After a bit of a snafu at the airport regarding the 8 passenger people mover that I had reserved and already pre-paid for, we had a nice lady at Avis (NOT the company that let us down!) who worked very hard to fix our dilemma. Instead of one big van for all of us, we ended up with what was supposed to be a 7 passenger wagon plus a 4 passenger car. Jake did some serious jenga puzzle fitting together and miraculously fit the six of us, 1 stroller, 4 backpacks, 1 big briefcase, 2 regular-sized wheelie bags, 1 small kids' suitcase and one really big suitcase in basically what was a tiny wagon with two jumpseats in the back (it was smaller than a Passat wagon with one kid in a jump seat in the back). I was a bit of a nervous wreck as the jump seat was about five inches from the rear of the car and I was worried we would get rear-ended (plus it was a manual transmission and we were driving on the wrong (okay, left) side of the road) but it all worked out okay. In fact, it felt pretty good to flex our manual transmission muscles that had been sitting dormant for a while.
Jake, the girls and I headed off to Windsor Castle as we flew in a few hours before Grandpa Carl and Gaga arrived. We parked at a friend of Jake's house and walked over to Windsor Castle. Happily we followed the Queen's foot soldiers up the street through downtown Windsor as they traveled to the castle for the changing of the guards. We had fun exploring around the castle. The highlight was definitely getting to see the big Queen Mary's dollhouse.
After lunch at a fun noodle place near the historic train station, we hit the road to the real countryside - about a two hour drive away. Grandpa Carl and Gaga had a few of their own issues finding each other and getting out of the airport. They headed to Windsor Castle just as we were leaving. Thankfully, GPS helped us find our tiny, tiny village where our historic cottage was located. I didn't take enough pictures of our cute village but our cottage was really, really old (hmmm, can't remember exactly how old but way older than much of anything in the US!) but this village was definitely around when all the textile industry was going big in England. There was a small hotel down the street, a small market/ cafe down the other side and a pub on the other side of a cute park. Those were pretty much all of the businesses in tiny Blockley.
Our few days in the Cotswolds were spent exploring cute villages, hiking, visiting a model village of one, going through a really fun garden maze with a riddle that by putting all our brains together, we were actually able to solve. We split into teams and Grandpa Carl, Meredith, Anna and me were not the best in getting out of that maze - we kept hollering for help from the others as we knew they were just over the hedge but we could not figure out how to get there. After a lot of false turns and backtracking, we finally made it to the other side of the hedge to the giggling family members who appreciated our difficulty.
Some of the group visited the manor where Winston Churchill was born. We enjoyed some wonderful meals - especially at The Feathered Nest. Yum..... It was a bit chilly in the Cotswolds for our cold blooded bodies who were used to the UAE heat but we sure enjoyed getting to see lots of green and a few rain spells.
Some of the group visited the manor where Winston Churchill was born. We enjoyed some wonderful meals - especially at The Feathered Nest. Yum..... It was a bit chilly in the Cotswolds for our cold blooded bodies who were used to the UAE heat but we sure enjoyed getting to see lots of green and a few rain spells.
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| Jake and the girls entering Windsor Castle |
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| Getting ready for the changing of the guards |
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| Regan watching one of the foot soldiers (see the tiny red speck in the background in the middle?). The queen was in residence at the castle for an event but we didn't see her. |
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| The kids were thrilled to pull our their new umbrellas at the first few drops of rain. We don't get to use umbrellas much in the UAE (unless it is to shade the sun) |
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| Our big adventure was when this guard was clearly sick of being heckled by some teen boys. He strode out of his line and gave one a big shove that knocked him down. I think he taught them a lesson! |
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| Meredith in the rental car jump seat - wedged in by lots of luggage. I still don't know how we fit all that in! |
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| Ahhh - the green view out our bedroom window in our Blockley village cottage (Hainault House) |
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| At the model village in Bourton-by-the-Water (the English clearly like to give their towns long descriptive names - there were village by-the-water, on-the-hill, on-the-marsh, etc.) |
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| Anna wouldn't get in many pictures so I took a grumpy one of her. |
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| Taking a stroll on the "on-the-water" part of Bourton-on-the-water on our way to the garden maze. |
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| I neglected to take a picture of us in the hedges of the maze but we are at the end and figured out the riddle and got the frog inside to open his mouth. |
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| Charming Bourton-on-the-Water |
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| Our hike on the Cotswold Way (kind of like a shorter version of the Appalachian Trail where people spend weeks hiking the length of it) |
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| Lots of sheep on our hike |
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| The big kids with Gaga |
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| All the girls (and Snowball) were thrilled to make new friends |
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