Well, I am back home in the US, but I have over 2,000 photos to go through and edit, and I wrote so much in my journal that I went through three ink cartridges in my fountain pen!  I recorded it all for my own sake, but also so I could share what we did, what I loved, and what inspired me here on the blog.  I hope my travels will inspire you as well.  This is my third post on my jaunt through the Cotswolds with Julia (from Ponder & Purchase) and my mom, but we’re still only on our first full day, chronologically.

Arrival & Burford | “gateway to the Cotswolds”

Bibury, Barnsley, & The Pig

It took me a few times to get a handle on the name of the next village – Cirencester.  Both Cs are pronounced as Ss – Siren-sester.  You must remember I was jetlagged and had been awake for over 24 hours at this point, with just a little dozing on the plane.  So, this was harder than it should’ve been.  On top of that, I was feeling nauseous and shaky as we started walking around.  I hoped that fresh air and a new village would perk me up, but I was struggling.  Despite that, I liked Cirencester immediately.

We walked through the front of a small market that had the most beautiful display of fresh fruit and vegetables.  Fruit sounded amazing to me, particularly the raspberries.

You can tell whoever nestled the pears and plums in these cardboard crates cared about them and maybe even appreciated their effortless beauty.  Every piece of fruit looked perfect.

We were then drawn into the square in front of the church (I kept calling it a cathedral, and Julia would politely correct me that it was just a church) by a market with vintage and artisan goods.  I wasn’t mentally ready for shopping, but it was fun to look and enjoy the charming village.  Even though the bunting was just red, white, and blue triangles, they felt so festive and quaint.  I think all towns and villages should consider hanging bunting across their streets simply to delight in them fluttering in the breeze.

You can see why I kept calling this church a cathedral.  It was pretty impressive.

I finally spoke up about my shaky legs and queasy stomach.  I needed to sit down, have some cold water, and take something for my headache.  We found a cafe that turned out to be exactly what I needed.  Lynwood & Co. was a delightful little spot that offered pastries, soup, sandwiches, etc.  My mom and Julia ordered soup, and I got toast with jam.  Eating anything didn’t sound good, but I felt like it would be wise to get something in my stomach.  Julia also fetched a cold bottle of filtered water from a local market for me, since the cafe only served tepid tap water.  (I am, admittedly, a water snob.)

After drinking water, taking Advil, and eating a piece of toast, I could feel the color returning to my face.  Even my mom and Julia said I was looking much better.  I do have to insert here that my mom, who is in her mid-70s, ran circles around me on our first day of jet lag.  They’re dragging me around, pale-faced and heavy-eyed, and she was doing fine.  A little embarrassing for me!  As I came back to life, we started chit-chatting with the gentleman who served us about the differences between English and American words and accents.  It was the first of several humorous, engaging interactions with strangers during this trip.  I asked Julia, “Are all of the English this funny?”  I think it’s just my brand of humor —a little sarcastic and dry — and I enjoyed it.

Now that I no longer needed to be dragged along, we meandered around the village so I could take pictures and we could check out a few of the local shops.

I didn’t notice them at first, but there are Charity Shops (thrift stores) all over the place!  Julia pointed them out, and we went into a few of them to see if there were any treasures.

Julia took us to one of her favorite clothing shops, Seasalt Cornwall.  We have a similar style, and she thought I would like it as well.  She was right!  They carry charming, classic clothes like knitted fairisle sweaters, linen dresses, corduroy pants, rain jackets, and wool socks.

There was the sweetest Canadian woman trying on clothes as her husband waited for her to come out from behind the curtain for a fashion show.  This shop was a destination for her, and she was determined to try on and buy as much as possible.  Her husband gave his approval on everything and waited patiently as she excitedly showed off her next outfit.

I tried on a green corduroy (they call it “needle cord”) tunic and ended up buying it.  My mom gave her thumbs-up when I called her over to the dressing room, and the husband, who was still waiting for his wife, gave his thumbs-up as well.  I think he was just trained to do that, because he probably couldn’t care less whether the corduroy tunic actually looked good on me.

I also fell in love with this fabulous green raincoat, but all of the coats in stock were either too big or too small.

I did find the coat online at Bloomingdale’s, but it would’ve been special to buy it in the UK as a souvenir.  I was regretting following Jeff’s sensible suggestion to throw a raincoat into my suitcase at the last minute.  It took away my logical excuse to buy one.  This coat needed no excuse, though.  The heart wants what the heart wants, so Julia asked if my size was available at another Seasalt Cornwall location.

As luck would have it, there was!  This little scavenger hunt would be a win-win.  I would get my coat, and we would have our next Cotswold village destination.  This mission sent us to Bourton-on-the-Water.  Before we made a beeline for Seasalt Cornwall, we needed to borrow English coins from Julia to use to pay toilet.  Mom and I hadn’t gotten any British Pounds yet because we weren’t really sure whether we would need any or if it would be better to use cards the entire visit.  It turns out you can use cards for most things, but you do need coins for the pay toilets.  Mom and I laughed as Julia rummaged through her change purse for us.  It felt like asking your mom for ice cream money or something.

At Seasalt Cornwall, they had “popped the coat aside for me” and fetched it from the back room.  Unfortunately, there had been a miscommunication about which green raincoat I wanted, and their coat was drab green, not the heath green I fell in love with at the other store.  Instead of buying my coat in England, I bought it online at Bloomingdale’s and had it shipped home.  It ended up being a good thing because, by the end of the trip, my suitcase was stuffed and I was already eating into mom’s US souvenir customs limit.

It was nice to visit Bourton-on-the-Water, now our fifth Cotswold stop, to get a sense of the similarities and differences among villages.  To me, Bourton-on-the-Water felt the most “touristy” of all of the places we visited.  I can’t really articulate why, but that was my impression.  Of course, this is coming from someone who landed at Heathrow that morning and had only spent a few hours in the Cotwolds, so take that opinion with a grain of salt.

We walked along the main drag, looking at the buildings and the little river that lazily flows through the park.

I was in love with these trees!  I have seen them in Landscape Artist of the Year and was thrilled to see some in person throughout our tour.  I think it’s a Cedar of Lebanon, but please let me know if that’s incorrect.

Of course, I was also smitten with the age of the buildings and architectural details.  I think what overwhelmed me the most is that this isn’t just in one village.  It’s not just in the touristy parts, refurbished for show.  These gorgeous historic buildings are everywhere, all over the Cotswolds in village after village, street after street.  They are hotels, shops, homes, cafes, offices, pubs, clinics, pharmacies, churches, banks, and all of the usual buildings you find in a village or town.  Just buildings made of stone hundreds of years ago, still looking lovely while serving a purpose.

I had to laugh at myself for chasing after pigeons, trying to capture good reference photos while in such an incredible, historic place.  I know they are a nuisance and considered winged rats by many, but I think they are beautiful birds, and I just couldn’t help myself.

We stopped in the bakery to get some pastries and bread to go with the butter Julia brought from home and the raspberries I purchased in Cirencester.  It would make for a nice breakfast the next morning in our Airbnb.

I’ll share about the thatched cottage where we stayed next…