal place for me to photograph lots of animals close up. On the drive to the park, we spotted an old country church, and Julia suggested we stop in.  Many churches throughout England and Europe have a history of leaving their doors open for visitors.  They are

We spent most of our second day in the Cotswolds at Hidcote Manor, touring the house and gardens, eating cake for lunch, and plein air painting.  It was late afternoon by the time we headed to our second destination – Broadway.  After visiting several villages the day before, I started to understand that while each village is comprised of historic buildings, made from the same honey-colored Cotswold stone, they each have their own feel and flavor.  Broadway was mostly flat, with just a gentle hill on one side of the main street.  The street was wide, which might be the reason for the village name.  It was lined with shops and houses, stone walls, and hedges, similar to other Cotswold villages. We walked up one side of the street and down the other, lingering at shop windows to comment on the displays and wares. It was a beautiful time for

We had a slow start on day two in the Cotswolds.  Mom and I were feeling the effects of being awake for over 24 hours and didn’t want to spring out of bed early for a long day of sightseeing.  Over a breakfast of fresh bread, butter, and raspberries, we made plans for the day while a load of laundry cycled through the small washer in the kitchen.  After village hopping on our first day, Julia suggested visiting a National Trust property with a Grade-1 listed 10-acre garden in Gloucester, not far from where we were staying in Chipping Campden.  (You can read about the thatched cottage where we stayed HERE.) While the main draw of Hidcote is the gardens, you are able to tour the first floor of the house and see inside several other follies and outbuildings like the thatched barn, the potting shed, and the chapel that

As our first day in the Cotswolds was waning, Julia drove us to Chipping Campden to check into our Airbnb.  Just a few weeks earlier, Julia and I were on a FaceTime call, looking at potential places to stay during our trip.  She had sent me a few vacation rentals and National Trust properties, and I had done some browsing as well.  We hadn’t settled on anything, though.  We were looking for a place that was historic, which isn’t too hard to find in the Cotswolds, but beyond that, we had a few other things on our list.  It needed parking, at least two rooms, three beds, and stairs that were reasonable for my mom to climb.  We also wanted a washer & dryer, so mom and I could do laundry before leaving for Italy.  While the goal wasn’t to find the best bargain, we hoped to find something reasonable