On Thursday, April 17, 2014 we awoke nice and rested and ready to explore the Cotswolds. Once again, we’ll go to Wikipedia, which has to say this about the Cotswolds:
The Cotswolds is an area in south central England containing the Cotswold Hills, a range of rolling hills which rise from the meadows of the upper Thames to an escarpment, known as the Cotswold Edge, above the Severn Valley and Evesham Vale. The area is defined by the bedrock of Jurassic limestone that creates a type of grassland habitat rare in the U.K. and that is quarried for the golden coloured Cotswold stone.[1] The area, designated as an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty in 1966, is considered to have unique features derived from the local Cotswold stone; the predominantly rural landscape contains stone-built villages, historical towns, and stately homes and gardens.
I believe we first stopped at Lower Slaughter where there was the most charming little old mill now converted into a little shop. The town is so beautiful and so completely a step back in time, it makes you feel like you’re living the life of all of the characters in every old English book you’ve ever read. I thought I took pictures of the Mill, but apparently I didn’t, here is the little surrounding village though:
After wandering Lower Slaughter, we found a path leading to Upper Slaughter. By path, I mean a few little gates leading you through the prettiest pastures full of sweet little sheep.
Obviously, I should have gotten a million more pictures! Upper Slaughter is much more upscale than Lower Slaughter. It has the same old structures, and lovely scenery, but the houses are much bigger and fancier. We saw wealthy families about the yards and walking through the scenic roads. My Dad took this picture of this particularly fancy home in Upper Slaughter:
It is the most serenely beautiful place I have ever seen, there’s no traffic or rushing around, it was so peaceful and no matter you looked it was perfectly picturesque.
Some manicured hedges
We forced ourselves to leave this paradise and get back on the road where we got stuck in some pretty major traffic. It was quite a contrast, but we didn’t really mind since we were in good company. We were worried about trying to get our car back to the Manchester airport by our 7 pm deadline. We were late, but it worked out. We were shuttled to our nearby hotel and settled in and met downstairs in the hotel for a nice, late dinner. It always seemed to be about 9 before we ate dinner each night despite our best efforts. It was a fun way to cap off each day though sitting and enjoying each other’s company and good food. That was actually one of my favorite meals, but I can’t remember what I had. It was good though, mostly it was good not to be in the car. We had got another sound sleep for our travel-weary bodies and woke up ready for our next leg of our journey. By now I am sure you are wondering if this trip will ever end!
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