Cotswolds, Shottery, and Chatsworth

On Wednesday, 29 June, we left Linden Cottage behind and headed north. We visited the Cotswold villages of Bibury and Bourton on the Water on the way to Stratford and Shottery nearby, where we toured the Anne Hathaway Cottage. We had lunch from the gas station, which in England often sell good sandwiches and treats. Our final stop before heading to York was Chatsworth, the magnificent home of the Duke and Duchess of Devonshire, located near the village of Bakewell in Derbyshire. Arriving in York, we settled into our very spacious and comfortable Airbnb on the northern outskirts of the city. That evening we experienced our second low point of the trip when we purchased Indian food from a Tandoori take away I remembered fondly. The food was disappointing at best. Our Airbnb host had left us a very nice chocolate cake as a welcome gift, so all was not lost.

 Farewell to Berkshire

 Beautiful Bibury

 The whole crew at Arlington Row in Bibury

 A Baby-Goat-Cheese-sized door

 The green and pleasant walk back to the people carrier

 Bourton on the Water in a shower of rain

 St Lawrence's Church at Bourton on the Water

 We had a lovely chat about Brexit and Donald Trump with 

Rachel Rosborough, a bright and articulate 

Peggy-Honey doppelgänger who is Rector of the parish

Back out into the moisture

 More showers at the Anne Hathaway Cottage

With the crew upstairs in the bedrooms

The kiddos enjoying the very convincing fire 

 

 The final site of the day: Chatsworth

 Hastings hangin' in the hall

 The chapel is a perfect example of English Baroque

 The gallery

Exuberance

 ATH cranked out some tunes

 Dining for a few intimate friends

 Mr. Darcy admiring Anna

 Chatsworth on a beautiful afternoon

 The geyser, which the Brits pronounce "geezer"

 Anna has serious garden envy

 These guys love a maze

 The whole crew before The Cascade

 When buildings are hundreds of years old, 

it's hard to avoid scaffolding

No wonder they went sightseeing in Derbyshire in  

Pride and Prejudice, it is spectacularly beautiful


Merricote Bungalow on the outskirts of York


Sitting room and kitchen at Merricote Bungalow


Bedrooms and bathroom (mine is upper right)

Beautiful garden at Merricote Bungalow

Not as good as it was many years ago

Remarkably, we were still on schedule; the itinerary was doable after all.

OXO

D.