Tag: UK

Oxford and the Cotswolds

I took another tour to a place I’ve long wanted to visit: The Cotswolds. This was a smaller tour, limited to 14. If you’re wondering, it was a Rabbies tour and I highly recommend them. Oxford wasn’t my real destination, but I enjoyed it a lot. It happened to be graduation day for some of the colleges (I think there are 39) so the streets were filled with family members with flowers and graduates in their colorful robes. What an exciting day for a young person starting out with an Oxford degree!

Then on to the Cotswolds, which has beautiful countryside. All the houses are made of Cotswold limestone, giving even the new buildings a timeless feel. In Burford I learned that the are two ways to have your scones: Devon, with the clotted cream on the bottom and then the jam, or Cornwall, which is just the opposite. Apparently it’s quite a rivalry. I’ll leave it to you, dear reader, to decide which you prefer.

I also learned that even a small quaint village in the English countryside can have a traffic problem. The cars were backed up as far as you could see in both directions.

Stonehenge

I tend to avoid the big tourist destinations (for the most part), but…Stonehenge! I remember reading about it in our National Geographic or some similar publication when I was a child, and I was fascinated. Who built it? Why? What were those people like, and how did they live? Since I had a few days in London I decided I had to see it in person. I took a day tour-crowded bus, lots of tourists-but I’m glad I did. The site is magnificent, and it’s so large it didn’t feel crowded. When you stand on the hill and realize you are in the presence of 4000 years of history, you can’t help but feel awed.