Day 8, Friday, September 8th: A Parrot in the Cotswolds!
We are pretty excited this morning as we will finally be in the Cotswolds sometime in the afternoon. We set our Alarm for 08:00. We can see the jets flying off the runway just outside of our window. Weird refrigerator in our room that would make a noise every 30 minutes or so. Good bed and two pillows each. Very luxurious white towels for our showers. Lana's favourite celebrity chef on tv = Ina Gartner. The room did cool off during the night.We are now wearing shorts and short-sleeved shirts as it is very warm already this early. YEH!!!! The temperature is already at 21 degrees and a high of 30 is expected. The breakfast included with Lana's status is a buffet of hot and cold foods and lots of choices. The greeter is super perky and happy! We did make off with some jams and mayo for sandwich lunches at our place in Broadway.
I think when most people identify English food they think Fish & Chips?
Lana figures our best option for getting to the Airport Central Bus Station at T2/T3 is via Uber. I discover that the term "Coatroom" means bathroom/toilet/WC etc. The Uber cost us 11 Pounds for a short walk and then dropped at T3. Difficulty figuring out how and where the Bus Station is located, but we luck out despite some misleading info from Google Maps. We are quite early. We have two tickets for National Express Bus Line to take us to Cheltenham.
The lounge is full of people of all colours, races and nationalities. You gotta love Great Britain aka England aka United Kingdom etc. A screen on the wall identifies bus numbers and final destinations with our bus being Gloucester. #444. Our bus is running late and shows up at Gate 8. Our PDF QR code works and the bus driver seems friendly and helpful. We find seats together although we see other people taking one seat and placing their smaller bags on the seat beside them. We are leaving late.
Lana's breakfast plate at the hotel. Classic english style breakfast which she loves--baked beans, sautéed mushrooms, grilled tomatoes! What more could you ask for?
We depart the stop at 11:02 so about 12 minutes late. The bus has wifi. It is mainly sunny here with some light clouds. Uneventful trip to Cheltenham (Arie Court) passing through the English countryside and mostly in the Cotswolds. The bus is quite lurchy and seems to start/stop quite a lot which isn't good for Lana. I think she's glad when we finally arrive in Cheltenham just to get off and stand on solid ground again. The stop is just before a roundabout and there isn't really anything around. I did not do any research on getting from Cheltenham to Broadway. This stop was recommended by the National Express Lines people. There is no bus from Cheltenham to Broadway or a train. What to do?
Map showing Cheltenham at the bottom and Broadway at the end of the blue line. It is 52 kms and about at 35 minute drive in the country.
We speak with our driver as he gets our suitcases from the bus hold. He says he has never heard of Broadway, but isn't from around this area. He did say to follow the roundabout to the left and there would be some shops. We pull our suitcases in the hot sun (30 degrees) and discover a KFC (very popular in the UK) and behind it is the Cheltenham Travel Lodge where we think they may be able to help us figure out how to get to Broadway? We are not around any public transit here. You know you're in trouble when the hotel clerks look at you and say "you're a long way from where you want to go!"
The two desk clerks are very helpful and kind. They indicate taking a train to Evesham and then another train to a village near Broadway and then a taxi might be good. That would take a loooong time. We decide to arrange an Uber so we get there much quicker and for probably around the same price as more convoluted options. The driver agrees to come to where we are located and we begin our fantastic drive through the country side. Lots of farms, small villages, rolling hills, trees and green meadows.
Our driver's name is Sinjab and he is originally from Pakistan and is a Muslim. He came to the UK twenty years ago and did give thought to moving to Canada. We talked about our area of Canada has mostly Sikhs from the Punjab area of India. He talked about how the Sikhs want independence from India and they are "simple people"...Wow.... Must be some kind of rivalry between the Sikhs and Pakistani Muslims? I explained that the Sikhs in BC are very successful in all ways. Doesn't seem to phase him.
