Bath (Part Due) and The Cotswolds

A couple weekends ago, I took what I consider to be the most idyllic trip through the British countryside possible. In addition to a return trip to Bath (where my friend Dave has a house), we added on a day driving through the Cotswolds. Oh, and I ended up getting so carsick that I actually had to pay to throw up.....but we'll get to that in a minute. ;)

England does Christmas well. And the town of Bath is known for it's Christmas markets. Nevermind that Dave and his English aunt and uncle mercilessly made fun of us for wanting to go into the busy town with tons of tourists to see the markets. I still hadn't been to a lot of the charming British towns (Oxford, Windsor, The Cotswolds), so I convinced Dave to bring a heard of girls and we were set on going to the markets!  My friends Cadence and Allie joined on this trip (another case of friend-merging!), and it was pretty cool to see Bath all decorated for Christmas compared to our last trip in the summer.

See how excited Dave looks to be there! Cadence is in the middle and Allie is on the right.

I LOVE this stuff. I know it's cheesy. I. Don't. Care. Getting mulled wine and walking from stall to stall is so festive!

I also found my old buddy from the last trip! He hasn't moved in 6 months!!

I also particularly liked the clear naming of this inn. You know, the Old New Inn!?

One of my favorite things about Dave's place is that it's out in the middle of the countryside. I sort of love our "tradition" of waking up, making breakfast and just relaxing. We had some of the best breakfasts with a view both days!

Sunday we drove through "The Cotswolds". This is not a city (somehow I mistakenly thought it was), but a region of the British countryside made up of a bunch of small little towns with incredible names like Clapton-on-the-Hill, Bourton-on-the-Water, Moreton-on-Marsh, and the Upper and Lower Slaughters. I don't know why, but I found these names to be quite entertaining.

Some of the towns were so small that you blinked and drove through them. For example, I thought we were in Peti France, but next thing I know it said we were leaving Beverstone which in and of itself was only 15 houses! Throughout our drive, I was amazed by how much color was still on the trees in comparison to what I'm used to in the U.S. There were still green fields and orange and red leaves! I loved it!

Maybe not the greatest example of colorful trees, but look at the green grass in December!

I loved that we could stop at one town, jump out, grab a coffee, walk around for 45 minutes and jump back in the car.

Cadence was an excellent navigator using an actual printout atlas, which I'm pretty sure no one except my dad still owns! ;)

Our first stop was the town of Tetbury, which is apparently famed for it's Chipping Steps. http://www.cotswolds.info/places/tetbury.shtml

Cadence and Dave found a really TALL door....

We also encountered a very WISE sign I quite liked..

The next town was my favorite...

Everything about this town is exactly what you picture the Cotswolds to be. HOWEVER, I must tell you that after driving along windy, skinny roads while sitting in the backseat for two hours I was starting to get carsick. Next thing I know we're in the carpark at Bourton-on-the-Water ready to go walk around, and I'm hunched over the tire of our rental car. Not ideal. Solution? Go to the toilets on the edge of the carpark. Problem? It costs money to use this nicely-upkept public toilet. So in the end what did I do? Yep...you guessed it. I paid good British money to get into that stupid toilet so I could get rid of my carsickness. Sigh...

Resuming the story....Bourton-on-the-Water was simply the best. If you ever have the opportunity to go, you must! I'd love to spend longer there someday.

Mulled wine makes everything more fun!

We ended our trip driving back to London through Oxford. Unfortunately it was too dark to see much of the town. But we did find the cutest possible pub to get dinner at....complete with a Christmas tree, fireplace and board games. (I may or may not have gotten reprimanded for building the fire which apparently is not allowed by customers...)

All of my travels certainly have been amazing, and one of my favorite things about living here in London. But until you spend a day driving through the countryside, it's easy to forget how great a trip through the hills can be in comparison to the more elaborate trips I've taken. I definitely hope to return to The Cotswolds again!