After a great year with loads of travels (Dubai, Southeast Asia and Dublin), this year is looking a bit shy in terms of travels. But believe that it is for a good reason. Maybe the best of reasons! :) A&A are expanding and this is how it is looking now:
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| At our (very pink) hotel room |
Yes, "we" are pregnant! :) And as I move (very) closely to the third trimester, flying is something we are trying to avoid. Exotic destinations (our favourite kind) are also not recommended so this year we looked to explore a bit of the country where we live in! In fact, it seemed only fair given that we have been living in the UK for nearly 3 years and we know very little of England outside of London.
The Lake District was an option, but after looking at the travel time and booking options (all of this was planned quite late :/), we decided for the Cotswolds. Before we went, I was told that it was the typical picture-perfect English landscape with great tea-houses and pubs in small villages. So, how best to spend our English holidays in this so English part of the country?
And what is more British than a green landscape dotted here and there by sheep on a cloudy day?
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| "Are you taking my picture?" |
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| A sign for the future to come :P |
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| "This is my best angle!" |
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| Andre is no sheep, but I just love this photo! :) |
We were even told a (very British, I would say) story about a yellow car of a village-resident that was "ruining" the touristic photos! It all happened in Bibery, one of the most photogenic of the Cotswolds villages, and apparently there were complaints that the yellow car was just too ugly and noticeable to go with the rest of the scenery (more details
here). The pressure on the car owner was so big that he actually changed his car for a much less flashy grey version of the same car. We had to go to this town, for its beauty, and for the story! And we actually found the new car which we partly recognised due to a delicious detail: this man could not go without his favourite colour, so instead of having a yellow car, he now has yellow car seat covers, which is quite a rebel move in my view! Loved it! (Yes, we were actually looking for the car in that corner and even peeped inside :P)
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| Bibery scenery, with no "ugly" car! |
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| "My car may be grey, but the seats... the seats will be yellow!" |
As for the rest of the costswolds... well, I managed to understand why so many people like it so much and why some pay so much to have a house in this area. Each village is so beautiful (even with a lot of tourists like us in this long Easter weekend) and so unique at the same time. Each one had its own charm, its own appeal and in each one I thought, "Yes, if one day I would go searching for peace and quiet, this would be a good place for it to happen!".
But better than words, here are some images (only a small sample) of what these days were like.
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| Our 4 wheels for this trip (yes, that is me inside the car :P) |
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| The killer look |
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| Beautiful (and crowded!) scenery |
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| Priority to green vehicles in the all the green surrounding us |
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| "I can do this, I can... do... this...!" |
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| At the top! |
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| We actually stayed in Cheltenham, a very charming city just outside of the Cotswolds. This was taken in the park at the center of Cheltenham. |
