Thursday, September 19 Driving around

Thursday, September 19, 2013  Driving Around

We all slept fairly well, some better than others.  Several of us woke around 3 a.m. to snack and talk and wander around, but basically we all felt pretty good this morning and raring to go. 

Everyone fixed their own breakfasts and we were ready to go about 10.  We fit into the car much better than I had thought we would.  Two people sit in jumpseats in the very back and those people provide the others with entertainment as they exit the car.  Three people sit in them middle row and they claim to have enough room.  The two of us in the front are very happy to be there unless there is a car speeding toward us on a very narrow road. 

We first visited Northleach, which is an unspoiled village with a spacious center square (their description, not mine).  We visited the post office, a music box store, a beautiful old church and cemetery, and the grocery store.  It was a nice quiet little village.  Then we headed on toward Bibury to visit Arlington row.  This is a set of 17^th century cottages that started out as wool barns and then were converted into weavers’ homes and are now private residences.  We took photos of their very short front doors (about 5’2”) and had an adventure parking the car, but we managed with the help of a very nice, very loud tour bus driver. 

We had thought that the 7 Tuns Pub was in Bibury but found out it was really in Chedworth and Myrtle (our VERY trusty GPS) directed through all kinds of narrow lanes to deliver us to the “Happiest Pub in the Cotswolds” or so it is supposed to be.  We found it right where Myrtle said it would be.  The pub man suggested we go to the other door but we wanted to stay in the lovely old room we first walked into, so we did.  This made his job a little bit more difficult but we made it worth his while in tips.  We had three settles around a nice old table.  We ordered hamburgers, roast beast, poughman’s platter, mushroom soup, omelette and ham and eggs.  Everything was good especially the hot tea we all had.  While at the table, we made a special toast to Reva to wish her well with her surgery.

After that we drove to Cirencester, a fairly large and bustling city, to see St. John the Baptist Church which was right down town. We found a wonderful parking spot and toured the church (seeing the wine glass pulpit from the year 1450 and the Anne Bolyne cup made in 1535) and the cemetery and then visited a bible book shop where several of us sat down for snacks. 

We also lit a candle for Reva while we were at the church. We have found that we can navigate a fairly large busy city with the help of Myrtle and everyone was okay after several hours in and out of the car, so there is good hope for the rest of the trip.

We then motored quite a long way to drive all around the Slaughters.  We got a little lost but we really saw the villages of Upper Slaughter and Lower Slaughter.  The roads are very narrow but beautiful and in some places we could see for miles and miles over beautiful countryside. 

 We got out and walked to the church in Upper Slaughter to visit the raised cemetery and see a statue of the ‘Wistful Lady’ and it was worth the effort – she really was wistful. 

We then returned to Bourton on the Water and drove around a lot (even ending up in another nearby village) as we searched for the co-op.  We came back downtown and asked a wheely-bin truck man (garbage truck man) who gave us good directions.  After some creative backing and turning and more driving, we found it!!  We bought lots of stuff needed at our cottage and came home to rest, discuss the day, and fix our own dinners.  We also discussed plans for tomorrow and made reservations for next Thursday’s trip to Stonehenge and other sites around Bath.  We are now broken up into smaller groups doing all kinds of very interesting activities and getting ready for bed.  After all, it’s 8:40 and almost bedtime.  We lead SUCH dynamic, daring, and devilish lives when we travel!!!!