Day 5 The Cotswolds
Day 5 Wednesday April 24th
Today we head to the Cotswold area in England. On our way we stopped at The Old Prison Kitchen and Cafe for coffee and breakfast. This was an old prison built in the 1790’s that was converted into a restaurant and museum.You can tour the old prison cells and walk the grounds after eating. The grounds contain many old carriages that you can look at and you can view old prison cells.
The roads in the Cotswold area are narrow with tall hedges on each side. It is very nerve racking when you are still adjusting to driving on the other side of the road!
Sandy found a gin distillery for us to tour, The Cotswolds Distillery. It was a small group tour where we saw the distilleries and storage areas where whiskey is aged. At the end of the tour we got to do a tasting. We could choose from any of the gins or whiskeys they made. Since Sandy was driving, she was not allowed to do the tasting, but was provided with a small bag of six bottles of her choosing to try later.
I learned a few things as well. Our hostess asked me what a gin and tonic served in the states is garnished with. I told her it is usually a lime or a lemon if they are out of limes. She proceeded to tell me that was incorrect. Then she poured me a gin and tonic and garnished it with a bay leaf and grapefruit slice. It was fantastic. Then she explained that the garnish should match one of the herbs used to infuse the gin when it was made. After this experience, I started ordering gin and tonics in every bar. Each time (based on the gin ordered), it was garnished with something different. Sometimes cucumber, sometimes elderberries, each was unique and different. I also need to note that the gin selection in the bars of England is much larger than the vodka selection.
We could not get into our next Airbnb until later in the afternoon, so we explored the countryside. We are so glad we did not rent a big car. These back roads are narrow and all lined with tall hedges. It was a little claustrophobic.
We stopped at the Hook Norton Brewery to get some lunch as we drove through Oxfordshire. The brewery was founded in 1849 and was designed as a “tower” brewery in which all the stages of the brewing process flow logically from floor to floor. It is a cool looking building and they give tours if you want.
Hook Norton Brewery
Our drive took us to Stow-on-the-Wold. This is the name of the town where our Airbnb is located. Stow is Saxon word for religious meeting place and Wold means rolling hill. This town is the highest of all the towns in the Cotswold area and is at a point where several roads meet. This made it a great place for markets and trading. Wool was a big industry in the area and sheep were brought into town through special narrow alleys to keep the herd together as they were brought into town to be sold.
The Airbnb we stayed at was called Lucy’s Tearoom. It is a small tearoom serving breakfast, lunch and tea during the day. Behind the tearoom is a small courtyard and a small two story building. That is the BB part of the business. We had the room in the upper half of the building. It was very unique in that you have to walk through the restaurant to get to the rooms in the back. The owners provided us with keys to the restaurant as well as keys to our room. We had to promise to lock the restaurant doors if we went out in the evening. People are very trusting here.
After settling into our room we decided to do more exploring. The day was young,so we took a drive to a neighboring village called Bourbon-on-the-Water. This is a very charming Cotswold town with beautiful buildings made from local stone and a small river running through the center of town.
We returned to Stow-on-the-Wold and parked the car to continue exploring the town by foot. It was getting late and most of the businesses were closed for the day, but we still had fun walking around this amazing charming town.
