Yes…we were welcomed into Bath with our favorite weather – rain.
Time/Location: August 24, 2014 – Bath, England (Day 1)
Agenda:
- Cotswolds Tour
- Dinner @ The Raven
Cotswolds by Lion Tours
Not a huge agenda today, but we ended up taking a day tour with Lion Tours around the Cotswolds. These towns/villages/really-tiny-groups-of-buildings are known for their beauty/cuteness, their iconic walls and their sheep. I highly recommend this tour for a less “touristy” feel, the guy is extremely knowledgable of the area, and likes to include fun trivia in his tours. Here are the places we went to:
Castle Combe
- Spinning & weaving industry
- Learned about the village cross (and butter cross), which is where the market is
- The cross is idealy supposed to make merchants more honest, but in Castle Combe, they didn’t have a cross, just a church instead
Malmesbury
- Lace industry
- We stopped by sunshine cafe for a lovely chai tea, then walked around a craft market they were having that day.
- Bees everywhere! They are attracted to the food, but people just brush them off like no big deal.
- The museum takes about 10 minutes to see, but it’s free so why not
- Visit the abbey at the back of the town!
Bibury
- Arlington Road – yes, the guy who this road is named after is the same as the one in Washington
- COWS – the cows here are “lighter” b/c the land that they graze on is mushier. This way, they don’t churn up the ground
- Bibury Trout Farm – according to our guide, not worth the paid visit in. Do grab a bite to eat here though, the smoked trout is delicious!
Northleach
- We dropped by here @ the Old Prison for lunch
Bourton-on-the-Water
- Another pit stop, cute little area that reminds me of the popular square in Sonoma County
- VERY touristy, due to having one of the largest coach parks of all the Cotswolds
- Lots of shopping, probably worth avoiding if you ever do this drive on your own
Tetbury
- “Prince Charles’ town”, b/c his estate is right next door
- We visited the market center art exhibit as well as the church.
- High end boutique shopping, cool to see, not so cool to buy
Fun trivia of the day: “Daylight Robbery” comes from the unfair taxation that people complained about.
All in all, a good day spent outside the Bath rain, and a beautiful countryside to gaze at.
Dinner @ The Raven
EAT HERE. That is all. A and I had our first taste of pie and it was so great :D!
- Deerstalker pie (venison, bacon, lentils, winter vegetables, juniper, thyme, port) w/ mash, and red wine & thyme gravy
- Honey roasted carrots, squash, and parsnips
- West Country Cider
That meal + alcohol knocked us right at out night..until the seagulls fighting woke us up at 4:30 AM the next day :(.