Cotswolds to York

Monday, the third day of our road trip --- was mostly hard driving. We took the M5 (equivalent to I 40 or 10.) Most of the way we could go 70mph. So we made good time. We stopped and bought food in Glastonbury and then went to see the Abbey. This is a charming British village --- which has been taken over by new age people --- seemed a natural fit since this ancient site was a holy site before Christianity.

Legend has it that Joseph of Arimathea came with 11 disciples in 64 A.D. and brought with him the grail. It is the legendary burial place of Arthur and Guinevere...and was the site of a magnificent abbey until the Abbey's were destroyed under Henry the 8th's reign in 1500's There are shops on every corner --- Man, Magic & Myth, Fairies Fun and Crystals! A young man dressed like a a peasant in the time of Arthur takes people through showing them the Abbey and saying things like the virgin birth is about the astrological sign Virgo and that the Christian holidays are really about the solstice......hmmmm...somehow I think the Benedictine's that established the abbey might have a thing or two to say about that. Too soon it is time to leave since we have to make our appearance at our bed and Breakfast in the Cotswolds by 5:00 p.m.

The countryside gave way to more densely forested terrain and we went through several small rain showers --- nothing like the other night though! We arrived in a village, Mickleton, near Chippingham Camden. It is difficult to find a place to eat --- they do not serve until 7:00 p.m. so we got out our picnic supplies and fixed a meal at the B&B. We ate at a picnic table in the garden. It is by my standard a bit cold to be eating out, but Kathy likes it on the cool side. Most of this trip I have been a bit cool....except of course in Egypt, Turkey and the Mediterranean. Tomorrow we will just journey around enjoying the villages of the Cotswolds.

Tuesday found us traveling from village to village. Bibury was my favorite. There are public gardens at a trout farm there which are stunning, and a magnificent old church building. Stanton and Witcombe stood next in favor. All of these places rely on tourism and this year, tourism is way down. So the streets were really quiet early in the day. We stopped at a bookseller to buy a book for me to read, and then had tea with a scone and strawberry jam at a little tea shop which was delightful .

These places are so old that many of them pre-date Christianity --- which came to the island via the Romans in the 1st century. It seems incredible that the buildings still stand and are occupied, not as museums, but as working, living places still. The rocks were well worn and had a yellow sort of liken that seemed to destroy the rock where they were growing on them. The old church yards surrounding the village churches have many markers too weathered to make out names and dates. The towns have buildings which were framed in timber and used some sort of material perhaps like adobe between. These are the row houses of Shakespeare's time and when we returned to Mickleton, I asked Stan about how they keep these buildings in repair. It is an expensive labor of love, and some things must not be touched -- like the timber houses --- as he said, "they have taken their shape naturally over the centuries and to disturb them or try to repair them would be like putting new wine in old wine skins --- it wouldn't work." Many of the roofs are thatched and they are covered with netting to keep the birds from nesting in them and pulling the thatch out. These often have a decorative design in the thatch just below the point of the roof and often have ducks or pheasants as decoration on the peak.

The sun passed behind clouds just as I found a Sainsbury's to buy more super glue for my sandal, and as I crossed the parking lot the sky opened up. I could not do without these shoes--but I have completely worn the bottom out --- I found the glue and walked out of the store whole again!

Because the temperature rarely goes much above 70 here -- the gardens and the plants are stunning. Foxglove, hollyhocks, honeysuckle so thick it is like a tree, geraniums, lobellia that grows like a vine out of hanging baskets, and Dahlias inhabit the gardens. As we drove along we saw many people in the act of tending their gardens. Truly, next to walking this seems like the national pass time. There are highway signs that are warnings for drivers to watch for the elderly! No kidding, and for the disabled as well.

We went across and had dinner at the pub -- the Kings Arms and found the food to be quite good and hearty. The place was packed. People were dressed up nicely and having good conversation. Something Stan warned us about ---- yes, these people were present in the moment! They didn't need Internet! I had a piece of steak --with a mushroom and tomato grilled and two onion rings. ...and the ever-present Chips! Kathy had a Chicken and pasta dish --- which she said was made with fresh pasta....so much for the stereotype of British food!

One of the interesting things about being in a B&B is that you get to visit with local people who tell you (if they like to talk) local history, their personal histories, and bits of what it is like to live in a country which is so much like our own, yet so different in many ways. Stan our host was one such man. He obviously loved his wife, Jenny, very much and missed her company. She has been gone for seven years and he speaks lovingly of her as though it was just yesterday. He is more than willing to answer questions and tell tales. He also dried my "pants" that is what they call panties here. Since we were going to be here two nights -- I figured it was now or never if I were going to have clean underwear! When it is this humid and cold -- it takes more than one night for things to dry. I carefully hung them in the bathroom, and when I got home --- he told me gleefully, "I dried your pants." --- and then he went the rest of the extremity and said (with a twinkle in his eye and hoping for a reaction), "I didn't sniff them though!" We had a really good laugh --- but I think my mother would have been mortified! I on the other hand was just glad to have clean pants (panties)! So many words here are different.....tires is tyres, boot is trunk, lorry is truck, loo is bathroom, dual-carriage way is a divided highway, bnagers(sausage) and mash (potato) but I have also see mash mean peas mashed up, biscuit is a cookie, bonnet is the hood of a car, Biker Crash Area --- means a spot where people on bikes (real ones not motorcycles) meet problems on the roadway, and that is just the beginning.....there's crisps for potato chips, and prawns for shrimp.....and hundreds of other words as well.

Wednesday morning we left for York, where we had hoped that we would find internet access, perhaps at wayside Costa -- coffee houses. These are a bit like Starbucks and are often at the off-ramps at service areas. However we learned today that when they are at a service area --they do not have free wi-fi! Only when they are in towns do they have wi-fi free!! Internet access here gets you coming and going. Libraries here also have internet, but you have to be there when the library is open, and so far our times have been after closing.

We got an early start and drove on to York --- where we had more difficulties with the B&B. After a LONG day (with only one touristy stop -- at Chatsworth -- a magnificent manor house) We arrived at our B&B. When I walked into the entry --- I noticed there were 12 steps up to the 1st floor --- where I assumed our room was. When I went up to check out the room --- I discovered there were another 7 steps to the room waiting on the landing ...Then there would have been a total of 14 more to and from breakfast and then 19 down to get out!! This just was not doable for Kathy. The kind man at the B& B did his best to get the travel agency to find us another place --- and when that failed --- he found us accommodations at a Ramada Inn with a Disabled room on the ground floor --- he even got us a special rate for the two nights which included our dinner the first night --- which turned out to be very elegant in the hotel dining room! Blessings on Mr. Lowrey! Without his help, I fear we would not have done well tonight. ........tomorrow we will see ancient YORK and attend evensong at Yorkminster!