"Okay Google, what's a Wold?"
A Wold is an area of forrest or woodlands on high ground
"Thanks Google".
Driving through the Cotswolds, we were greeted by many road signs telling us names of towns and villages. If you are from the UK, it is completely normal to you. If you are from a different country, it makes you feel confused and like you are stuck in a Dr Seuss book. What we learnt, as we traversed through the hedged lanes as narrow as a needle, was when they named these towns and villages they were very fond of prepositions.
Everything is either: On a Marsh, Upon an Avon, or By the Water. Let's just say that our map reading skills had some intense training on this long weekend.
Woodstock
We had been suggested this place by Lars' parents, as they had been through this town when they were the same age as us. They stayed in a quaint little hotel and loved it. When looking at the same hotel now, it now costs 400 pounds a night. This goes for the rest of the town. It looks the same as it would have looked for the past couple hundred years, windy streets with sharp corners, buildings that look like they will topple over at any point. I love walking on the cobbles in these towns, wondering who could have also stepped on these same cobbles. Houses were covered in Wisteria and Cherry Blossoms were making a Spring snow fall. We could see the wealth of people as we walked past their homes, door knockers costing more than all we own. Just as we thought we had reached the outer edge of the village, we turned a corner to see a huge gate towering over us. The sign read 'Blenheim Palace', a closer look we took, 'twenty five pounds each', a giant step away from the gate we took. We are still unsure of what the palace is and why they charge that much for it, but as we drove out of the town I saw beautiful grounds and a beautifully symmetrical palace at the far end.
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Burton-on-the-Water
Growing up, my Mother was obsessed with Lily Putt Lane; and on this day, Lars and I reached the true home of these perfect village replicas. We had reached Burton-on-the-Water - The Venice of the Cotswolds. We joined all the other tourists who has escaped their homes for this long weekend, and pulled into the one car park in the village. Next door was our first stop, a Maze! Winding through the high fences, looking for the numbered clues, solving the riddles that would lead us to find the golden dragonfly. What other way is there to start a holiday? We worked hard and solved all the riddles that led us to the central point. In we stepped to the Roundhouse, to use our clues to solve the final riddle. Built up with adrenaline and hope, we were ready to find the insect. As soon as we step in, we see a mother showing her son the button to push and the mouth of the frog opens to display the dragonfly. Hearts broken and teary eyed, we left the maze defeated.
A quick stroll by the canal that had Mamma ducks and her ducklings twiddling by, showing off how adorable they are. Then you come to a small crowd of people. Here is the first of the bridges that do not look as if they should be walked across, but everyone is getting a fantastic photo of them on the bridge and the canal running through the town. I felt as if we had stepped into a film set: houses all with colourful, fragrant gardens. Children playing in the knee high water, finding treasures that mean nothing to the adults, but the world to them. Everyone was smiling, while holding their large scoops of homemade ice cream. Everything felt still, as if we had stepped into the instrumental of a lullaby. The only thing to top it off were our lovingly made sandwiches that we ate by the water.
Upper and Lower Slaughter
Here I was thinking that I had already seen the sweetest town, oh was I mistaken. Upper and Lower Slaughter, the names of the town seeming to be an oxymoron to the sight we could see. Anywhere we looked was green, all different shades. The river from Burton-on-the-Water continued through, the bridges here were even smaller and more rustic looking. The trees slowly swayed and let the sun trickle through the leaves, making it look like glitter was falling to the ground. Dots of flower bunches placed throughout the villages, all looking like ladies gossiping. All the small houses were made from stone, where you could tell that thought and care was put into each stone that was placed. I truly felt that we had gone back in time to a happy, carefree time. A time where your only worries are whether or not your chickens were laying enough eggs. A place to escape to in times of great stress. You must be able to stop and walk around, because if you drive through the towns, they are gone in a blink.
Moreton-in-Marsh
Another town that is only a few streets long as it is wide, but if you want to buy some antiques it is the place to go. On Tuesday's there is an Outdoor Market. Seeing as it was Friday, we continued to drive through.
Stow-on-the-Wold
We drove through Stow-on-the-Wold more times than what was probably normal, but seeing as we were dotting through to many places in the area, Stow became our central hub of direction. Many places are connected by this town.
Tewkesbury
Home of a famous type of Mustard (that you may have never heard of before). The mustard from here does not come in a jar or bottle, it comes as a ball. To use it, you need to grate it and add a liquid: Beer, wine, cider, etc. We went on a search for this mustard. I saw a shop that I thought looked promising, but it was a Polish Delicatessen and we found ourselves in a whole other world. This town is also very small, but does has a very large and impressive Cathedral with exceptional grounds.
These towns are perfect, small, and absolutely gorgeous. The views must be a good way to wake up for everyone because they were all kind and positive, greeting us with a smile. We will be back, I will start looking for a Bed & Breakfast now.
Labels: UK 2017