We arrive at the "Church Close" area of Broadway around 14:45. Check in was at 15:00 so we are a little early. We follow the detailed instructions on getting the keys from the lockbox and then trying to open the door as it was not easy. It is three levels and is above a commercial shop. The entry level is simply the stairs to the second floor which has the kitchen, dining area, bathroom and living room. The upstairs has two bedrooms and a bathroom with closets in one bedroom. Pretty spacious. We are here for six nights so get busy unpacking. The only negative is there is no A/C so we open the windows on one side (east side) and close the drapes on the west side to block out the sunlight. The outside temperature is more than 30 degrees so it is warm in the apartment.
Our first priority is get some groceries. Lana uses her app and finds the Midcountries Co-Op. Very short walk from our place as we are in the heart of the village. We spend some time here as it is air conditioned and we need to get supplies for lunch and breakfast for the next number of days. Lana is skeptical about how much a small co-op may offer for groceries but she's pleasantly surprised at the fresh bread, fruit, and cider options. She says this place will be just fine for our week here. We are eager to try different ciders. We purchase fruit, deli meat, water and three cider with a total cost of 31.85 Pounds. Even with the exchange rate this is so much cheaper than Iceland!
All kinds of Meringues for dessert including pink, vanilla and chocolate. Lana loves them, but no purchase today.
Part of the main street (High Street). Lots of old brick buildings that I am sure are hundreds of years old. Broadway has a reputation for having one of the prettiest main street in the Cotswolds. We have to agree--it's very quaint!
Another picture of the main street. There is only one main street in this village of 2500 people.
Sign for hikers and tourists?
This is the rear of our Airbnb that faces into a little courtyard/commercial alley. We have our windows open as they face east. Pretty busy shopping area below us.
We are getting hungry although it is only 17:15. Lana did not have any lunch and I had just one cheesy pretzel we borrowed from the airport lounge. We do some research on local pubs and Randy's goal is to have some fish and chips for his first meal in the UK. The Crown and Trumpet is just around the corner so a perfect location! There are only two other outdoor picnic tables being used and we want to be outside. You go into the pub to order your pint and food. The total cost of food/cider = 40.60 Pounds or $68CAD.
Not only is this a pub, but it has rooms for tourists. We are seated outside where you can see the server speaking with Lana on the left. When we arrived there was direct sun on me, but I like to be warm. Lana had shade from the umbrella behind her.
This pub has about six ciders on tap with mostly flat ciders.
Great advertising! We notice that the pub sells a lot of different types of snacks--potato chips, bar nuts, etc. in addition to serving pub type food.
We chose the Rosie's Pig Rhubarb Cloudy Cider from the tap. Beautiful pink colour and it is a flat cider. The bartender described flat ciders as "scrumpies". This is their term for a cider that is not fizzy. Most of our Canadian ciders are fizzy. We enjoyed the taste of the rhubarb, but we won't order a scrumpie style cider again. Also, we needed to go into the pub and ask for two glasses with ice as they serve cider on the warmish side.
Lana discovered this menu of Gins. Her favourite drink is a Gin & Tonic so she was super curious about some of the selections here.
Lana's Pork Loin with mustard cider vinegar sauce over mashed potatoes.
Randy's Fish & Chips with mushy peas. Huge piece of cod and it was done very well. The chips (fries) were excellent. The mushy peas were OK for me, but Lana loved them.
Our dessert mentioned above. We loaded it with custard and even that did not improve the taste.
Following our relaxing dinner outside at a pub it was our decision to explore the village of Broadway. We walk the entire length of the main road of Broadway on both sides. Lots of shops, pubs, restaurants, art stores, vintage stores etc. Very quaint and so British!
On our way back to our Airbnb we ran into this couple with their three birds. They are very attached to their pets and vice versa. The couple lives in Birmingham and after getting home their birds were going to 'nosh'. Very friendly and interesting conversation.
It has been a long day, but we absolutely love this small village in the Cotswolds. This village was recommended by our friends Heather and Jim. They grew up in Great Britain and now have a home in a village not too far from here. Good recommendation! We have spent some time in London, but never in the countryside so this is a brand new experience. Let's hope this place cools down before we decide to get to bed.
Comments
Post a Comment