Saturday, May 26, 2012

No photos- just thoughts


We set out this morning and left the camera behind so nothing but thoughts and observations to share.

We've found the most marvelous restaurant in Stow-on-the-Wold...

http://www.huffkins.com/

This is one of several locations and the bakery is utterly amazing and the food is truly remarkable. I've become addicted to their "Full English Breakfast" which consists of an oven-roasted tomato, a mound of beautifully browned mushrooms, two poached eggs sitting atop a slice of 'fried bread' which is thin, white bread drenched in butter and browned in a skillet, English 'bacon' which is really what we would call fried ham, a large Cotswold sausage and two enormously thick slices of handcut artisan bread that's been toasted and is served with fresh butter, plum preserves and marmalade. My mouth waters just writing it all down; AMAZING served with freshly squeezed juice.

We've had several other items from their menu as well including an oak-smoked salmon sandwich with prawns in a Marie-rose sauce (Google it!) with gem lettuce and tomatoes on toast. WOW!

Their 'fruitcake' is absolutely NOTHING like what we know as fruitcake in America; delicious. And their granary rustic breads, croissants, pan au chocolat and 100 other delicacies are all to die for. We wish we could bring Huffkins home with us to America!

While we were eating there we saw a busload of costumed 'eccentrics' moving into the town square. Turns out these were "Morris Dancers" (Google it again!), a sort of pagan folk-dance group that are popular throughout Britain- particularly in May. The tradition dates back a few centuries and is as strange as it sounds.

While we were in Stow we stopped at a travel specialty shop to buy an extra suitcase for the return trans-Atlantic trip. We've accumulated a big of 'muck' while we've been here and are going to need another suitcase to haul all the treasure home to America. (sigh)

Then, to make our 'odd morning' complete we stopped at another local site: The Rollright Stones. Here's the link for you...

http://www.rollrightstones.co.uk/

This is kind of the local version of Stonehenge and dates back nearly 5000 years. That said- it sits on the high point of two counties: Warwickshire and Oxfordshire. (The dividing line actually runs between the various parts of the Rollright Stones.) The view from this magnificent hilltop easily stretches 40+ miles in nearly every direction and it's easy to imagine why ancients found the place to be worthy of memorializing. In America today of course, a savvy real estate developer would simply buy it all up and put in a golf course and McMansions on such a beautiful hilltop.

Turns out in buying train tickets from Oxford to Paddington to Paris and back this coming week I somehow bought return Tuesday tickets for 08:50 (AM) instead of 20:50 (PM) so we stopped by the local Kingham station of the Great Western Railway to see about exchanging them. The local station operator said he couldn't help us since they were purchased online, but assured us we need only board the CORRECT train this coming Tuesday and explain to the ticket agent or guard that we had made a simple mistake and all would be well. We'll see. LOL! I may be buying a second set of Paddington-to-Oxford Tickets on Tuesday night.

So we're test-fitting clothes and souvenirs into our now THREE suitcases and two carry-on bags in hopes of balancing them all out so that none exceeds 50 lbs- a challenge when you don't have any scales! (Sigh)

We both agree this has been a perfect trip in nearly every way. 31 days has given us long enough to really absorb much of England including the local Cotswold flavors, the Lakes District, the Yorkshire Dales, Oxford and at least a bit of London. We can't imagine having had only a week to hit a few high points. Three days in Paris will give us a taste of that historic city and help us decide whether we want to return there on some future trip for an extended tour.

Moreover, our first trip abroad has given us a taste for travel and adventure outside the United States. We've nearly exhausted the USA after traveling for 30-60 nights each year for the past 20 years; there's not much we haven't seen or done.
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And while "the world" seems large and daunting, we've thoroughly enjoyed our time in England and it's given us both the courage and the desire to see more of France, Italy, Ireland and more. We'll see what the Lord has in mind for us in the years to come.

One other random thought: I'm LOVING having a small local 'store' (groceries, beaverages, staples, newspapers, etc.) only a block away to walk to, and a FANTASTIC pub with world-class food less than two blocks away. I've NEVER lived within walking distance of anything except other houses. Amazing!!

1 comment:

Becky said...

And in your closing thoughts, you summed up reason No. 431 regarding why Troy and I have always loved/hated the suburbs. It's so miserable to have to drive everywhere! And we have the worst of all worlds here...nothing to walk to...and also no mass transit system. Ugh.

Glad the trip has gone so beautifully! Traveling is SO much fun!