| The Cotswolds, July 2003 |
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| On Saturday morn (26th), Emily and I headed off to the Cotswolds, our first stop being the University City of Oxford. Oxford Uni is tonnes of separate campuses dotted all round the city - on nearly every street, there is a college. We walked around the city (pretty compact) which was really pretty with all the old buildings, saw Christ Church College (the most famous) and had lunch by the river before heading off to drive round some other Cotswold towns. |
| Christ Church College |
| Lunch by the river - beer-battered fish and chips with mushy peas!!! (Yes, that bright green lump of what looks like playdough is edible) |
| First town was Bourton-on-the-water which was nice but no parking, so drove on to Lower Slaughter - bad name but the most picturesque town (see left). Unfortunately, it was drizzling all day so we got soaked and the colours weren't as brilliant, but gorgeous nonetheless. Next was Stow-on-the-wold - again gorgeous and has a great adventure shop with a really helpful owner who told us where to go skiing at Xmas. Thankyou! We moved on to Stratford-upon-avon where we stayed the night and got up to a beautiful morning - so off we went to try our hand at punting (see right) - not easy but loads of fun - the stick is soooo heavy and we nearly crashed into countless boats!!! |
| The beautiful stream running through Lower Slaughter |
| Manouevring my way upstream on a punt... unreal! |
| We then explored Stratford in the sun and briefly visited Shakespeare's house and birthplace and also Anne Hathaways (his wife). We stopped by the Theatre the previous night but the performance of Taming of the Shrew had already started and they wouldn't let us in during intermission.... Leaving Stratford, we headed towards Warwick Castle, got lost trying to find it, but came across a Morris dancers street festival instead! (see left). The Morris dancers (from England and Wales) try to keep their tradition alive as it used to be illegal to add to your pittance of an income by dancing, hence the blacked out faces as a disguise. They were all really friendly and a good laugh. We found the castle (thanks to the dancers) and had a great time seeing all the torture instruments (enough to make your stomach turn) and watching displays of cavalry, duelling and archery. This castle has been kept in pristine condition and shows all the trappings of the past. They were also having a medieval festival there so we came at the right time! After this, we headed home, got stuck in |
| Shakespeare's Birthplace |
| Anne Hathaway's cottage |
| The Border Morris dancers - from the border of England and Wales |
| Me preparing to duel outside Warwick Castle - the first part built in 1068 |
| Part of the festival at the castle - two characters duelling |
| horrendous traffic! But eventually made it and crawled exhausted into bed..... |