Saturday, Sept. 28 Revisiting Favorite Places

Saturday, September 28, 2013  Revisiting Favorite Places

Today we didn’t have new places to see, or so we thought, so we had a leisurely morning with some of us shipping some ‘loot’ back to the USA and some of us just relaxing.  Shipping is expensive but it’s so much better than lugging lots of stuff to London and then the airport and paying lots extra to get it back to the US. 

We left at 11:30 and headed back to the Snowshill Inn to have lunch.  A couple of people agreed with me that the Ham and Cheese Toasty is the best sandwich they’ve ever eaten and mine was really good again.  Everything we had was good, especially the Meringue topped with Raspberry Ice Cream that some of the girls had for dessert.  

Some of us also had Sticky Toffee just to see what it was liked.  She liked it.

There were also several dogs in the pub today and they were, of course, very well behaved.

We then headed for Stanton which we loved the other day, but got distracted by a sign for Broadway so we toured that town again.  It was just as pretty today as it was before and I think that’s where I’d want to live if I lived in this area.  We then went on to Stanton and it was just as beautiful as before.  We all still think the house with yellow roses is our favorite house and the view from the Mount Inn was perhaps even better today than before.  

We have learned that many thatchers put a certain symbol on the top of the roof, sort of as their personal trademark.  We found a kangaroo on the top of this house today.  We thought it very interesting.

 We went back into the church and loved it again too.  Such a nice place.

We then decided to find another village that was on our list but had escaped our presence until today – Guiting Power.  We asked Myrtle to take us there and she did.  We went through Temple Guiting and Kineton and lots of very pretty scenery to get there and it was worth it.  

Guiting Power is a wonderful little village surrounded by beautiful fields.  The sheep in the churchyard were particularly nice.  We also saw a man in an old convertible, maybe a Morgan but maybe not, with his goggles (we think he was wearing these) and the old timey helmet that drivers used to wear.  I tried to follow him but the street was too narrow and twisty for our van.  I would have liked to have had another look at him and his gear.

We also saw a man thatching a roof today and he was working hard all by himself as he did this.  It looks like a lot of work but what he had finished was beautiful.

On our way back home, we saw several pheasants in the roadway and of course had to stop and take their photos.   

As they ran into the woods, they made a really strange noise unlike any I have ever heard before.  They were pretty.  We think we may have also seen some grouse on the road today, but we are not sure.  It’s hard to think that hunters like to kill these beautiful birds.

We got back home about 3:00 today.  Some of us went to town and did more shopping and most of us spent at least some time resting – some would call it sleeping, but I felt much better afterwards.  

during my time back in town today I saw another dog in the river and this one was just so happy to have his owners thrown him small bits of food to chase in the river.  He did really well not to bother the ducks that were also in the river.  

We did get to the Mouse Trap Inn by 6:30 for dinner.  It was a nice place and looked like an old pub to me.  The waitress was very nice but she was quite young, not even 16 yet.  Some of us loved our food and some of us thought it was just okay.  The desserts were really good but some of us were still full from lunch so not every one had dessert.  

Those are heated red tomatoes on goat's cheese that Paula had for dinner.

Now we are home and almost everyone is up in their room getting ready for bed and reading.  Some are listening to football games and Sarah is happy that Tennessee has already won their game today. 

Our plans for tomorrow are a little loose at this point but I’m sure it’ll all work out just fine.  We plan to leave about 10 and drive to the Pear Tree Park and Ride on the north side of Oxford so we can take a bus into Oxford.  Everything online seems to indicate that parking is difficult and expensive in the city.  We plan to do a hop on, hop off bus tour and see the city that way.  I’ll let you know tomorrow night how it goes.

We are sad to think that we only have a few more days in the Cotswolds.  We travel to London on Wednesday morning and that will be a totally different view of England.