The Cotswolds

After our weekend in London, we rented a car (Steve was brilliant navigating roundabouts the "wrong" direction) and used my friend Kerry's GPS to never get lost drive around England the rest of the week.  First off we drove to Oxford, only to find it really crowded with tour buses of visitors and no obvious place to park.  So we bailed.  We'll do it another time when we come back to London.  Next we drove though the idyllic Cotswolds, complete with villages of stone cottages and stone fences criss-crossing rolling hills.  I wonder if the locals ever get used to the gentle beauty.

We had lunch and stretched our legs in Bourton-on-the-Water.

We checked out the Model Village, which was incredibly detailed. The kids thought was fun, too.  

Back in the car it was already killing me that we could spend an entire week in any of these spots and still be left with more to explore.  Alas, we won't be living in Sweden for long and we have already been to Andalucia, Amsterdam, Bavaria, Provence, and Norway this year.  Our goal was to experience places that are kid-friendly, have direct flights on Ryanair from Gothenburg, and may not make the cut later when we're planning trips from the States.  We know the UK is worth a transatlantic trip, but we couldn't not go to England while we're in Europe!  

Our day in the Cotswolds continued in Bibury at the old stone cottages known as Arlington Row.  They were originally constructed in the 14th century, which absolutely blows my American mind.

So many beautiful flowers everywhere.

On to Bath.  The town is so pretty and I would have loved to see the Jane Austen museum, but not with the kids in tow.  

Bath Abbey

The Royal Crescent

We stayed nearby at this inn; our room was in the turret.  Can you believe we left London just this morning?  So much beauty to see, so little time.  And Steve is a patient road warrior, bless his heart.

Up next: Cornwall.


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