We were here in the Cotswolds four winters ago. January was cold and it snowed once, but it melted the next day. In February we had spring-like weather. We were test-driving England in winter and it passed. However, each winter since has been cold and snowy. This country is not prepared for snow. It seems like people hope these three cold winters are coincidence and not a change in weather patterns. The snow falls and much … Continue reading
If I have to be up early for some reason, I set the alarm, but I always wake up ten minutes before it goes off. My internal body clock keeps track of the time. It is the same with flights. We were scheduled to fly back to Colorado last week. We decided at the end of June that we were going to stay until next May (or longer), but I kept our booking in case … Continue reading
The travel section of The Guardian is always worth reading. This weekend they had an article about a new vacation rental agency that lets people rent modern architect-designed houses in unique locations in the UK. High design, low price: UK holiday homes, Alain de Botton’s set of cutting-edge, affordable holiday homes is bringing modernism to the masses, by Hannah Booth, The Guardian, Saturday 2 October 2010 Alain de Botton, the author of The Art of … Continue reading
In July we did a short trip to France – five nights in the Loire Valley followed by four nights in Normandy. We are currently living in England, so flew from Bristol Airport to Paris, picked up a rental car and drove four hours to the Loire Valley, west of Tours. We stayed in a vacation rental (gite) in the countryside north of the Loire River. It is flat in this part of the country, … Continue reading
People are really into their gardens here, and by “garden” I mean what I would call a “yard”. I figured out this wordplay recently. To me, a garden is a part of your yard where you grow flowers or vegetables, but here “garden” means the area surrounding your house and “yard” is a measurement. This is just one of the verbal mistakes that I make here on a daily basis. I am at that point … Continue reading
Summer in England 2010 – one of my best summers ever. The weather has been perfect and we have walked miles and miles through the Cotswolds. In the last few weeks we have had some overcast days, some drizzle and now there are hints of fall in the air. Today was warm and sunny and felt like June, but rain is heading our way tomorrow. Wendy and Richard were visiting for the weekend and as … Continue reading
One of the things that I love about traveling in England is the density of historic sites to visit. Last week our friends Wendy and Richard were visiting from London, so we decided to do some local exploring. We have all traveled in this area and have seen most of the villages and historic sites, so I pulled out my Cotswold guidebooks and maps to find some things we had not seen. This is what … Continue reading
Welcome to the new version of my blog “Views from the Slow Lane”! It has a new name, a new location and a new look. It was time to separate my blog from the Slow Europe website. Slow Europe is a website for finding vacation rentals in Europe. My blog is about me, England, travel – whatever. Lately I have not been posting much because we have been getting settled in England and spending every … Continue reading
In many ways living in England is very much like living in the US, but there are small differences. The longer I stay in a new place, the more I get used to things and forget the differences, so I am making a few notes here while I still see them. I have been working on this post for two weeks and am giving up and publishing when I still have a lot more to … Continue reading
Eastleach Turville, Cotswolds I have booked a short vacation to France in July, from our temporary home in the Cotswolds. We are flying from Bristol to Paris, then driving to the Loire Valley for five nights. Then we drive up to Normandy, stopping on the way to see the Bayeux Tapestry, something we have both always wanted to see. Four nights in Normandy, then back to the Paris airport to fly to Bristol. We will … Continue reading