Across the Cotswolds

An unfortunate faulty alarm meant a bit of stress by running 30 minutes later than scheduled. Nick graciously did not say anything as we headed off through school traffic jams to Milton Keynes to collect the hire car for the next 2 days. Bucks is such a quiet and quaint centre, surrounded by major satellite centres that it does not have infrastructure such as significant shops, trains and hire car companies. Part of its charm. Hopefully soon the government will be opening up an old rail line so at least they'll have that service available locally. If they can afford it. So hopefully Brexit will fix this.

After getting the new wheels back to base we packed our bags and said our fond farewell's. It will be great to catch up with them in 2019 when they take their turn and come downunder. They can hear the thunder. Where the women blow and the men chunder (Men at work line ... Don't blame the blogger). Finally working out how to use the phone to navigate we didn't miss the missing in built GPS as we headed into the majestic Cotswolds on the hunt of missing relatives. Rain and drizzle tried their best to make the place look gloomy, however the charm of the old buildings combined with the bright colours of the autumn leaves overroad those attempts and it was still an entirely enjoyable drive. Stopping at Dedington for coffee and muffins was a good spur of the moment thing to do. Got caught up in a cellar of an antiques shop purely because we'd seen a TV show doing exactly that. Fascinating trinkets containing thousands of memories, most guessed at as the artefacts don't actually tell their story verbally. It's more a case of applying your knowledge and imagination to fully understand the messages contained within. Continuing over the rolling hills, making the occasional diversion always delighted and surprised E.g. with pheasants strolling across narrow country laneways. And the phone always getting us back on track with no stress. The sun tried to break through but no success. When we arrived in Broadway we were greeted by a barrage of bright stone buildings (local Cotswolds stone) and a surprising tap on the window. There was Owen grinning away peering in the window 2 cms from his Aunt's face.

Somethings don't change - his sense of humour is one of them. We were extremely well looked after in Lygon Arms. This hotel has been been hosting travellers in the region for over 600 (maybe 700) years. It's had royalty and those who brought royalty down. Indeed a room which hosted Oliver Cromwell the night before he defeated Charles 1st is now dedicated to him. Owen kindly replicated the fireplace pose, have a suspicion what he was considering conquering but he didn't ellucidate.

We got put up in one of the old house rooms at a ridiculous price and thus lived like royalty ourselves for a few hours. The floors creak and are wildly uneven ( even though recently renovated). The doors are once again built for hobbits and there is no set plan to the layout at all. It was great to catch up and hear about the adventures he'd undertaken so far and continuing to follow. He's rapidly rising to a position of authority in the the hotel and thus can swing some favours for relatives as they are so far travelled and infrequent at that. We went out for dinner at a rival salubrious place with Laura in tow. Being Italian she struggled a bit keeping up with our banter however was delightful in doing so. They seem pretty happy together. Ahh young lust.. what a wonderful thing. Catching a taxi back into town we had a nightcap in the servants quarters just to check up on the health and lifestyle of the workers just to make sure they're not too unhealthy.

As it turns out they are cramped but warm and comfortable. Getting by OK. So all good on that front. Tired and exhausted we retired to our palatial room and fell into a deep sleep. The ghosts that haunt the place didn't disturb us. No idea even if they tried.