Day 6 - Cotswolds, Stratford, & Coventry

After a slower than normal start today, we jetted off to the southwest and the northern part of the Cotswolds. This is the area in which William Morris founded the Arts and Crafts Movement and Hidcoate Gardens is an excellent example of the movement as applied to horticulture. Hidcoate was built by an American, Lawrence Johnston, during the early 1900s.

We had off and on mist this morning with overcast skies which made the autumnal colors of the garden really pop. We had the best time wandering the landscape, enjoying the vistas, and swearing you could see fairies peeking out from behind flowers and mushrooms. This was a perfect time to visit this garden and I bet spring would be equally as good. After strolling the grounds, we stopped off for a quick bite of lunch in the garden cafe. Homemade ice cream for dessert! I'm just going to let the pictures speak for themselves.

Our drives today were just fantastic as we went down country roads that are two way, but only one lane wide. Whilst driving here, one must always pay attention to oncoming traffic and little turn outs called laybys (lay byes). If the turnout is on your side and a car is coming, you have to move and get out of the way. It's a lot of fun to drive, but not relaxing! We didn't get a chance to get programs and gifts at the Royal Shakespeare Company last night, so we drove back to Stratford. We arrived just as school got out so the streets were crammed with young men and women dressed in their uniforms.

After some gift shopping, tea, and walking, we got in the car and headed to Coventry. The travel partners wanted Indian food and I wants English, so we found the place that serves both! Towards the end of dinner, Carolyn bit into something wickedly hot (spicy) and the favorite line from her while we were laughing hysterically at the face she was making: "You have no idea what's going on in my mouth!" She's all good now; just a numb tongue! The dinner ended with the table next to us having a birthday cake in the shape of a hedgehog; with a flare of sorts on fire. Would never happen in the US.

We head north tomorrow and meet a friend of a friend of Marianne's. He storm chases in the US during the spring and he's going to show us the off-the-beaten paths of the Lake District.